Ayo Ola
An Abuja based legal practitioner, Mr. Pelumi Olajengbesi, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige and any other public officials who purchased the presidential form and expression of interest of the All Progressives Congress for N100m.
Olajengbesi, who is a public interest lawyer, stated that according to the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, which is the body charged with the responsibility of handling the salaries of public officers in Nigeria, the average annual basic salary for a Minister of State is ₦1,957,580.
He added that the allowances sum up to roughly ₦11,647,601 annually. He calculated the total pay for a minister for four years is ₦46, 590,404.
According to him, this raises the question, where a Minister got ₦100 million to obtain a presidential nomination and expression of interest form?
He stated that it is crystal clear that the amount for the said form is way above the income of a Minister of State in Nigeria even if the minister has not been fending for his or her family from his salaries.
He said that failure of the EFCC to investigate the sources of their respective N100m will set a dangerous precedent, adding that it will send a message to the world that the agency is weak and has compromised on its primary mandate.
Olajengbesi said, “The Nigerian Law has vested the EFCC with the inherent powers to investigate persons, government bodies and institutions where it appears that a person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties owned are not justified or reconcilable by his verifiable source of income.
“Specifically, the EFCC Act clearly provides in Section 7(1)(b) that the EFCC has the power to cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any person if it appears to the commission that the person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income;
“Again, following the express provision of Section 6(L) of the EFCC Act, the EFCC has responsibility to collect all reports relating to suspicious financial transactions to analyse and disseminate to all relevant government agencies.
“The implication of the above provision of the law is to the effect that, where there is a reasonable ground for suspicion of the source of wealth of a person through their manner of living, the EFCC has a duty at law to cause an investigation into such a person’s source of wealth.
“To the crux of this matter, it is no news that the APC from recent news has set a whopping ₦100 million as the price for obtaining the Presidential Nomination and interest form. It is also a fact that the Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, the Education Minister Adamu, the Labour Minister Dr Chris Ngige and others are reported having recently purchased the same Party’s presidential nomination form worth ₦100 million each. The salient question here is that, whether the price of the form is not beyond the legitimate income scale of a Minister in Nigeria.
“There is no doubt that the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission is the body charged with the responsibility of handling the salaries of Public Officers in Nigeria. Following the remuneration package made public by the agency, the average annual basic salary for a Minister of State is ₦1,957,580. Adding the allowances sums up to roughly ₦11,647,601 annually. Again, the annual sum of ₦11,647,601 multiplied by 4 years in office sums up to ₦46, 590,404. This raises the question, where does a Minister get ₦100 million to obtain a Presidential nomination and interest form? It is crystal clear that the amount for the said form is way above the income of a Minister of State in Nigeria even if the Ministers has not been fending for their families from their salaries.
“It is on this note that I call on the EFCC and all other concerned government agencies in Nigeria to do the needful and investigate the Ministers and others who subsequently purchase the APC Presidential nomination and interest form for ₦100 million because it raises a clear suspicion as to the sources of their wealth especially considering the office being aspired to pays less salary cumulatively in a single tenure than the actual cost of declaration. Failure of the EFCC to investigate the source of their respective N100M will set a dangerous precedent and only send a message to the world that the agency is weak and has compromised on its primary mandate. The agency must fine-comb through the candidacy and campaign of all of the presidential aspirants notably those in the APC who have not batted an eyelid in paying the ransom called the nomination fee of their party.”
He added, “Let’s not concern ourselves with the fact that all of said ‘declarants’ oversee ministries where in one instance, ASUU has been on strike with public tertiary education avoidably put on hold and students devilishly idle and stranded at home, another runs a ministry where terrorists have taken over train system with most victims still languishing unaided in terrorist dens spread across the woodlands of the ungoverned spaces in the north. The third, a vivacious and bumbling man of limited physical reach has run a ministry whose very function is criminally questionable for its lack of presence and feature in the employment woes of the country.
“But perhaps where competence cannot reach, the overarching persuasion of big bucks with questionable sources will. After all, Nigeria seems to simply grind on ungoverned whilst Political Gladiators squabble and grapple for a bucket load of their respective portion of our collective pound of flesh; leaving the Country to bleed out and die.
“To protect our common sensibilities and safeguard the future from yielding again to a repeat of our past by presenting unscrutinized and suspicious persons to plough the field of elections thereby resorting to promoting violence and election hooliganism, we must bank on the EFCC, the ICPC and all other Government Agencies to swing into force and cause a vigorous investigation to be conducted thereby verifying the sources of these funds and in the process, sieve the wealth from the chaffs. This process being done properly would save our Dear Country from certain collapse and ensure the right people have availed the opportunity to contest fairly for the Number One Office in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We must be deliberate and proactive to achieve the change we seek.”