Festus Keyamo, Senior Advocate
and Human Rights lawyer, on Wednesday warned against politicizing the
investigation of suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, SEC, Mounir Haliru Gwarzo.
Keyamo said they should not
reduce the laudable, “investigation of alleged graft to a mere political
witch-hunt by linking it to the on-going probe of Oando Plc.”
In a statement he signed, the Senior lawyer said these, “political jobbers” are out to
“intimidate the agencies investigating the suspended DG of SEC into abandoning
their mandate and ultimately erode the confidence of the Nigerian public in the
eventual outcome of the investigations.”
The statement reads, “It is no
longer news that Mr. Mounir Haliru Gwarzo, the suspended Director-General of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (DG of SEC) is under investigation for
his conduct as the head of Nigeria’s apex securities regulator. In this
respect, I am aware of the following bodies presently investigating all the
allegations raised against the suspended DG of SEC:
“An Administrative Panel of
Inquiry set up by the Hon. Minister of Finance;
“The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission
“Independent Corrupt Practices
and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)
“However, I woke up this morning
and read of the attempts by the House of Representatives, some individuals and
even media outlets to reduce this laudable investigation of alleged graft to a
mere political witch-hunt by linking it to the on-going probe of Oando Plc.
“The clear objective of these
political jobbers is to intimidate the agencies investigating the suspended DG
of SEC into abandoning their mandate and ultimately erode the confidence of the
Nigerian public in the eventual outcome of the investigations.
“Let it be known to all and
sundry that despite the hues and cries of those trying to obfuscate the real
issues in this investigation, the questions that well-meaning Nigerians and
myself want answered are as follows:-
“Did the suspended DG of SEC pay
to himself the sum of N104,851,154.94 (One Hundred and Four Million, Eight
Hundred and Fifty One Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Four Naira, Ninety Four
Kobo) as ‘severance benefits’ after for his elevation from Executive
Commissioner of SEC to DG of SEC despite not having completed his tenure as
Executive Commissioner?
“If this is true would it not be
in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set
out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 19 of the
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act and Sections 122 and 311 of
the Penal Code Act, Laws of FCT?
“Did the suspended DG of SEC
award contracts to companies like Outbound Investment Limited, Northwind
Environmental Services and Micro-Technologies Nigeria Limited in which he and
his cronies are both directors and shareholders?
“If this is true would it not be
in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set
out in the 5th Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Section 311 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of FCT and Section 19 of the Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Act?
“Did the suspended DG of SEC
divert for his personal use the vehicles belonging to the Securities and
Exchange Commission despite receiving the sum of N84,388,886.00 (Eighty Four
Million, Three Hundred and Eighty Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Six
Naira) as monetized car grant/allowance for four cars?
“If this is true, would it not be
in contravention of Section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers set
out in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 311 of the
Penal Code Act Laws of FCT and Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Act?
“Whilst Nigerians anxiously await
the Report of all the investigations into the Securities and Exchange
Commission, I also urge the relevant agencies to continue the transparent and
thorough probe of the issues surrounding Oando Plc.
“The Oando Plc probe should not
be scuttled on account of the investigation of the suspended DG of SEC because
the Oando probe and the SEC investigation are mutually exclusive despite the
attempts to link them together.
“The posers raised above agitate
the minds of all well-meaning Nigerians who are eagerly awaiting the thorough
and speedy conclusions of all investigations.
“I therefore urge all the bodies
and agencies involved in the probe to be firm, fair and decisive. They should
not be distracted by those who want to introduce politics into the whole
affair.”
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