President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Abuja assured Nigerians that the bribery allegations rocking the House of Representatives would not stall the implementation of the fuel subsidy probe report.?
This is contained in a statement issued by Dr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.?
“Recent developments notwithstanding, President Jonathan’s directive to the Attorney-General of the Federation on the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, as adopted by the House of Representatives subsists.
“He fully expects that all those indicted in the report will be duly investigated and prosecuted if a prima facie case is established against them,’’ the statement said.
It denounced as “lame and diversionary’’ attempt by some section of the media to drag Jonathan and the Office of the President into the bribery scandal.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Chairman of the House of Representative Ad-hoc Committee on fuel subsidy, Farouk Lawan and Clerk of the committee, Boniface Emenalo, were alleged to have collected 620,000 dollars as bribe from a major oil marketer, Mr Femi Otedola.
The statement said that contrary to reports in some national dailies, the Presidency had no hand in an alleged plan to unseat the leadership of the House over the scandal.
“The mischievous insinuation in today’s editions of the newspapers that the entire affair in which the two key players have publicly confessed their roles, is part of a plot by President Goodluck Jonathan and the executive arm of government to unseat the leadership of the House of Representatives, is totally false and baseless.
“For the benefit of unwary members of the public who may be deceived by the political innuendoes now being woven into the subsidy probe bribe affair, President Jonathan wishes to affirm that he has absolutely no reason or desire to meddle in the affairs of the House of Representatives and its leadership.
“Neither the President nor anyone acting on his request or order has anything to do with the scandal that has sadly engulfed the House ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy,” it said.
The statement said that Jonathan's administration was committed to the effective prosecution of the war against corruption.
It commended the House for acknowledging the seriousness of the scandal, and for deciding to recall its members from recess for a special session on Friday, June 15 to deliberate on the issue.
The statement urged the media to allow members of the House and law enforcement agencies to conduct and conclude investigations without further distractions.
?