N5.8bn NEMA Scam: Resign Now; Timi Frank tells Osinbajo..... Calls On NASS to Impeach him
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has given Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN, seven (7) days to resign over his flagrant violation of the Constitution and the Public Procurement Act in the approval of N5.8billion as intervention funds for the North East in 2017.
It
could be recalled that the House of Representatives in its investigative report,
had indicted the Vice President following its investigation into the disbursement
N5.8billion for intervention food programme in the North East of Nigeria in
2017.
According
to the report on the emergency intervention in food security in the North-East,
to support the population ravaged by insurgency, “a sum of N5,865,671,939.26
was approved and released in June 2017 vide a memo raised from the Office of
the Acting President, directing the Minister of Finance and the Accountant
General of the Federation to so act”.
“The
details further specified a directive to the Governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria from the Ministry of Finance to pay the sum from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund Account which the AGF is to raise a mandate for”.
“This
is in contravention of the approval of the National Assembly on the issuance of
Euro Bond from which the Minister authorized payment. The Euro Bond is for
specified infrastructural projects and not for discretionary intervention.
Furthermore, there is no specific appropriation by the National Assembly”.
“This
contravenes Section 80 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which states,
‘No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National
Assembly”.
Frank
in a statement in Abuja, a copy sent to Naij News Alert, called on the National
Assembly to immediately commence impeachment process against the VP based on
the House Report and in line with its constitutional mandate to act as a check
and balance on the Executive.
He
said that with the revelations about Osinbajo’s role in this high level sleaze
and the many corruption cases against top aides and appointees of President
Muhammadu Buhari, “it is safe to say that the present administration is the
worst so far in terms of corruption and circumvention of due process laws in
the nation’s democratic history”.
He
insisted that the fact that Osinbajo is a senior lawyer and Chairman of the
Board of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA); now alleged to have
diverted the funds, makes it mandatory for the Vice President to immediately
step aside to allow for thorough criminal investigation to determine the
veracity or otherwise of the issues collusion and core raised in the House
report by security and anti-corruption agencies.
He
noted that it is appalling to hear that Osibanjo; despite his public
anti-corruption posturing, could be remotely mentioned in a such a scam where
funds meant to provide succour for hunger-ravaged Internally Displaced Persons
in the North East were allegedly diverted in such brazen manner.
“As
a learned gentleman, Osibanjo cannot say he did not know that it is illegal for
any government official to spend funds not appropriated by the National
Assembly. He should have known that it is intrinsically illegal for anybody to
divert funds raised through the issuance of Euro Bond; approved by the National
Assembly for specific capital projects, to fund his ‘emergency intervention.’
“What
is most telling is that it now appears that the VP used his brief stay as
Acting President to open up the nation’s coffers for fleecing in this manner
with the approval of the N5.8billion to be disbursed from the Euro Bond account
and another N17billion he caused to be released from the Ecological Fund”.
“These
acts of financial recklessness are most unbecoming of a person of the Vice
President’s standing. He has a lot of explanations to render to his Principal; who
was on medical vacation at the time, and to Nigerians, whose trust has been
rudely shaken by this stinking corruption affair”.
“Being
a man who enjoys immunity by reason of his office, I call on him to immediately
resign his position to enable him appear before the anti-corruption agencies to
state his involvement or otherwise in the scam”.
“To
hide under the toga of Vice President and not face prosecution alongside other NEMA
officials indicted by the House of Representatives report on the investigation,
would amount to a travesty of justice and the selectiveness that has unduly characterized
the war against corruption since the inception of the present administration”.
“I
give the VP seven (7) days to resign his position to enable him face the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; like ex-Governor Ayodele Fayose
did recently, to clear his name”.
“Should
he fail to heed my humble appeal, I shall have no choice but to commence the
process of making available to the public, other corruption related information
concerning the Vice President that will most certainly shock Nigerians”, Frank
stated.
Besides,
the National Assembly cannot afford to shirk on its sacred responsibilities to
Nigerians, one of which is to hold the executive accountable to the people.
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