The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has condemned in strong terms the unwarranted call for the resignation of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal over the alleged $3m bribery scandal involving Hon. Farouk Lawan, the Chairman of the House’s Committee on fuel subsidy probe and some other members of the house.
Speaking through its Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran, the Coalition described the call for the Speaker’s resignation as “malicious which mission is to frustrate the anti-corruption stance of some upright members of the house because the whole house should not bear the brunt of the malfeasance of some individuals in the house.
According to Adeniran, “it is sheer wickedness to call for the head of the Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives when the accuser and the accused have not pointed finger in his direction. The federal government should not use the scandal to humiliate any member of the house. The culprits should be punished, if truly we practice the rule of law, not calling for the resignation of someone not involved any way in the bribery scandal.
Likewise, the allegation against some members of the probe committee does not nullify the recommendations adopted by the whole house; hence the federal government should not discredit the resolution of the House on the fuel subsidy probe,”he added.
The Coalition asserted, “It is doubtful if the federal government would not use the allegation as a means to divert public attention from the substantive issue, which is to recover the nation’s money from those who fraudulently rerouted it into the coffers via fuel subsidy, as this could draw the nation’s image further into the quagmire. Therefore, the government should conscientiously implement the recommendation of the house to prosecute the oil thieves in no distant time.”
The anti-corruption Coalition finally submitted that, “we are not opposed to justice taking its course, hence we call for the holistic investigation of Hon. Farouk Lawan and other members of the house fingered in the allegation and their apposite prosecution if they are found culpable.”