Posted by From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja on
Senator Ahmed Aruwa (ANPP, Kaduna Central) yesterday dismissed President Olusegun Obasanjo's fight on corruption as lame, adding that corruption and corrupt practices had continued to sink the nation's heritage.
Senator Ahmed Aruwa (ANPP, Kaduna Central) yesterday dismissed President Olusegun Obasanjo's fight on corruption as lame, adding that corruption and corrupt practices had continued to sink the nation's heritage.
Aruwa who made this allegation while addressing newsmen on the briefing of Obasanjo to the National Assembly said, 'Obasanjo is playing on the war against corruption as corruption and corrupt practices continue to sink the nation's heritage.
'Mr. President should realise that the masses are no longer interested in talk-shops as it is presently programmed. Nigerians are interested in what we witness in our daily encounters with the police, what we witness at government offices when we apply for registration, issuance or renewal of licences, permit or any document that require governmental approval, with typists, commissioners for oaths at magistrate courts, pension offices, universities, polytechnics, recruitment centres etc.
'Last year, a United States energy services company, Halliburton disclosed fillings to Securities and Exchange Commission that its Kellog Browm and Root (KBR) subsidiary had paid bribes totalling $2.5m to Nigerian officials to obtain favourable tax assessment.
'An international consortium building a Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Nigeria has come under investigation in France for suspected payment of bribes totalling $180m to obtain the construction contract, whose value has grown overtime to $6bn."
This consortium includes the same Halliburton subsidiary KBR, Technips of France, Snamprogetti of Italy and JGC Corporation of Japan. What can can our corruption busters namely EFCC and ICPC tell Nigerians about this?î
Aruwa, whose address was circulated to all senators but could not be presented on the floor of the Senate, however submitted that, ìwhat the majority of masses expect him (Obasanjo) to say urgently without missing words is:- I realise that we have made mistakes, it will not happen again, I will from today turn on the tapes, the video and the sound on every corruption and corrupt practices in the past, starting with the re-constructing of ICPC and immediate probe into what happened to our oil refineries, NEPA, NITEL, NPA, NDA, oil block allocation and major contracts awarded by my administration.