From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Adopt a Goal for National Development Initiative (AGNDI), has frowned at the magnitude of lobbying and bribery allegations from an aspirants for Senate President of the 10th Assembly.
The group in a statement signed by its Director of program, Victor Martins described the allegation as a weighty one that must be investigated by the security agencies and should not be swept under the carpet.
AGNDI, in the statement also accused a Senators-elect and former governor from the North of dolling out whooping sum of $10,000 to the members of the upper chamber of the Assembly.
According to the statement; “we are shocked with reports accusing an aspirant for the position of Senate President of bribing Senators-elect with the sum of $10,000 to curry their favours. The despicable act, our group discovered, could be traced to a former Chief Executive of a State from the North who would be inaugurated into the Senate for the first time in June.
“He has been accused of boasting that he would stop at nothing in getting the highly coveted seat no matter what it would cost, including guile. The Senator-elect who wrote a letter congratulating all Senators-elect mischievously referred to himself in the letter as a Distinguished Senator instead of Senator-elect, apparently to hoodwink new members.
“The question is how could a fresher that has never stepped his feet into the Senate nor inaugurated refer to himself as Distinguished Senator?”
“Our group calls for the urgent attention of the relevant security agencies to the issue of this former Governor who though a fresher to the Senate, already corrupting the system.
“This is a governor under whose watch banditry started and ravaged the whole zone. Same governor was recently indicted by the EFCC for mismanaging States funds running into several billions.
“Reports reaching us at the moment indicate that the same governor has pencilled a whooping sum of N500 million to book a whole floor for his campaign headquarters at a five-star hotel in Abuja. Such a whooping sum in hiring a whole floor for a campaign lasting not more than two months?”
“Our investigations further revealed that the former governor is bent on getting the position in order to cover up his numerous corruption cases! Where on earth has a fresher to the parliament pursued the Presidency of the Senate or Speakership in this manner? The ranking rules remain valid for all members to respect not disrespect,” the statement read.
Reacting further, the organisation noted: “We therefore call on all the anti corruption agencies to swing into action to investigate this allegation and bringing him to book if found guilty.
“We also call on the President-elect Bola Tinubu to be very circumspect in his endorsement of the leadership positions in the parliament as all eyes are on him to clean the nation’s augean stables under his watch,” they appealed.