Deziani to appear before the legislator

FEDERAL lawmakers in the House of
Representatives on Monday described as
unfortunate President Goodluck Jonathan’s
comment on the credibility of the probes being
conducted by the House during his Sunday’s
media chat.
Stopping short of saying they were disappointed
in the President, the legislators said Jonathan had
been the “highest beneficiary” of the House
resolutions, hence the least they expected from
him was to encourage his ministers to respond to
parliamentary inquiries.
The President had said during his Presidential
Media Chat that the House was conducting
politicised probes and that his petroleum
resources minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, had
appeared before the lawmakers up to 200 times.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, reacting to
the President on Monday, said the comment was
“unfortunate, particularly coming from Mr.
President.”
Mohammed said Jonathan did not consider the
House intervention as politicised when he wanted
to succeed his late boss, former President Umaru
Yar’Adua.
He said, “We recall the Doctrine of Necessity; this
House contributed to his (Jonathan’s) stability in
office.
“We hold the office of Mr. President in high
esteem, but it is unfortunate that he said we
conduct politicised probes. The House is about
accountability; Diezani has to appear before us
because we cannot ask questions in her absence.
“She has to come; she has to be accountable to
the Nigerian people.
“As legislators, we are also accountable to our
electorate.”
He said the House could summon any member of
the President’s cabinet, including Alison-
Madueke, “1000 times” if the legislators needed to
do so in the course of their investigation.
Mohammed said, “There is no limit to the number
of times a minister can appear before the House
for the purpose of accountability. There are many
investigations or issues being considered by the
House.
“That a minister had appeared before over a
particular issue does not mean that when
summoned over a different subject, the minister
cannot appear again.
“Besides, on this issue of expenditure on jets, she
(Diezani) has yet to appear before the House; she
has not appeared on the matter before.
“Therefore, Mr. President should not use her
previous appearances over entirely different
subjects, as an excuse for her refusal to answer
questions in respect of the expenditure on jets.”
Alison-Madueke has refused to appear before the
House Committee on Public Accounts probing the
N10bn she reportedly spent in two years to
charter a private jet, Challenger 850, for her trips.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians on Monday reacted
angrily to the President’s alleged attempt to cover
up Alison-Madueke and her counterpart in the
interior ministry, Abba Moro, during his
Presidential Media Chat on Sunday night.
Jonathan, who was asked to comment on the
allegations of corrupt practices levelled against
some of his ministers, had said that nobody was
above mistakes and that if he were to be acting
based on reports on each of them, “no one will
stay for more than six months in office.”
Also asked to comment on the attempt by Allison
– Madueke to use the court to stop her proposed
probe by the parliament, the President had said
he was not aware that the woman was in court.
Specifically Jonathan had said, “I don’t think that
the Minister of Petroleum Resources had gone to
court. I am not aware that she has gone to court
to stop any investigation”
But an Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Segun Williams,
in an interview on Monday, expressed
disappointment at the reaction of the President
when the judge that allegedly gave the ex parte
injunction, said the order was not intended to stop
the proposed probe of the minister by the House.
He said, “How can the President said that he was
not aware that the petroleum minister had gone to
court when the judge that allegedly gave the ex
parte motion claimed that he was misquoted. The
judge said his order was not to stop the probe
and it was reported in all the newspapers.”
He also noted that the declaration by the
President that he had contacted the Attorney –
General and Minister of Justice to look into the
frequent invitations of ministers by the National
Assembly, was an attempt to shield his cabinet
members.
Williams noted that a declaration by Jonathan that
“the Minister of Petroleum Resources had
appeared before the parliament more than 200
times” was a clear indication that he was having
a special interest in the minister’s continued stay
in his cabinet.
A resident of the FCT, Alhaji Mohammed Ladan,
expressed disappointment at the failure of the
President to mention the glaring case of
corruption against his Minister of Interior, Mr.
Abba Moro.
Ladan said, “The President should have sacked
the Interior minister or asked him to resign
instead of being given a fresh mandate to
determine foreigners who are illegally living in the
country.”