Faroukgate: Reps panel fails to meet report deadline

Mr. Femi Otedola, and a lawmaker, Farouk Lawan
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The report of the House of Representatives investigation into the $620,000 bribery allegation involving a senior member of the House, Mr. Farouk Lawan, and oil businessman, Mr. Femi Otedola, is still not out seven months after.

The House had in May, 2012 mandated its Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the matter and produce a report within 21 days.

Lawmakers will proceed on another holiday for the Christmas/New Year on Thursday this week and findings by Atlantic News Nigeria indicate that it is unlikely that the report will be available this year.

It was gathered on Sunday that the report was still “holed up” at the level of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges.

“That report is not before the House as we speak. The normal thing is that if a committee is assigned a duty, it will lay its report before the House in plenary.

“Before this is done, the Committee on Rules and Business is notified and this committee will schedule it for presentation.

“This has not happened; it means if there is any report at all, it is still with the investigating committee (Ethics and Privileges),” a lawmaker told our correspondent on Sunday.

The development came amid speculations that there were attempts to allow the bribery allegation to “die a natural death.”

One source claimed that some members were increasingly arguing that the matter was a criminal case that should have been done with by security agencies, and “not necessarily a House matter.”

 The source, who spoke to our correspondent said, “It is a criminal matter, really. The police investigated the allegation, where is their report?

“Why have they been unable to arraign Farouk Lawan or anybody else? What are they waiting for?

“The House came in because it wanted to know the level of involvement of a member; it is not the House that will prosecute if any case is established, it is the police.”

Members of the ethics committee on Monday chose to be silent on what has become of the investigation, preferring to refer all inquiries to the Chairman of the committee, Mr. Gambo Musa