Politics
Faroukgate: Another Political Legacy?
Since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in Nigeria in 1999, the country had been exposed to various events at different levels of governance that unarguably qualify to be recorded as part of its legacy. More so when these events have to do with any arm of government, none the least the legislature, which should rightly be at the driver’s seat of governance.
One of such events is the on-going $3 million bribery scandal in the fuel subsidy probe involving Hon. Farouk Lawan, Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the probe of the fuel subsidy regime, and oil magnate, Femi Otedola, which has been christened “Faroukgate”.
As a major allegation on corruption in the National Assembly, Faroukgate has become one too many of such ignoble corruption cases seemingly being perpetrated in the First Estate of the Realm. There appears to be this persistent stench of corruption oozing from the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives in every given legislative year.
In fact, it is such that since the return of democratic rule in 1999, no dispensation has successfully ended without an awful event breaking out from the Green Chambers. Worst is the fact that the events are not palatable. If it does not bother on issues of certificate forgery, it is a bribery scandal or outright embezzlement of public funds which never got investigated beyond news breaks.
Beyond the thrills and frills that it affords the media which furnishes the populace of goings-on, these issues have continued to raise questions about the integrity and or maturity of those elected as lawmakers in Nigeria. Surprisingly, it started with the very first leadership of the House in the present political dispensation.
Hardly had the House been formally inaugurated in 1999 than the case of certificate forgery by the then Speaker, Alhaji Salisu Buhari erupted. The issue dragged on for some time before the Speaker was finally shoved aside. From then on, Buhari grew cold and lost his voice. To a considerable extent, it was not only his constituency that was brutally assaulted and embarrassed.
The integrity of the House and the country at large was also affected. Expectedly, there were rhetorical questions on the moral standing of the lawmaker to continue to enact laws in the “hallowed” chambers of the House. From the international perspective, Nigeria’s ability to formulate laws that could stand the test of time was also in question.
Shortly afterwards in 2007, the House boiled again. This time the protagonist was Mrs. Patricia Olubumi Etteh, the first female Nigerian Speaker of the House of Representatives. Despite making history as Nigeria’s first female speaker, Etteh, was hounded out of office over sundry allegations levelled against her and some principal officers of the House.
In September 2007, she faced a Committee of the House over accusations that she had authorised the spending of N628 million on renovations of her official residence and that of her deputy, as well as the purchase of 12 official cars. A vociferous campaign by the Integrity Group in the house eventually pushed her out of office.
Like, Buhari, the two personalities went so cold that throughout the life of that Assembly, much was not heard from them in terms of contributing to debates in the House. It was not until the twilight of that administration that Etteh briefly made headlines. She was purportedly cleared of the albatross on her neck, though this did not stamp any appreciable impact.
Alhajis Oladimeji Bankole and Usman Bayero Nafada took over as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, but another corruption saga soon played out. A member of the House, Dino Melaye accused Bankole of siphoning the funds of the House. To the chagrin of all, the allegation generated so much dust that there were exchanges of physical blows in the House amongst the members.
The end of that tenure saw Bankole and Nafada behind bars as they were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and prosecuted later. Though Bankole and Nafada issue appeared controversial in the face of the ensued discrepancy between the EFCC and the court over their discharge and acquittal, most Nigerians still think that the duo will have to do more to erase the feelings of guilt and shame from the subconscious.
Similarly, Nigerians are yet to forget the circle of bribery scandal that rocked the House of Representatives in 2009 when the House set up a Committee to probe the nation’s Power sector. The Committee, headed by Ndudi Godwin Elumelu returned a damning verdict that about $16 billion spent on the sector by the Federal Government actually went down the drain.
The committee thus called for a cleansing of the sector. The Report was about to be debated when Elumelu was caught in the web of a N6 billion supplementary budget padding scam. Elumelu and Senator Nicholas Ugba, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power were eventually dragged to court after a brief detention by the EFCC.
Again, the public odium that emanated from the scandal virtually sealed the lips of Elumelu, who currently appears not to be in haste to discuss public issues. Not long ago, another member of the House of Representatives, Herman Hembe, set out in their usual over-sight function to investigate the “death” of stock exchange.
Surprisingly, a well intended and fact-finding probe ended up boomeranging on the lawmaker who was accused of being part of the rot in the system for allegedly demanding a bribe of N5 million from Otteh who was initially suspended but was last week reinstated as the Director-General of the Security Exchange Commission, SEC, though this did not go down well with majority of staff of SEC.
Hembe’s scandal had hardly died down when in the first week of June, 2012 what seemed to be the mother of all bribery scandals in the National Assembly hit the House. To a large extent, it turned out to buttress former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s accusation a week earlier that the country’s legislative arm is run by rogues who lacked integrity.
