Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
Key members of the Senate ad-hoc committee probing the accounts of the Petroleum Technology Trust Fund (PTDF) met with President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Key members of the Senate ad-hoc committee probing the accounts of the Petroleum Technology Trust Fund (PTDF) met with President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Although their mission was believed to be in furtherance of the on-going probe into the finances of the PTDF over which Vice President Atiku Abubakar had appeared before it and made startling revelations, the members denied that their visit had anything to do with the issue.
At the end of their meeting, the Chairman of the committee, Mr. Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), was seen leaving the president's office along with Senator Abba Aji and the Senate Majority Leader, Alhaji Dalhatu Tafida, as well as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Asked if their visit was in connection with the PTDF probe, Ndoma-Egba answered in the negative, saying they were in the villa to formally inform the president of the death of their colleague, Senator Sani Sami.
'We came to tell Mr. President of the death of our dear colleague, Senator Sani Sami and to request for support in preparations for the funeral," Tafida interjected, explaining further that they had need for an ambulance and a plane from the presidential fleet to convey the body of the deceased, who died in a South African hospital.
He also said that the lawmakers would not deliberate on any correspondence from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the status of Vice President Atiku because the matter was before the court.
When they delved into the affairs of the PTDF, Tafida said the senators discovered there were so many loopholes through which money was wasted and mismanaged and this accounted for their insistence on-going ahead with the probe.
He promised Nigerians that the result of the probe would be made public 'whenever it is ready."