RUMBLE IN THE HOUSE

I was not surprised to see the pictures (in the papers) of the House of Assembly members engaged in a brawl during the sitting of the committee currently investigating the contract scam rocking the House of Assembly. The scam involving the "Speaker" and her assistant, has without any doubt created a lot of problems and there certainly will be more to come. In an ideal situation, the "Speaker" and all involved would have been asked to step aside in order to allow an impeded investigation, unfortunately, ours is not an ideal situation. Rather than call the "Speaker" to order and ask her to do what is right, the PDP seems to believe that their trademark attitude of "its a family affair" will sort out this mess on the ground.

The evidence arising from those who have testified so far clearly indicate that the whole deal was bogus. Its still surprising that such a huge contract was awarded even before the so called committee even approved it. If there wasn't an intention to steal, why wasn't the normal process followed? Why wasn't the FCDA allowed to carry out the renovations or "upgrade" (who cares about the semantics they are now using), Why wasn't a tender called for openly? Those in the camp of Etteh seems to be overlooking the basics in this whole case. Some of her supporters have stated that she has saved the nation a lot of money by operating from her home instead of the NICON-HILTON hotel where the government would have paid as much as 244 million for 107 nights!!! At least this scam is bring up a lot of rubbish and wastage in our government. When the majority of Nigerians have become victims of those that are supposed to bring them the very much desired Uhuru.

The "Speaker has at last given her own side of the story. Here is an excerpt culled from THISDAY

" the Official residence of the Speaker is not an ordinary residence; it is also a symbol and reflection of the status of the House of Representatives. It is common knowledge that the official demands of my office as presiding Officer of the House and, by the special grace of the almighty God, the official number four citizen of our country, make it practically impossible to play host to all important national and foreign personalities during official hours. As the Speaker, I am entitled to a decent and secure environment where these categories of people can be received and hosted.
It therefore, became imperative to expedite work on the official residence of the Speaker, since my private residence at Gwarinpa was not suitable.
It is worthy of note that after my election as the Speaker I should have enjoyed the privilege of moving immediately into a Presidential suit in a five-star hotel for 107 days which would have gulped over N244,000,000.00. but I rejected this official hotel accommodation provided for me and elected to stay instead in my Gwarinpa private residence. I also directed the Deputy Speaker and all our aides to follow suit. We equally refused to take any money in lieu of hotel accommodation and none of our aides did.
As a member and now as Speaker, I am committed to service. I am not in any way driven by extravagance, comfort or personal gain. Any responsible officer eager to eager perform would definitely keep on their toes all those whose duty it was to ensure that the renovation and upgrading works were completed on time to enable us move into our official residences."

The "Speaker" has stated that no vehicles have been purchased but there was an intention to purchase them if not for the contract coming into question. How can the "Speaker" justify the order for 2 Mercedes benz cars and 10 Toyota Landcruiser jeeps for herself and her Assistant? I guess she wanted to also join the league of our public office holders who drive in a convoy of exotic jeeps at the expense of the suffering masses, a group of people who have almost become irrelevant to those in power. How can she and her camp justify spending 620 million (though they claim its 220 million) in renovating houses for only two officers? I wonder why a chapel or mosque has to be built as part of the house in the first place. SO these officers cannot prayer within the precinct of their large houses. I wish the very much touted spirituality in our country can be transferred into the practical physical realm.

There is no doubt that those in public office deserve good accommodation, so does every other Nigerian. Is it how expensive or impressive the accommodation is that facilitates good governance? It would be nice to see the houses parliament leaders in European countries and other western nations live in. I really believe that our current political structure encourages a huge waste of resources. Why do we even have the House of Assembly and Senate? There has been some much spent and is still being spent on these institutions with only little results. What impact have they had on the lives of the everyday Nigerians?

This contract scam should really make us examine our system of accountability. Those involved should simply ask themselves the question, "Did we satisfy the basic requirements and ideal procedures for the award of these contracts in question?" If their answer is "YES", they should not in anyway be affected by what is being said but if their answer is "NO", the right thing should be done, apologise to Nigerians and step down from that position.