“Integrity is necessary for systems and institutions to be strong”, Obasanjo said, noting that “today rogues and armed robbers are in the State House of Assembly and National Assembly. What sort of laws would they make? The Judiciary is also corrupt. During my tenure (as President) many of the corrupt Judges were removed, some are still there”.
The news that the latest bribery scam involves Mr. Farouk Lawan, who is otherwise called “Mr. Integrity”, was one development that was extremely difficult for many people to comprehend.
Lawan , the moving spirit behind the Integrity Group that got Partricia Etteh out of office as Speaker, the smallish but intellectually sturdy man whose tiny voice smacks innocence and honesty, and who displays an admirable grasp of any issue he speaks on, was allegedly discovered to be the supreme “tax collector” in the Foroukgate scandal.
The fact that Lawan had been in the House of Representatives since the beginning of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, representing Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency of Kano State and had been a major factor in virtually all clean-up activities in the House intended to make it free of corruption, made it more difficult to believe.
The better part of his legislative duties had seen him heading many committees, including Finance, Education, Appropriation and subsidy probes. Some say these were compensatory measures to the roles he played in the installation of any given Speaker since the time of Bello Masari.
He is widely believed to be tipped as the next governor of Kano State come 2015. Beyond this, Lawan is also seen as the best northern candidate to vie for the Presidency in 2015.
At the heart of the present faroukgate imbroglio is Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited which was accused of collecting foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), but not importing any fuel. Nigerians were happy that Lawan was bold to name most dubious characters in the system that was milking the oil sector of the economy dry.
In a matter of hours, Femi Otedola, one of the oil magnates and owner of Zenon decided to let the lid open over what transpired between him and Lawan’s committee. According to him, initially, his company was amongst those black-listed to have illicitly dealt with the NNPC. But within a split of seconds, the company’s name got deleted from “the Black Book” and was cleared of all allegations by the Probes Panel. It was later to be known that a bribe of 3 million USD did the magic. The allegations and counter allegations that followed are now part of history, but like historians say, “not to learn from one’s past is to remain forever a child”.
Speaking recently on the matter, the former National Chairman of the All Nigeria Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, “definitely, the integrity of the National Assembly has been very seriously dented, although it is more pronounced in the House of Representatives than the Senate. The Farouk (Lawan) scandal is one scandal too many. I, therefore, suggest that more serious attention be paid on that House and its members in fighting against corruption”.
In the words of Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”.
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has directed his legal team to resume all court proceedings against Mrs. Tracy Ohiri over her repeated allegations of indebtedness and other claims against him.
Mrs Ohiri had publicly accused Senator Umahi of owing her N280 million for campaign materials from his tenure as party chairman in Ebonyi State.
The allegations went viral on social media, where she also accused the Minister of sexual harassment.
Security agencies arrested Mrs Ohiri, and she was subsequently prosecuted. Her lawyer, Barrister Marshall Abubakar, intervened, leading to the deletion of all posts and a public apology, which also gained widespread attention online.
However, days after the apology, Mrs Ohiri resumed her claims against Senator Umahi.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, Senator Umahi said he had informed Barrister Abubakar during the intervention that if Mrs Ohiri could provide verifiable evidence, logs, and communications from the period in question, some of his associates were willing to contribute a sum of One Billion Naira (N1billion) to her, evidence which, he said, she had yet to provide.
“The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Umahi, has been monitoring the ongoing public discourse surrounding the claims and counterclaims by Mrs. Tracy Ohiri.
“Ordinarily, this would have been ignored, but in the interest of truth and public clarity, it is necessary to address the issues directly”, the statement read.
The statement clarified that Barrister Abubakar acted in good faith and without any financial interest, motivated solely by a desire to assist Mrs Ohiri.
At no point did the lawyer discuss or negotiate any payment with the minister, although some well-meaning associates independently offered support”, the statement added.
Senator Umahi reiterated the conditions for resolving the matter: either the claims must be tested in court, or Mrs Ohiri must provide credible evidence, including all relevant communications, to substantiate her allegations.
The minister emphasised that Barr Abubakar conducted himself with integrity throughout the process.
“Following the failure to meet these conditions, particularly the inability to provide verifiable evidence, the Minister has directed his legal team to proceed with all court processes to ensure the truth is fully established,” the statement said.
Senator Umahi said despite years of public provocations and attacks, he chose to remain silent, focusing on national and state services.
He thanked Nigerians who had taken time to assess the facts and noted that “not everyone who presents themselves as a victim truly is one, and in some cases, narratives are deliberately inverted.”
