*No plans to impeach V-P, says Reps spokesman
By Kemi Yesufu
Chairman, Nigeria-US Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Rep. E.J Agbonayunma has raised an alarm over plans by members of the National Assembly to impeach Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo.
Agbonnayima who addressed the House of Representatives Press Corp at the National Assembly on Tuesday, alleged that some members of the House of Representatives have commenced on collecting signatures for a notice of impeachment against the Vice President.
The lawmaker said these members enjoy the support of ‘unscrupulous’ politicians and a section of the media, he described as highly unpatriotic.
According to him, those planning to impeach Osinbajo are behind recent negative media reports about the Vice President, in connection with the House of Representatives probe into the operations of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
He said: “It has become necessary to add my voice to the call by many Nigerians on the purported campaigns of calumny by some political gladiators and media houses against the office and person of the Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on spurious allegations of corrupt practices levelled against him.
“I am aware that signatures are being collated for the impeachment of the Vice-President. The reason of because of the outcome of NEMA investigation
“ For the records, the issues raised in the probe on NEMA had to do with the misappropriation of funds by the Director-General and the day to day running of the agency, vis-a-vis financial spending, procurement, among others.
“While commending my colleagues on the discharge of our constitutional duties, I am appealing to them sheath their swords. I enjoin them to continue to do only those things that will promote the peace, unity and prosperity of Nigeria”.
But in a swift response, the spokesman of the House, Rep Abdulrazak Namdas told journalists that no such matter has been tabled before the House.
“There is no such thing pertaining to the impeachment of the Vice-President before the House”, Namdas stated.
Recall that the House had indicted Osinbajo over what they said was the illegal approval of the mismanaged N5.8 billion North East, IDPs Intervention fund
The House had adopted the report by the House Committee on NEMA indicating that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo illegally approved the release of the sum of N5, 865, 671, 939.26 in June 2017 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account which was mismanaged by NEMA.
The report, whose recommendations were based on findings from an investigation by the Rep. Ali Isa J.C House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness was adopted by the House of Representatives after being considered in the Committee of the Whole early November.
The House noted that the authorisation of the release of the fund for emergency food intervention of food security in the North East contravenes Section 80(4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that, “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”.
Similarly, it also breached the provision that the National Assembly must approve all issuance of Euro Bond from which the minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay from.
The funds were paid as follows for supply of food items: Dangote Rice Ltd N936, 196, 800; Golden Agric Input Ltd N1, 384, 554, 236; BUA Rice Ltd N1, 322, 273, 520; WACOT Ltd N453, 674, 296; WACOT Ltd N939, 946, 089; NEMA N829, 026, 456.
The lawmakers agreed that the authorization granted for the withdrawal of such huge sum of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account was highly flawed and had infractions on Section 80(2) of the Constitution and Section (2) of the Procurement Act, as well as provisions of the Appropriation Act, did not follow due process as taxes and interest accruable to the government were not deducted or remitted to FIRS and no meeting held by the Federal Executive Council to approve the contracts.
Furthermore, the funds were credited directly to the individual banks of the companies and NEMA bank account, a violation of the approval limit allowed by law. Out of the N5.8 billion, NEMA got N829, 026, 456 for logistics and claimed it spent N369.5 million on general logistics, N189 million on branding and packaging, N248.6 million on branding and packaging and N21.9 million on contingency.
They, therefore, called for the dismissal and prosecution of the director general of NEMA, Engr Mustapha Maihaja over fraud, corruption and embezzlement of N33 billion Emergency Intervention Fund, as well as all the government officials involved in the approval, processing, release and diversion of the fund; that the Central Bank of Nigeria, being a banker to the federal government should not have been involved in giving loans to private companies and as such, ahould be investigated for the N2 billion loan said to have been given to four named companies.
The Committee’s investigation into Breach of Trust In NEMA covered the following aspects:
(1) Release of N5, 865, 671, 389 and N3, 153, 000, 000. 00 emergency food intervention of food security in the North East in 2017 (2)6, 779 metric tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to IDPs in the North East (3)Payment of about N800 million demurrage on the donated rice (4) over 10 billion naira, being 20 percent statutory ecological funds released between January 2017 to February 2018 to NEMA (5)Federal Government’s N1, 600, 000, 000to 16 states in July 2017 for Flood intervention(6) Over N1.6 billion released to NEMA for evacuation of Nigerians stranded in Libya in 2017 and other ancilliary issues; N33 billion naira was lost by the federal government due to Maihaja’s mismanagement and outright embezzlement of funds. The House, therefore, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve the director general of NEMA of his duties and hand him over to relevant authorities for prosecution.
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