In what looks like a fiction, northern senators, yesterday, revealed how monkeys stole N70million belonging to the Northern Senators Forum, on the farmland of some executives of the forum, chaired by Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West).
For this singular act of ‘corruption’, the members passed a vote of no confidence on the former Nasarawa state governor, and consequently sacked him as their leader. In his place, they named another former governor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko (APC Sokoto) as the new NSF chair.
It would be recalled that Adamu, a big time farmer, was the arrowhead of the group of senators opposed to the recently passed Bill amending the order and sequence of the 2019 elections, which he claimed was targeted at President Muhammadu Buahri. Besides, the former governor also, early in the week, slammed former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his advice to President Buhari to shun his second term ambition. Specifically, the lawmaker said Obasanjo should have been in jail for certain corrupt practices during his two-term tenure as president, but for Buhari’s selective anti-corruption fight.
Adamu’s removal was announced on the floor, yesterday, by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the session, via a letter written to that effect by the northern senators. The letter read in part: “This is to inform the Senate that the majority signatories of this letter are members of the Northern Senators Forum.
We have removed Senator Abdullahi Adamu as Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum for fi nancial mismanagement and misadministration. We announce his immediate replacement with Senator Aliyu Wamakko.
” Providing further insight into the allegation, some members of the forum who spoke to journalists, specifically mentioned that the financial mismanagement had to do with N70million balance in the forum’s account, at the end of the 7th Senate, and handed over to Adamu on his emergence as the NSF chair in the 8th Senate. According to Senator Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), under Adamu’s leadership, the forum could not account for part of the money inherited from the 7th Assembly.
He said: “There are some things that some of my colleagues cannot say, but I’m not used to holding back what is the truth. When we resumed as senators, Senator Ahmed Lawan tendered the sum of N70 million to the 8th Senate. “That N70 million were monies gathered by northern senators from the 7th Senate. So it was handed over to the 8th senators from Northern Nigeria under the 8th Senate.
“The rumours going round, whether it is true, but I believe most of the senators know is the fact, there were allegations that some monkeys raided the farm house of some of the executives in Northern Senators Forum and carted away some of these monies.
“I think this country is becoming a huge joke. First of all, it was the rodent that drove away the President and we now have snakes consuming about N36 million, and now, you have monkeys.” Also speaking on the change of guard, Senator Dino Melaye said it was a majority decision.
“All I will just say is simply that the decision of the majority of the Northern Senators Forum is that they want to have a change of leadership. The allegations investigated and found out to be true is that there was financial mismanagement. “Monies were spent without the consent of members or the excos.
The organisation is becoming moribund and we need to inject some vibrancy in the organisation,” he said. Other northern senators like Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and Hamman Isah Missau , also hinged the removal of Senator Adamu as chairman of the Senate’s Northern caucus on alleged mismanagement of the N70million.
Adamu keeps mum All efforts made to get reaction from Adamu on the allegation proved abortive, saying he would react at the appropriate time. Omo-Agege backs out Adamu’s sack came hours after a member of the group, Senator Ovie Omo- Agege (APC Delta Central), apologised for alleging that the Senate’s action on new elections sequence, was targeted at Buhari.
The Senate, had on Tuesday, on the strength of a motion moved by Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West), mandated its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate Omo – Agege on its comments and report back within two weeks . But in beating a retreat, OmoAgege rose through order 43 of the Senate’s standing rules under personal explanation to apologise.
He said : “Yesterday (Tuesday), a colleague of mine, Senator Dino Melaye, drew the attention of the Senate to comment I made on the passage of the conference committee report on 2010 electoral (amendment ) bill, which contains new sequence of elections for the 2019 polls different from the earlier one released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “Senator Melaye, in his submission as adopted by the Senate, said, my comments on the new sequence of election was very damaging to the Institution of the Senate, and I hereby apologise.”
Though his apology was noted by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, the upper chamber, however, said that would not in any way stop the committee from forging ahead with the mandated assignment.
