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| Adams Jagaba |
Facts emerged last
night that one of the lawmakers, chairman House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics
and
Financial Crimes,
Adams Jagaba, linked with the $620,000 bribery scandal in the subsidy probe has
denied knowledge about the money and other related issues.
Jagaba in a four
paragraph letter sighted by our correspondent,
said “I wish to categorically and unequivocally state that there was
never a time I was in possession of the sum of $620,000 or any other exhibits (in
my personal capacity or official capacity as chairman House committee on Drugs,
Narcotics and Financial Crimes) relating to the subject matter.
“I hope this explanation lay to rest once and
for all the claims that I or my committee is in possession of the sum of
$620,000 USD purportedly given as bribe to the adhoc committee on monitoring of
fuel subsidy regime.”
The embattled
Farouk Lawan, who had been relieved of all his positions in the House pending the
conclusion of the investigation into the $620,000 bribery scandal, had informed the Police and
Nigerians that marked dollars were in
possession of the chairman House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial
Crimes, Adams Jagaba. He also stated that Jagaba, was earlier informed of the attempt
by chairman of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd, Mr. Femi Otedola, to bribe the
Adhoc Committee in order to
get his companies
delisted from the indicted oil companies which procured foreign exchange but
failed to import petroleum products during the period being investigated.
In a swift
response to the request of the Nigeria Police, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal via a
letter sent to
Jagaba, urged him
to respond to the Police inquiry without further delay.
The speaker’s letter,
signed by Chile Igbawua, his Special Adviser, Legal and Legislative, told Mr. Jagaba
the police’s letter “was self explanatory” and that he should “react urgently”
to the request.
The Police, in the
letter sought for the Speaker's assistance to secure the release of the said money,
which Lawan claimed was in the custody of Jagaba.
Commissioner of
Police, Ali Amodu, in the letter requested the Speaker to make the amount available,
and “any other material that maybe of use to this investigation.”
In admitting that
he collected the bribe money, recall
that Farouk Lawan had told Nigerians that he
was merely playing
along in Mr. Otedola’s bribery
allegation and that he gave the bribe money
$620,000 to the
chairman House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Adams
Jagaba to expose that Otedola offered him a bribe to
compromise the committee’s report.