Posted by By GODWIN TSA, Abuja on
The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to prosecute all public officers indicted by the National Assembly while performing their oversight functions on the Executive arm of government.
The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to prosecute all public officers indicted by the National Assembly while performing their oversight functions on the Executive arm of government.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Mike Kaase Aondoakaa (SAN) who gave the indication while speaking with newsmen after a sitting of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja mentioned the NITEL/PENTASCOPE issue in which former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai was accused of fraud in the award of contract for the management of NITEL.
El- Rufai, it would be recalled, was the Director-General of Bureau of Public Enterprises, who was alleged to have awarded the contract for the management of NITEL to PENTASCOPE.
Also, the son of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Gbenga, was accused of facilitating the award of contract for the management of Ajaokuta Sateel Complex to SOLGAS, a company in which he has interest. He was also indicted in the report of the Senate.
The former Minister was indicted in the report of the Senate which then recommended that he be banned from holding public office for 50 years.
Aondoakaa said he was going to collaborate with the National Assembly to obtain such reports, study them with the view of prosecuting such indicted public officers.
'I am going to liaise with the National Assembly from 1999 to the end of 2007 to obtain those reports, Pentascope and several of such reports, to examine them, especially the conclusions and findings and recommendations of such reports. If they now see criminal offences relating to crime committed by these ministers or anybody, we are going to file charges.
'And let me sound a note of warning that nobody is going to be spared in the war against corruption.
'Apart from the governors, we are also going to prosecute ministers, people who were indicted by the national assembly in their report of oversight function as provided for by the constitution.
'They were given powers to investigate just like a policeman. They do investigation and they compile report. And once that report, which is the caveat, once that report is adopted on the floor of any of the houses, it becomes the mandate with which we are going to prosecute.
'I am going to liaise with the national assembly from 1999 to the end of 2007 to obtain those reports, Pentascope and several of such reports, to examine them especially the conclusions and findings and recommendations of such reports. If they now see criminal offences relating to crime committed by these ministers or anybody, we are going to file charges," he said.
'It is no longer going to be anybody shielding corruption. We are not going to target war on corruption on governors alone but on everybody that is indicted by bodies authorized by law. And where criminal charges are clearly demonstrated in the report, we are going to carry out prosecution.
On whether the FG will investigate the former President, the AGF said, 'well we don't have any report. We work on report, if there is a report before us. You heard me clearly that I have not heard whether the national assembly has established Obasanjo.
'If they have investigated him and a report adopted which I am not aware of, let me know. We know what to do with it. I don't work on speculations. I don't work on newspapers. I don't work on what people say in their homes. I work on what I feel the law should take its course.
'And in carrying out this prosecution, we are going to respect the rights of the individuals, we are going to respect personal liberty. We are not going to get anybody arrested. We are going to frame charges and file them and serve them and or ask them to report at the law court and the court will decide on whether or not to grant them bail."
Meanwhile, the trial of former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Depriye Alamieyeseigha by the tribunal was adjourned to December 13, 2007 at the instance of the Federal Attorney General who appealed for more time to enable him sort out whether the case has some similarities with the one before a Federal High Court.
He explained that it was to avoid a situation of double jeopardy whereby an accused person is tried by different courts on a similar offence.
The Justice Minister vowed that nobody no matter how powerful would be spared in the fight against corruption.