Posted by By BASHIR UMAR, Abuja on
Nigerians waiting anxiously for a remarkable decision from the Senate on the presidential letter indicting Vice President Atiku Abubakar of high level corruption, may have to free their breath as the Senate can only discuss the issue and no more.
Nigerians waiting anxiously for a remarkable decision from the Senate on the presidential letter indicting Vice President Atiku Abubakar of high level corruption, may have to free their breath as the Senate can only discuss the issue and no more.
Dropping this hint in a chat with Daily Sun on Monday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Umaru Tsauri confirmed that the report on Atiku is on the Senate's schedule for deliberation.
Probed on what Nigerians should expect from the Senate on the matter, Tsauri said 'we will discuss the issue and everybody will be allowed to air his view on the case and that is all."
On whether the Senate could pass a vote on what to do on the case, he said, 'based on the fact that the issue is before the High Court, the Senate is not in a position to do anything apart from just discussing the issue and waiting for the court's verdict.
'We normally don't discuss issues that are before the court; we are doing this because of the gravity of the case and its national importance and people's curiosity," the senator explained, adding that the senators had just collected copies of the report towards last weekend and that they were needed to be informed on the situation only.
'Only the court and Nigerians can pass a decision on this for now," the Katsina Central senator concluded.
On the reported N1.9 billion alleged to be disbursed to the senators, purportedly by Senator Mantu, on behalf of the presidency, in the bid to get their cooperation in pinning down the vice president, the senator jokingly said, 'that report was the best English I have ever read."
Meanwhile, Deputy President of the Senate, Nasiru Mantu has issued a press statement disputing the story reported in Monday's edition of the Leadership newspaper that he distributed a whopping N1.9 billion to senators to nail Atiku on the alleged PTDF oil money scam.
'To straighten the records, however, Senator Mantu would like to dismiss the entire content of the publication in question as baseless and deliberate attempt to cause friction between him and well respected colleagues in the Senate, the presidency and well meaning citizens of this country," Chief Press Secretary, Sylvanus Namang said in the statement.
Namang added: 'The senate position on the EFCC investigation report sent to it by the President is well known. As men and women of integrity, they have stated without equivocation that they are going to treat the report dispassionately. Let the Leadership newspaper be informed that the Deputy Senate President is contented with what he is today."