Reps threatens to arrest Buhari’s panel on stolen public property

The Aliyu Pategi-led ad hoc Committee investigating the
legality of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel (SPIP) has
said it would not hesitate to invoke the necessary constitutional
provisions if the members of the panel failed to appear before it
on May 8, 2018.

SPIP Chairman Okoi Obono-Obla, the Secretary of the panel,
Akinbola Adeniran and the other three members of panel, Salihu
Abubakar, Obinna Ogwuegbu and Monday Agbonika risked being arrested
after repeated failure to honour the invitation of the House of
Representatives.

Since the beginning of the investigative public hearing on April
19 on the legality and modus operandi of the panel, none of the
panel members has appeared before the committee.

However, after the third sitting, Pategi said the non-appearance
of the members of SPIP before the committee was an affront on the
legislature.

A member of the committee, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), who
moved the motion to summon the SPIP members, said it was within the
constitutional role of the legislature to oversight the
executive.

“Following this continuous refusal to appear before this
committee, I move that you evoke the relevant sections of section
89 of the 1999 Constitution and summon the chairman of the panel
and its members.

“They are to appear here on May 8, 2018 unfailingly, without
which we shall exercise our responsibility to issue a warrant of
arrest for them to appear”.

In his submission, the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF),
Anthony Ayine, said there was no audit report of financial
activities of the panel since its inception in 2017.

On his part, Emmanuel Akisa, the Legal Adviser to the Office of
the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), explained
that the panel was set up as a special one to cure some existing
defects.

He said: “This includes where a public officer and private
citizen is engaged in corrupt practices or unjustly enriched
himself.

“This is with the sole aim of recovering stolen public
property.”

The Aliyu Pategi-led ad hoc Committee investigating the
legality of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel (SPIP) has
said it would not hesitate to invoke the necessary constitutional
provisions if the members of the panel failed to appear before it
on May 8, 2018.

SPIP Chairman Okoi Obono-Obla, the Secretary of the panel,
Akinbola Adeniran and the other three members of panel, Salihu
Abubakar, Obinna Ogwuegbu and Monday Agbonika risked being arrested
after repeated failure to honour the invitation of the House of
Representatives.

Since the beginning of the investigative public hearing on April
19 on the legality and modus operandi of the panel, none of the
panel members has appeared before the committee.

However, after the third sitting, Pategi said the non-appearance
of the members of SPIP before the committee was an affront on the
legislature.

A member of the committee, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), who
moved the motion to summon the SPIP members, said it was within the
constitutional role of the legislature to oversight the
executive.

“Following this continuous refusal to appear before this
committee, I move that you evoke the relevant sections of section
89 of the 1999 Constitution and summon the chairman of the panel
and its members.

“They are to appear here on May 8, 2018 unfailingly, without
which we shall exercise our responsibility to issue a warrant of
arrest for them to appear”.

In his submission, the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF),
Anthony Ayine, said there was no audit report of financial
activities of the panel since its inception in 2017.

On his part, Emmanuel Akisa, the Legal Adviser to the Office of
the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), explained
that the panel was set up as a special one to cure some existing
defects.

He said: “This includes where a public officer and private
citizen is engaged in corrupt practices or unjustly enriched
himself.

“This is with the sole aim of recovering stolen public
property.”