Members Of National Assembly Facing Criminal Allegations

Nigeria’s eighth National Assembly was inaugurated
on Tuesday, June 9. At the chambers of the Senate
and the House of Representatives, 109 Senators
and 360 Representatives were sworn in to office
for a four-year term.
Section 66(1a-i) the 1999 Constitution bars certain
categories of Nigerians from being members of the
National Assembly.
The Constitution says a person shall be unworthy to
make laws for the country if he has been indicted
for embezzlement or fraud by a judicial commission
of inquiry or an administrative panel of inquiry or
a tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry
Act, Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by
the federal or state government which indictment
has been accepted by the federal or state
governments respectively.
Members of secret societies, persons with forged
certificates, and undischarged bankrupts are also
disqualified from becoming lawmakers.
While none of the 469 members is yet to be
convicted based on the above provisions of the law,
many of them face criminal and sundry charges
that cast doubts on their integrity.
NGOSSIP presents men and a woman who
have confirmed allegations of criminal wrongdoing
against them, who will be making laws for the
nation.
David Mark
It emerged in March 2005, during a messy divorce
case with his ex-wife, Victoria, that the immediate
past President of the Senate violated Nigerian law
by operating foreign accounts while holding public
office.
Court papers in London showed that in the early
2000s, Mr. Mark operated foreign accounts, having
about six million pounds in four accounts – three at
the Northern Bank, Isle of Man, and one at the
Allied Irish Bank, Jersey.
The funds were frozen in October 2000 as a result
of the ancillary relief sought by Victoria in the
couple’s divorce case. Mr. Mark’s operation of those
accounts while a Senator is a violation of Nigerian
law which bars public officials from operating
foreign accounts while in office.
Section Three (Part 1) of the Fifth Schedule of
the Nigerian Constitution says, “The The President,
Vice -President, Governor, Deputy Governor,
Ministers of the Government of the Federation and
Commissioners of the Governments of the States,
members of the National Assembly and of the
Houses of Assembly of the States, and such other
public officers or persons as the National Assembly
may by law prescribe shall not maintain or operate
a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.”
The Code of Conduct Bureau, vested with the
responsibility of prosecuting public officers who
violate this law, has however turned a blind eye to
the development. Mr. Mark has not been charged
to court.

Iorwase Hembe and Ifeanyi Azubuogu
Mr. Hembe is a member of the House of
Representatives from Vandekya/Konshisha Federal
Constituency, Benue State while Mr. Azubuogu is a
member from Nnewi North/South Federal
Constituency, Anambra State
The duo were accused by the former Director
General of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, SEC, Arunma Oteh, of demanding N39
million bribes and an additional N5 million, during
the probe of the near collapse of the capital
market in 2012.
The SEC DG also alleged that Mr. Hembe received
money from the commission to enable him travel to
the Dominican Republic for a conference which he
did not attend. Instead of refunding the Duty Tour
Allowance, DTA, to SEC, Mr. Hembe pocketed it.
Based on the allegation, Messrs Hembe and
Azubuogu, who were chairman and deputy chairman
of capital market committee respectively, were
suspended by the House.
They were later arraigned for fraud by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The two lawmakers are yet to be cleared of the
charges.

Femi Gbajabiamila
In the run-up to the election for the Speakership
of the House of Representatives, which was
determined on Monday, the Registered Trustees of
the Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness
Initiative approached the Abuja Division of the
Federal High Court to push for the disqualification
of Mr. Gbajabiamila, who was one of the leading
contenders for the position.
The group contended that Mr. Gbajabiamila was not
morally fit to be Speaker having been convicted in
the state of Georgia for unethical practices and
debarred as a lawyer for 36 months.
In an ex-parte motion, argued on its behalf by
Human Rights lawyer, Mike Ozehkome, SAN, the
group said information available to it suggested
that the APC lawmaker was, in 2007, convicted in
the state of Georgia for unethical practices and
was debarred for 36 months based on an order by
the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Details of the allegations indicate that on February
26, 2007 the highest court in the state of Georgia
ordered that Femi Gbaja (Gbajabiamila), with state
bar number 288330, be suspended from the
practice of law for 36 months.
The ruling was based on a complaint by one of the
clients of Mr. Gbajabiamila, who accused him of
stealing $25,000 from him.
The lawyer had in 2003, while practising in Georgia,
accepted payment of $25,000 on behalf of his
client as personal injury claims. He however failed
to disburse the funds to the client. Rather, he
withdrew the funds, closed his law practice and
returned to Nigeria to launch a political career.
Mr. Gbajabiamila would perhaps have been debarred
for life. But before judgment could be giving in
the case, he pleaded guilty before a full panel of
the Supreme Court of Georgia led by Chief Justice
Leah Ward Sears, and filed a petition for Voluntary
Discipline under bar rule 4-227(b).
He later refunded the client’s money ($25,000)
and once again became eligible to practice law in
the State of Georgia in February 2010.

Bukola Saraki
Mr. Saraki, who was elected Senate President on
Tuesday, is accused of fraud and money
laundering. In March 2014, the Special Fraud Unit
of the Nigeria Police issued a damning report
recommending the Senator (APC Kwara Central)
for prosecution over alleged violation of Nigeria’s
money laundering laws.
In an investigation that spanned many years and
covered accounts held by the Senator and his
companies in Zenith, GTB and Access Bank, police
investigators say they found evidence of huge and
consistent stealing of public funds by Mr. Saraki
and his aides, especially when he served as
governor of Kwara state.
The investigative report said in part, “The
activities of Dr. Bukola Saraki, his Personal
Assistant, Abdul Adama other personal staffs that
helped him in laundering the monies in bits
including the companies that helped transform the
naira to foreign exchange thus making it possible
for him in washing the cash overseas are in
contravention of the provisions of the Money
Laundering Act. They are recommended to be
prosecuted for offenses relating to Money
Laundering and for breaching the Forex
(Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act,
Section 12(1), Section 29(2) a and b, Section 39(3)
(4) Section 30(1)(a), (2)(b).”
The Nigerian authorities have however failed to
charge the Senator to court.
In fact, rather than do this, former Attorney
General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke,
wrote to the Inspector General directing him to
stop further investigation of Mr. Saraki.
Based on this directive, a Federal High Court, in
May, ordered the police to stop further
“harassment” of the Senator.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had
also in July 2013 summoned Mr. Saraki over
separate corruption allegations.
Some residents of Kwara had petitioned the EFCC
accusing Mr. Saraki of graft worth hundreds of
millions of naira during his eight-year rule (2003
to 2011).
Mr. Saraki’s spokesperson, Bamikole Omishore,
confirmed the receipt of the EFCC summons at the
time. But it is unclear how far the anti-corruption
agency has gone in its investigation.