The House of Representatives is to raise an ad hoc committee to take over the capital market probe from the Herman Hembe-led standing committee which is facing accusations of corruption, Daily Trust learnt in Abuja yesterday.
Hembe had a spat with Securities and Exchange Commission head Arunma Oteh during a public hearing last week. On the first day of the hearing, Hembe accused the SEC director general of spending N850,000 on food on one day and N30 million on hotel bills. But Oteh hit back the following day, saying the committee chairman demanded bribes of N44 million and that he also collected foreign trip estacode from SEC for a journey he didn’t make.
The corruption accusations unsettled the House of Representatives’ leaders, who are reported to be seeking for a face-saving measure.
Yesterday, a senior lawmaker told Daily Trust that Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal may constitute an ad-hoc committee to take over the investigation of the collapse of the capital market.
This, the source said, is because the credibility of the House committee on Capital Market and Institutions chaired by Hembe (PDP, Benue), has been called to question because of the bribery allegations.
But the source said this does not in any way mean acceptance of the allegations against Hembe.
“Probing the collapse of the capital market is very important and we will not allow these allegations to stop it, that is why the leadership is contemplating the ad-hoc committee so that the work will go on,” the lawmaker said.
The House leadership was scheduled to meet over the matter last night after which they will meet with Hembe and his committee members on the decision to relieve them of the probe assignment.
Daily Trust learnt that the House leadership has decided that all major investigations will henceforth be conducted by ad hoc committees in order to avoid a repeat of the Hembe committee embarrassment.
Sources also told our reporter that the N44 million bribery allegations may be brought up for debate on the floor of the House today.
On the first day of the capital market probe on Wednesday, Hembe told Oteh that documents available to the committee showed that she used N850,000 for feeding on a day alone, and also spent N30 million on hotel bills.
However, a day after, Oteh fired back, saying Hembe asked her to contribute N39 million for the public hearing, which she declined, and later asked her for N5 million.
She it was her refusal to give him the money that was responsible for the “hostility” of the committee towards her.
Meanwhile, contrary to some media reports, the House of Representatives won’t stop live transmissions of some of the public hearings, deputy spokesman Victor Ogene has said.
Following the live transmission of the capital market committee’s public hearing during which the bribery allegations against Hembe were made, some reports said the House was planning to stop live telecast of potentially controversial hearings.
Speaking to Daily Trust last night, Ogene said: “The committees have not complained about money so we won’t stop the public hearings especially that it’s not an everyday thing.”
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