When ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a blanket description, called all members of the House of Representatives “rogues” a few weeks ago, little did Nigerians suspect that his vitriol was setting the stage for another earth-shaking scandal that would involve the lower chamber of Nigeria’s Legislature.
Investigations by the Osun Defender Online have shown that what has snowballed into a possible path to jail for both Mr. Integrity, fourth termer in the House, Farouk Lawan and oil magnate and one of Nigeria’s ‘corporate good boys’, Femi Otedola, (under an effective, unbiased legal system) is actually a complex web of intrigues and scripts aimed at a determined end.
While Nigerians have been anxious to see who goes to jail for the theft of their oil, as a result of the shocking revelations from the probe of the fuel subsidy administration, the sleaze had suddenly become another chess game in the hands of power brokers who knew it could just be the much awaited opportunity to get back at one another.
The revelations that Lawan took the bribe money even with his claims that he did it as evidence of Mr. Otedola’s alleged corruption of the system through wanton graft to subvert the procedure, he appears to have shot himself in the foot by not immediately declaring to the authorities of the House and other relevant institutions that he was being paid to doctor the reports of the subsidy probe panel.
Those who come to equity must do so with clean hands. Perhaps Mr. Lawan had forgotten that his records of championing transparency in the House of Representatives had caused some their jobs. Mrs. Patricia Etteh, ex-Speaker who was disgraced out of office is one of Lawan’s casualties. Indeed, Obasanjo, Etteh’s godfather, had equally tasted from Lawan’s adversarial postures in the past.
Perhaps, Lawan did not realize that Otedola, whom he felt could be captured, blackmailed and squeezed to buy his way out with dollars, is one of Obasanjo’s ‘corporate good boys.’
Eating with the devil without the proverbial long spoon has therefore become Lawan’s undoing but a good development for a country in search of restitution. The wind has been blowing and Nigerians have started seeing the rump of the hen. No single probe appears to have been concluded in the House without the hunter becoming the hunted.
Coming from the same Kano state as the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, and seen to have close affinity to the chamber’s helmsman, Lawan appears to have forgotten that the Speaker has built for himself the image of opposition Speaker in the garb of Peoples Democratic Party.
Investigations by the Osun Defender Online have shown that what has snowballed into a possible path to jail for both Mr. Integrity, fourth termer in the House, Farouk Lawan and oil magnate and one of Nigeria’s ‘corporate good boys’, Femi Otedola, (under an effective, unbiased legal system) is actually a complex web of intrigues and scripts aimed at a determined end.
While Nigerians have been anxious to see who goes to jail for the theft of their oil, as a result of the shocking revelations from the probe of the fuel subsidy administration, the sleaze had suddenly become another chess game in the hands of power brokers who knew it could just be the much awaited opportunity to get back at one another.
The revelations that Lawan took the bribe money even with his claims that he did it as evidence of Mr. Otedola’s alleged corruption of the system through wanton graft to subvert the procedure, he appears to have shot himself in the foot by not immediately declaring to the authorities of the House and other relevant institutions that he was being paid to doctor the reports of the subsidy probe panel.
Those who come to equity must do so with clean hands. Perhaps Mr. Lawan had forgotten that his records of championing transparency in the House of Representatives had caused some their jobs. Mrs. Patricia Etteh, ex-Speaker who was disgraced out of office is one of Lawan’s casualties. Indeed, Obasanjo, Etteh’s godfather, had equally tasted from Lawan’s adversarial postures in the past.
Perhaps, Lawan did not realize that Otedola, whom he felt could be captured, blackmailed and squeezed to buy his way out with dollars, is one of Obasanjo’s ‘corporate good boys.’
Eating with the devil without the proverbial long spoon has therefore become Lawan’s undoing but a good development for a country in search of restitution. The wind has been blowing and Nigerians have started seeing the rump of the hen. No single probe appears to have been concluded in the House without the hunter becoming the hunted.
Coming from the same Kano state as the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, and seen to have close affinity to the chamber’s helmsman, Lawan appears to have forgotten that the Speaker has built for himself the image of opposition Speaker in the garb of Peoples Democratic Party.
Many of his actions have been seen to be against the interests of his party. His emergence as Speaker happened without the signature of his party as he emerged through the support of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria supported by other opposition parties in the House. Then, there had been no love lost between his lower chamber and the Presidency.
But as it is, Lawan is out in the cold. No Tambuwal would stick out his neck to save a seemingly careless avaricious act. Not even with a growing clamour now for his resignation. The House may yet be witnessing another rancorous situation with possible cracks and formation of sponsored caucuses to pursue scripts that had been authored weeks back by different interested parties.
A member of the House of Representatives who spoke with the Osun Defender Online on Wednesday night said the House would not allow itself to be brought down by the alleged avarice of one man even if he had built for himself over 100 years of crusading for due diligence.
“The Speaker even needs to be more careful knowing the people we are dealing with. Lawan has played into the hands of those who want the current leadership of the House to go down. But believe that given the relationship between Lawan and Tambuwal, they must have both shared the alleged loot from Otedola. That, I am sure they can never establish and so no matter how many groups they sponsor, Tambuwal’s leadership remains,” said the lawmaker who did not want his name mentioned.
But as it is, Lawan is out in the cold. No Tambuwal would stick out his neck to save a seemingly careless avaricious act. Not even with a growing clamour now for his resignation. The House may yet be witnessing another rancorous situation with possible cracks and formation of sponsored caucuses to pursue scripts that had been authored weeks back by different interested parties.
A member of the House of Representatives who spoke with the Osun Defender Online on Wednesday night said the House would not allow itself to be brought down by the alleged avarice of one man even if he had built for himself over 100 years of crusading for due diligence.
“The Speaker even needs to be more careful knowing the people we are dealing with. Lawan has played into the hands of those who want the current leadership of the House to go down. But believe that given the relationship between Lawan and Tambuwal, they must have both shared the alleged loot from Otedola. That, I am sure they can never establish and so no matter how many groups they sponsor, Tambuwal’s leadership remains,” said the lawmaker who did not want his name mentioned.
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