The Minister affirmed that he will not be distracted by Mrs Ohiri’s allegations and remained committed to his mandate at the Ministry of Works.
“The focus remains on results, service, and ensuring that Nigerians continue to benefit from projects that improve connectivity, economic growth, and national development. This administration will continue to pursue its transformation agenda with dedication, transparency, and an unwavering sense of responsibility,” he concluded.
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned proceedings in a suit filed by three aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions.
Justice Stephen Jumbo made the pronouncement during a recent sitting in Port Harcourt.
The suit, which borders on the legitimacy of the party’s leadership structure in the state, was instituted against the factional State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Aaron Chukwuemeka, alongside the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and other respondents.
Also joined in the matter are the PDP as a corporate entity, the Rivers State Government, as well as Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas, including their respective Vice Chairmen and Councillors.
The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, approached the court via an originating summons seeking judicial interpretation on the validity of actions taken by the Chief Chukwuemeka-led state executive committee of the party.
Central to the dispute is whether the said executive committee, whose emergence the claimants contend has been nullified by a subsisting court judgment, retains the legal authority to act on behalf of the party in critical electoral matters.
The plaintiffs specifically urged the court to determine whether the factional leadership could validly submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the purpose of participating in local government elections.
They further questioned the legitimacy of the PDP’s participation in the August 30, 2025 local government elections, contending that any list purportedly submitted by the factional leadership was invalid and of no legal consequence.
In addition to the declaratory reliefs sought, the claimants also prayed the court to grant consequential orders addressing the outcome and conduct of the said elections across the affected local government areas.
At the resumed hearing, counsel representing the PDP and the affected local government councils informed the court that they had only recently been served with the originating processes and accompanying documents.
The defence team, comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), disclosed that service of the court processes was effected on March 13, 2026, leaving them with limited time to adequately prepare their responses.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable them study the processes and address the legal issues raised, particularly as they relate to jurisdictional questions and points of law.
Counsel to the claimants, Glory Chizim-Chinda, did not oppose the application, following which the presiding judge granted the request and adjourned the matter to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions, with a possible ruling expected ahead of the substantive suit.
By: King Onunwor
A former state lawmaker in the old the Rivers State, Professor Alex Eseimokumo, has described Nigerian opposition political parties as mere preposition political parties.
He also advised the country’s electorate against selling their votes during next year’s general elections.
The former legislator, who is also the president of the Institute for Peace, Conflict Resolution and Entrepreneurial Research, said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide on the sidelines of an event organized by the institute in Port Harcourt.
He said opposition political parties in Nigeria have been reduced to preposition political parties as most of them are not only dinning with the government but advising government on what to do to win election.
“The problem in Nigeria is we are not practicing politics the way it is supposed to be.The opposition are more in preposition.
“You see, opposition is supposed to find out things that are wrong in government but in our present day politics, you see opposition even dinning with the other group. So, there is basically nothing like opposition in Nigeria “, he said.
He lamented a situation where some individuals within the opposition are allegedly working hard to prevent their parties from fielding presidential candidates in the forthcoming election, adding that such individuals were only there to protect their personal interest.
Prof. Eseimokumo said as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he could not wish his party to fail in the election, even though nothing is impossible in Nigeria.
He noted that though the government in power has been trying it’s best, there was more to be done.
In his words, “I’m an APC member, so I don’t have the right to criticize my party but a word of advice: we still need to do more, more people oriented leadership where everybody will feel carried along.
“For now, I’m campaigning for APC to be re elected and if I stand here to say APC is not doing well, I’m not being fair to myself. But I think, with God all things are possible, there can be changes”.
On his assessment of the performances of governors of the Niger Delta states, Prof Eseimokumo said the governors were doing well within the limit of their resources.
” I don’t know what is given to them as allocation, but if what we are seeing in terms of window dressing is not window shopping, then they are doing well”, he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Eseimokumo has advised Nigerian electorates against selling their votes during the forthcoming elections.
He said credible election could only be achieved when the electorates refuse financial inducement during the elections.
According to him, though Nigerian voters had been difficult to persuade, the time had come for them to stop selling their votes.
Prof. Eseimokumo said the forthcoming elections will serve as a litmus test for the Nigerian electorate to demonstrate their desire for changes in the country, stressing that free and fair elections will continue to be a mirage in the country until the was a change in the attitude of the electorate.
“If you want your vote to count, don’t take money from anybody; if you want your votes to count, don’t collect money for your vote. The moment you collect money for your vote, you have sold your conscience”, he warned.
He said his institute will continue to work for peace, not just in the Niger Delta region but across Nigeria.
By: John Bibor