How not to dodge counter allegation by NAFDAC DG indicting House of Reps’ members on bribery – AN EDITORIAL

“The DEFENDER therefore recommends that all members of the committee involved in this unfortunate allegation demanding for bribe from the NAFDAC DG and who, failing to get the bribe, leveled allegation of corruption against their victim, should as a first step be deleted from the list of lawmakers entitling to benefit from the over N400 billion computed for severance benefits as the Eighth National Assembly winds up.”

The Director General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye, recently opened up on the truth of the earlier allegation of unapproved funds diversion by some lawmakers of the Health Care Services Committee of the Nigeria’s House of Representatives.

Adeyeye said what actually happened was that the same lawmakers laying such destructive allegation against her were the ones who asked her for bribe but that she refused to give, thereby incurring their wrath.

Her failure to give bribe to members of the Health Care Services Committee, she disclosed, led to their threatening her only for her to see in the end the corruption allegation leveled against her as reported in the media.

Prof. Adeyeye stated that the request from the federal lawmakers came at a time the agency was ‘bleeding profusely’ from a paucity of funds.

Beyond shocking, the NAFDAC boss described the day the bribe request was made to her as the worst day of her life as ‘a chief regulator.’

“I said I cannot. For just the visit? I couldn’t believe my ears because it saddens me. Yes, it can be referred to as them asking for a bribe. It saddens me. This is an organisation that was bleeding profusely.

“It wasn’t taken well at all. I was threatened and I couldn’t believe that too, you are threatening me?” She stated.

Reacting to her plight in the hands of the lawmakers on a TVC’s Journalists Hangout thenceafter, Mr. Babajide Lolade-Otitoju, wondered for what reason should lawmakers demand money from an agency that was living on meager resources, even at all, he said corruption at any level was to be frowned at.

The Journalists’ Hangout discussants revealed that the lawmakers claimed the N35 million they asked for was for them to organize awareness programme on drug abuse, which Otitoju said was not the business of lawmakers.

“They can advise the agency to organize such awareness but not for the House of Representatives committee to do,” he said, warning that the Nigerian lawmakers were already sending bad signals to other Nigerians in the Diaspora how not to resolve within their minds to want to come home to contribute to development of their father land.”

The House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services’ allegation of unapproved funds diversion against Prof. Adeyeye, yet another Nigerian in the Diaspora brought home to serve her father land, if true, is breach of trust punishable under the law.  But following the allegation, the alleged official, exercising her right of reply, had given her own side of the story, which, one week after, is yet to be countered by the lawmakers.

It is appalling therefore that no Nigerian member of the media community has made the usual noise and repeated featurising and broadcasting discourse over this atrocious allegation against the heavily paid lawmakers of Nigeria’s National Assembly said still be yearning for bribe, even from an agency ‘bleeding profusely’ from a paucity of funds.

The DEFENDER observes that the House of Representatives committee members, who had been so vehement in leveling such serious and name killing allegation against a woman in service of her father land, suddenly went into the oblivion after the accused has now been able to tell her own side of the story.  It is even worse that they remain silent endlessly, failing to counter her submission which revealingly indicted the accusers, meaning that something urgent needs to be done.

This attempt to dodge the reality of the sad story is undesirable, NOT even at this time that over N400 billion has been computed to take care of severance benefits for departing Eighth National Assembly members, including these House of Representatives lawmakers.

We frown at the House of Representatives and, by extension, the Bukola Saraki-led National Assembly for deliberately wanting to dodge addressing this serious corruption case made against Health Care Services Committee members of the Lower Chamber.  Nigerians, whom they addressed about how they found Adeyeye culpable as corruptly diverting unapproved funds of NAFDAC, deserve to have them back and bold enough to come out after the agency boss had revealed what she said was the truth of the matter rather indicting, to dispute her or otherwise.  But for one week now, they have continued to fail in this aspect, meaning that the lawmakers have a lot of things they are hiding.

The DEFENDER therefore recommends that all members of the committee involved in this unfortunate allegation demanding for bribe from the NAFDAC DG and who, failing to get the bribe, leveled allegation of corruption against their victim, should as a first step be deleted from the list of lawmakers entitling to benefit from the over N400 billion computed for severance benefits as the Eighth National Assembly winds up.

This media organization also calls on the Federal Government and its agencies constitutionally charged with duty of looking at allegations of this nature to wade in and do the needful because, justice delayed is justice denied.  The lawmakers, through a concentrated probe, need to confess or otherwise to their indictment by the NAFDAC DG’s submission and whoever is found to be culpable at the end of the process must be seen, publicly, facing the consequences of his or her crime.

Finally, we warn that it will be laying bad precedence for the anti-corruption war in the country, if Nigerians, home and abroad, are made to develop the impression that members of the National Assembly are always above the law in that any time a member of the Legislature commits a crime, corruption-related or others, the Executive charged with the constitutional responsibility of executing the laws would have no political will to act against him.