by Tola Adenle

After facing a very disillusioned public for days, it seems embattled Alhaji Saburi Dimeji Bankole may have decided to fight back since his purported attempt to escape from Nigeria like Gbenga Daniel also of Ogun State.  It is also possible those close to him may have decided to hit back at the other “legislooters” who have made Bankole look like the only looter in the House of Reps.

The first slap on the collective face of Nigerians was the so-called clearing of Mrs. Foluke Ette, the Speaker before Bankole who was weighed down by allegations of corruption.

Then, there were the various reports of who the governors want as Speaker; who General Obasanjo wants ( read President Jonathan) who Mrs. Patience Jonathan wants, etcetera EXCEPT who the representatives want in a system that supposedly has three arms tagged ‘separation of powers.  But of course, with news of how they shared  what everybody believed was Bankole living up to a name I’ve seen on more than one website – Bank-OLE (OLE is Yoruba word for ‘thief’), the Reps do need the PDP and its chieftains to deflect the approaching storm.  Yeah, the same PDP Nigerians did NOT vote for which has never been rdistinguishable from its top hierarchy.  Move on to the next item.

The third and, perhaps, worst and most difficult to imagine or believe has been the report carried by online Sahara Reporters that the Inspector General of Police, Ringim, claimed President Jonathan ordered that Bankole NOT be arrested but be allowed to “hand over” to the House on Monday.  Ringim, the head of the police, physically went to Bankole’s residence to prevent the arrest of a man wanted by a legal entity, the EFCC!  When you think enough sleaze has been sprayed all around, then something horrible happens that makes all other sleaze look like Perrier water.

Generally, I’ve learnt to trust SR over the years because it has not only broken stories that regular Nigerian newspapers ran away from but it has kept the crooks who lord it over us on their toes.  All the same, I’m going to give President Jonathan benefit of the doubt because it would break the hearts of a couple of people I know and respect – not mine –  who actually voted for him because – remember the chorus – “I voted for Jonathan, NOT for the PDP”!  I’ll wait though I won’t hold my breath and we’ll see/hear what the president has in store not only for Bankole but also for the Petroleum Minister, Ms. Allison-Maduekwe about whom NEXT did an extensive investigation concerning oil block sales that were not in line with laid-down rules.  The NEXT reporter has, naturally, been seriously threatened with harm as such things are handled in Nigeria.

As Mr. Jonathan goes to Washington – a la Mr. Smith goes to Washington – I hope he would remember to sort things out here first because acceptance by Aare Agbaiye (World President) Mr. Obama would not eventually save his administration.  He must stick to his campaign stump deliveries of “fresh air” in Nigeria – I wonder why there’s a billboard near my house – instead of the stench that promises to get more.

Below is the Vanguard story that tells how Alhaji [Nigerians-are-docile] Saburi Bankole and other Reps, including so-called “opposition” – shared N10 billion while millions of Nigerians went to bed hungry.

 "Fresh facts which emerged at the weekend concerning the N10billion loan scandal in the House of Reresentatives  that just ended its tenure suggest that the sourcing which resulted in the present situation was the product of an executive session where members insisted on enhancing their allowances.

And whereas former Speaker Dimeji Bankole is the one facing the fire, Sunday Vanguard is now in possession of documents which show that the genesis of the hoopla was an executive session of the House of  Representatives on Thursday March 25, 2010, where Hon. Aminu Tambuwal briefed the House regarding the “restiveness of members and the possible crisis that may erupt in the House because of the issue of enhanced allowances that members have been clamoring for”.

The two major resolutions of that executive session was the agreement to pass the 2010 budget and the briefing by Tambuwal who was said to have made a very passionate plea for the upward review “so that members would be happier”. It was based on that briefing that the House set up a 37-member committee, with members drawn from each state of the federation and the FCT.

The following week, Tuesday, March 30, 2010, another  executive session held and the committee reported back, whereupon it was agreed that each member should, from January 1, 2010, be paid N42 million quarterly as running cost as against the former running cost of N22 million.

Also, based on the plethora of correspondences between the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration, DDFA, National Assembly Management, Speaker Bankole and the Clerk of the House, Sani Omolori, Sunday Vanguard discovered that the funds in question were expended on the agreed enhanced allowances for members.

Exec session 3/20/2010

Speaker                       N100 million

Deputy Spkr     N80 million

House Leader  N60 million

Deputy House Leader  N57.5 million

Chief Whip       N55 million

Deputy Chief Whip N54.5 million

Minority Whip  N50 million

Deputy Minority Leader          N50 million

Deputy Minority Whip N50 million”

Vanguard, June 5, 2011. By Jide Ajani & Ikechukwu Nnochiri

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Here’s IGP’s excuse for being at Alhaji Bankole’s during the attempt to arrest the man; a coincidence, he says.  I think these people think Nigerians are nincompoops; must have to do with their own ability – or lack of it -  to understand basic issues.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) yesterday said his visit to House of Representative Speaker Hon. Dimeji Bankole was purely on social grounds and not to stop or influence the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting him.

Ringim, in a statement by the Force spokesman, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Olusola Amore said it was a mere coincidence that at the time he visited Bankole to apologize for not attending a social event the speaker earlier invited him to, the EFCC were also there in an attempt to effect his arrest.

He said he was neither aware of the presence of anti-corruption officials nor did he interact with any of them.

Amore said: “The attention of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, has been drawn to publication in the media that he intervened or stopped the arrest of former Speaker, Hon. Dimeji Bankole.

“The IGP wishes to state clearly that he did not direct, instruct or intervene in the arrest of the former speaker by the EFCC. For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC is not under the control or command of the Inspector General of Police.

“It was a mere coincidence that when EFCC operatives came to the house of the former Speaker, the IGP paid him a social visit to apologize for not attending a social event which the former Speaker had invited the IGP.

“The Inspector General of Police was not aware of the presence of the EFCC at the former Speaker’s residence nor did he speak to or interact with EFCC operatives. The Nation on Sunday, June 5, 2011.