The National Assembly has said President
Goodluck Jonathan must “comprehensively” address issues raised by
former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his letter to him (the President).
The two chambers said this on Friday in their separate reactions to the controversial letter written by Obasanjo to Jonathan.
But while there are indications that the
House of Representatives would, this week, raise a motion on the
letter, the Senate stated that it would wait for Jonathan’s response
before taking any action.
Obasanjo had in the 18-page letter
accused Jonathan of condoning corruption and engaging in acts that were
capable of destroying the country.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules
and Business, Senator Ita Enang, in an interview with one of our
correspondents on Friday in Abuja, said Jonathan should address the
issues raised by Obasanjo in the letter in due time to avoid tension.
He said, “The letter by Obasanjo touches
on national security and all the issues raised therein cannot be
ignored. President Jonathan has a duty of taking the issues raised in
the letter, one after the other and explaining his side of the story to
Nigerians”
Enang was of the view that the
legislature cannot take action on the letter until an appropriate
response from the Presidency had been made.
He said, “As it is, no legislative
action can be taken unless the issue had been raised as a motion after
appropriate responses had been made by the presidency in reaction to the
allegation.”
Also, the Minority Whip, who is also a
prominent leader of the opposition in the Senate, Senator Ganiyu
Solomon, admitted that the issues raised by Obasanjo were capable of
heating up the polity and causing serious tension.
He said, “All issues raised are very
sensitive and germane. The Presidency cannot just dismiss the letter
just like that. They should give full explanation. It is not a beer
parlour talk.
“Asking us to investigate it at the
National Assembly level may not achieve the desired result. Any
responsible government owes the citizenry the responsibility of letting
the world know the true position of things.
“The sensitive issues raised by Obasanjo
are enough to make us to shiver as a nation. A situation when a former
President for eight years is saying the symbol of the ruling party has
performed woefully called for a serious action.”
On their part, members of the House of
Representatives said it would serve Jonathan’s interest and the interest
of the nation for him to respond “urgently” to the allegations of
Obasanjo.
The lawmakers said silence on the
allegations would be “dangerous” and that delay could “give political
forces the opportunity to heat up the polity.”
Speaking on the issue, the Chairman,
House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said
the House was vindicated by Obasanjo’s letter.
He said since June 2011, the House had
always fought corruption, cautioned the executive, demanded details of
budget implementation, but made little progress.
Mohammed said, “These are very serious, dangerous allegations and we should not look at the messenger but the message.”
On whether the House would conduct a
probe specifically into the content of the letter, Mohammed stated that
the House would continue to perform its duty of exposing corruption.
“It is not just about the letter, but we
will continue to conduct investigations; we have a job to do and we
will continue to do it,” he added.
Commenting in a similar vein, the Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, told SUNDAY PUNCH that “Jonathan must respond to the weighty allegations.”
According to him, some of the
allegations “are almost satanic” and did not fall in the category of
issues the ruling PDP usually wished away as “PDP family affairs.”
Gbajabiamila, who is the caucus leader
of the All Progressives Congress at the House, noted that the
allegations on security training and placing some people on security
watch list were “grave and must not be wished away.”
He stated that members were still studying the letter and would likely raise motions on the floor next week.
“There are aspects of these allegations having to do with national security.
“In the coming week, members may want to
ask more questions on these security allegations, like placing people
on a watch list,” he added.
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