Business
House Committee Demanded N44m Bribe – SEC Boss
The embattled Director General of Security and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh, has attributed the allegations levelled against her by the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market to her refusal to pay a total sum of N44 million as bribe to the lawmarkers.
Oteh who made this known during a public hearing last Thursday said the lawmakers’ reference to her office on limitless spending was because she turned down the request of the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Herman Hembe.
The SEC boss noted that the lawmakers first asked for N39 million to defray the cost of the on going public hearing, adding that when she refused, the chairman asked for N5 million.
This she said was in addition to the commission sponsoring a foreign trip for members of the committee and paying them.
The accusation by the SEC boss resulted to an unsettled mood at the public hearing which was recorded live by the media, as lawmakers scrambled to play down the effect of the accusation.
However, the chairman of the House committee, Hernan Hembe, who tried to identify representatives of the EFCC and ICPC at the hearing said he was surrendering himself to their probe over the accusation.