The Senate has vowed that in addition to former president Goodluck Jonathan and immediate-past minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it will also probe other former ministers in the nation’s capital, as well as presidents who violated the Abuja Masterplan.
The Red Chamber last Friday threatened to order the revocation of plots of land allocated to Jonathan and 29 others in Maitama District, Abuja.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Dino Melaye, who announced the commencement of the probe Wednesday, said no former minister of FCT or president would be exempted from the probe.
Those expected to be probed are former ministers from 1999 – Ibrahim Bunu, Mohammed Abba Gana, Nasir el-Rufai, Aliyu Moddibo, Adamu Aliero and Bala Mohammed.
The probe may also be extended to former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo since, by law, a president is the governor-general of FCT and appoints a minister to administer the city on his behalf.
Hinting about the probe, Melaye said, “With this administration of change, it is no longer going to be business as usual. Permit me to remind the FCT administration again, by stating that this committee will not hesitate to ensure that all administrative anomalies, misappropriation of funds or misapplication of laws – as the case may be, that were occasioned by the past administrations of FCT, are fully addressed. This is what justice demands in this circumstance – to right the wrongs.”
He lamented the bastardisation of Abuja Masterplan, and wondered why former FCT ministers gave out Green areas designed for flood drains, city buffers, recreations, urban farming, reserved land and undevelopable areas.
Melaye said: “Therefore, the committee frowns at satanic and misleading advice and recommendation to convert very important and beautiful natural endowments or features which are very scanty, like the world-acclaimed Maitama Hills, popularly known as Ministers’ Hill, which could serve as a tourist attraction to the residents of FCT.
“I want to state here again that if the bourgeois of this country need special allocations, a new district can be dedicated to them and not destroy the beauty of the city centre, a national monument like the Maitama Hills.
“Therefore, the committee’s decision on these allocations remains unwavering. A stop-work order must be served by the Department of Development Control and all trees removed must be replaced. The committee demands that 100 per cent of its instructions be adhered to.”
On the immediate past FCT minister, Melaye said, “Despite Senator Bala Mohammed’s defence to justify his acclaimed under-utilisation of existing infrastructure, the entire allocation along Mississippi Street is an eyesore.
“The five most important actors in land matters in FCT (directors of land administration, including their executive secretary, Engr. Ismaila Adams), affirmed that. The consequence of this is flooding, epidemic, overcrowding, erosion, because all trees have been removed from all plots allocated.
“This is a government of change, and this is the most proper period to right all administrative wrongs championed by the past administrations,” he added.
Arms deal scandal: Overhaul arms procurement for military, others – Reps
In the aftermath of the $2.1 billion arms fund scandal, otherwise referred to as Dasukigate, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Army Wednesday called for an urgent review of processes for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the Nigerian Army and all other security agencies in the country.
According to the committee, the call became imperative in order to prevent future occurrences of the current controversies surrounding the purchase of arms and ammunition for counter-insurgency operations, and the recent claims of purchase of substandard arms involving some top military officers.
Presently, some former top military personnel in the immediate-past administration of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, including his former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, are facing corruption charges before various law courts in Abuja.
Addressing the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, and top army officers at the 2015/2016 budget defence exercise, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Rima Shawulu, expressed concern at the sorry state of facilities in the 30 military formations and barracks across the country visited recently by the committee.
In his response, Buratai reminded the committee that “all the Service Chiefs and those involved in the procurement (of arms) are retired, so we are limited on the extent we can investigate them.”
Shawulu, however, asserted that the House had the constitutional powers to launch probe into the arms procurement scandal.
“The controversies over the purchase of arms and ammunition, or alleged purchase of inferior or substandard arms, call for an urgent review of our processes.
“Indeed as several scholars, leaders and generals have repeatedly affirmed that war is too important to be left in the hands of generals.
“The world has moved on and in most democratic countries, representatives of the people, the parliament, is involved in the details of implementation of budgets and procurement processes,” Shawulu said.
The committee also queried the delay in the release of the supplementary budget of N3,196,089,405 for salaries of army officers, including N1,987,056,478 for 72 recruits, N768,637,124 for 62 regular combatants and N440,395,803 for 22 direct short service personnel.
It also stressed the need for adequate budgetary provision for the rehabilitation of 117 barracks across the country.
“In all, we visited and related with officers in about 30 formations in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The findings are sobering and call for a rethink of the way we do things.
“It is sobering that the officers and men, who have dedicated their lives to fighting to keep us safe, live in such scandalous accommodation. It is also shocking that the decay and rot in the system has been left unchecked and our soldiers fight without the required equipment,” he said.
According to Shawulu, the committee has sent a letter of request to both Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara for an increase in the budgetary allocation to the Nigerian Army for the year 2016.
On the budget defence, Buratai noted that the N160 billion approved by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning for Nigerian Army was inadequate compared to N520 billion proposed.
He also revealed that the Accountant-General of the Federation, who visited him before he came to the National Assembly for the budget defence, had confirmed that some funds had been released to the coffers of the Nigerian Army.
“If we can get N520 billion today, you can be sure of getting highly motivated troops when they know that their families are being taken care of,” Buratai said.
-Leadership
