House of Reps ,Aruma Otteh and The Nigerian Economy

Chidi Wilson Nwachukwu

I still recall  with amusement one Hon Bamidele of House of Reps speaking in a popular African Independent Television, KAKAKI, Thursday 6^th of December 2012,on the reason why officials from the Security and Exchange Commission were walked out from budget presentation of the Agency. I could not help but asked myself whether this is the people’s representative speaking or  just an ordinary Nigerian. Nigeria is a bagful of irony ,this is one country where you  get some of the most innovative  and brilliant people on earth, yet when it comes to political representation ,you get less than average people representing  large chunks of  intelligentsia. And  you ask yourself, how did this people emerged? However that is a question for another day.  

That officials of the Security and Exchange Commission were walked out of budget defence is no longer news to Nigerians ,what is news is that there is no alternative to that ill conceived action. That area of the economy may as well  crash for all they care. It was easy for the House of Reps members to dismiss officials of SEC ,but it became extremely difficult for them to proffer  solution on what becomes the fate of the Agency viza viz the Nigerian economy and Nigerians in event that the budget allocation was not  made to it in the 2013 fiscal year.

In about one hour programme on the AIT, the Honourable member could only tell Nigerians that the reason why it was against SEC and dismissed its officials from legally presenting its budget defence was because the DG Aruma Otteh was not qualified to hold office in the first place.He insisted that  the Act establishing the Commission provides that the person qualified to hold office as DG must have 15 years cognate experience. I believe Nigerians were expecting the Honourable to say more of the sins of the DG but he said nothing further.

This is not an attempt to defend the DG who many have described as a cat with nine lives given the badgering she has received from the superior citizens (House Members) in no distant past. In fact as a Nigerian I am only disturbed by this unwholesome debacle that does no one any good. Candid publics  would have expected  that Nigerians be considered first and foremost by the House members,afterall it is all about public interest if we are to believe  the Honourable that “we are the representative of the people” as he declared severally in the course of the programme.

From all indications the law makers cannot say that they are fighting for public interest when it is clear that their ego is at stake at the expense of Nigerians. They were there when the woman was appointed and cleared,it does not matter that she was cleared by the Senate. It behoove them to have investigated her Resume as part of their oversight functions before she was finally confirmed. They must also realize that the executive who have refused to fire the DG may also be acting in the interest of Nigerians, especially as Hon. Hembe a current House of Rep member was said to have demanded money from the DG  which she refused, Mr Hembe did not deny it because it was true.

The House members should have saved themselves from this embarrassment by quietly working with SEC officials and do the needful rather than dismiss them. As it stands now the executive have no reason to fire the DG more so as external auditors have looked into the Agency’s book but could not trace any fraud to her. To liken the current situation to that of Prof. Bart Nnaji is not correct, because Nnaji’s case was a conflict of interest which he admitted. In Aruma Otte’s case, she only touched the tiger’s tail by exposing the corrupt tendencies of the House members who perharps consider themselves untouchable.I am very pleased that the Sec DG refused to throw in the towel inspite of pressures coming from the overlords who think that Nigeria belongs to them, and can bully anyone when it suits them. Oh! less I forget, the Sec DG  is also a Nigerian with a constitutional right to head any leadership position just like the House Members.

 I am also appalled that Nigerians are not on the street right  now demonstrating against zero allocation to SEC in 2013 budget. This is one agency that occupies  strategic position in the Nigeria.s economy yet those who claim to represent the interest of the people did not put the people first, but rather chose to flex their egocentric muscles on a matter that requires elementary wisdom. Do Nigerians need further proof that there is no leadership in Nigeria?                   

Nwachukwu,A legal Practitioner lives in Abuja