Posted by By AKEEB ALARAPE, Ibadan on
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Professor Tam David-West, has insisted that the former Head, Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, must be screened by the Senate like any other member of the newly constituted Board of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Professor Tam David-West, has insisted that the former Head, Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, must be screened by the Senate like any other member of the newly constituted Board of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Reacting to a media report yesterday on the failure of Shonekan to show up before the Senate Committee on Works for the screening exercise on Wednesday, the renowned Professor of Virology also kicked against the suggestion by the Chairman of the committee, Senator Julius Ucha, to screen Shonekan at home, saying 'under democracy nobody is above the law.'
"The Senate must screen Shonekan so far he has accepted to be the chairman of the board. Under democracy, nobody is above the law. The constitution of any nation is like the religious tenet, everybody is equal before God.
"Members of the Senate committee must not do the nation any disservice by not screening Chief Ernest Shonekan. There are laid down rules to be followed and this the Senate committee must do, if we want our democracy to thrive and survive," the former minister insisted.
David-West, who was one of the resource persons at the just concluded national seminar on Economic Crime, organized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), warned on the implication of bending the laws of the land in favour of some influential personalities.
Shonekan, as chairman-designate of ICRC board, was said to have been unavailable at the sitting of the Senate Committee on Works while other members of the committee were present for the screening. Speaking on the absence of Shonekan, the Committee chair had suggested that the committee should screen Shonekan at home as a mark of honour to him as a former president.
"We appreciate the fact that the chairman was the president of this country, the number one citizen of this country. That is very crucial and we appreciate that very sincerely. The committee, even if it entails going to his house, will go to the former president to interact with him, certainly we will do that," Senator Ucha had said.
But his suggestion was said to have run contrary to the Senate Standing Rules, which made other members of the committee to fault the suggestion.