$26B Oil Scam: Senate Suspends hearing on Kachikwu’s letter following invitation by Presidency

Posted by Factnews | 6 years ago | 1,809 times



-          Panel chairman and former governor of Sokoto State, Magatarkada Wamakko summoned by the presidency

-          Sources revealed that Wamakko’s invitation was to ensure that the Senate probe does not indict the presidency and Baru

A high-level intrigue appears to have enveloped Senate probe of allegations Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, leveled against Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), with the suspension of a schedule public hearing.

The Senate panel, raised to probe Kachikwu’s August 20, 2017 petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he accused Baru of insubordination and award of N26 billion contracts without his approval and that of the NNPC board, which he chairs, had summoned Baru to appear before it, yesterday, but, the hearing was put off at the 11th hour.

Sources revealed to TheSun that Senate’s hearing was suspended following the Presidency’s invitation to the panel chairman and former governor of Sokoto State, Magatarkada Wamakko.

Wamakko was at the Presidential Villa, yesterday, where he reportedly met with top-level officials in government.

The meeting with Wamakko, it was gathered, came a few days after an influential power broker close to the Buhari government also met with him on the issue.

Sources alleged that meetings with Wamakko were to ensure that the Senate probe does not indict the presidency and Baru, in the NNPC controversy.

Meanwhile, Senate has called on the Federal Government to declare free and compulsory education at levels.  The chamber also urged that policies and programmes evolved by the government through the Social Investment Programmes and other poverty alleviation and eradication measures be vigorously pursued.

The upper legislative lawmakers also threw their weight behind the position of the federal government that rich people should pay more taxes. They argued that people who earn higher must pay taxes on luxury goods.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over yesterday’s legislative business, reiterated the rich must pay more taxes, while poor Nigerians should pay less. He said with more money in government’s confer, more Nigerians will be lifted out of poverty.

“In other countries, governments make deliberate efforts to get their people out of poverty. Nigeria should not be different. We need to provide for our people and get them out of poverty.

“There are many ways through which we can achieve this. Government needs to implement policies that would take us out of poverty. One of them is the issue of taxation. The rich should pay more taxes, while the poor should pay less. When the rich pay more taxes, there will be enough money to get our people out of poverty…”

Senator Shehu Sani said more than 80 per cent of Nigerians, live below the poverty level. He said successive governments, including President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, have not done enough to implement programmes that can lift Nigerians out of poverty.

Jibrin Barau described poverty as a weapon of mass destruction. He said China, in the last 20 years, has lifted more than 300 million of its citizens out of poverty. He urged the federal government to do more and implement social programmes to lift the living conditions of Nigerians.

 

 

 


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