Dimeji Bankole , former House Speaker

Trouble is far from over for the embattled former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has concluded plans to charge him with another alleged fraud relating to the N2.3 billion Peugeot cars deal.

Also to be re-arrested and re-arraigned is the former deputy speaker of the House, Usman Nafada.

An EFCC source told our correspondent that the duo would have been arrested immediately they perfected their bail last Friday but for intervention from certain quarters.

The source said  the commission had already concluded investigations into the scam and was ready to prefer charges against them.

In December 2007 at an executive session presided over by Bankole, the lower parliament approved the purchase of 380 units of Peugeot 407 cars, five for each of the 76 standing committees of the house.

This transaction was followed by wide allegations that some members made financial gains from the deal because Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, which supplied the vehicles, allegedly supplied a different model of the vehicles at significantly less cost than the approved ones.

The House was also alleged to have paid Value Added Tax twice to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

The Ethics and Privileges committee of the House which investigated the allegations cleared the leadership of any wrongdoing and instead questioned the source of the documents presented by Festus Keyamo, a Lagos-based lawyer who first raised the allegations.

The committee further recommended that “the clerk of the National Assembly should immediately carry out an internal investigation to unravel why certain classified and important documents such as the letter of offer and acceptance in the National Assembly were procured by unauthorised persons.”

Consequently, the EFCC commenced investigations into the scandal but nothing much was heard about the case from the commission.

Then in a dramatic twist, the EFCC recently claimed that it had concluded its investigations, sent a copy to its legal unit for prosecutorial recommendation, and another copy to the presidency for its attention.

EFCC’s chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri had on June 7, said  the commission’s report was ready and had been sent to the “commission’s legal unit for advice.”

She also said the commission had sent a report of its investigations to the presidency and was sure of its cooperation.

Bankole and Nafada have already been charged with illegally obtaining N37.7 billion in loans from commercial banks.

They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and were admitted to bail by the trial judge, Justice Suleiman Belgore, on Thursday.

Bankole has also been charged with allegedly inflating contracts for the purchase of copies, electronics and cars. He has also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

-ThisDay

Posted by admin on Jun 18 2011. Filed under House, Legislature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry