The House of Representatives has initiated moves to ban live telecast of public hearings with effect from this week, National Mirror has gathered.
Besides, the chamber is also set to investigate the disbursement of ecological funds to states and their utilisation since 2007.
The decision, if effected, would not be unconnected with the latest N39m bribery allegation levelled against the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, Hon. Herman Hembeh.
The ban might come after a meeting with chairmen of committees with the leadership of the House this week or through a circular or memo to committees clerks from the National Assembly.
Series of meetings on Thursday and Friday last week on the Hembeh matter lasted through the nights. The committees would likely be told to stop the live telecast of public hearings that are sensitive, an assistant clerk of a committee, who did not want her name mentioned, told National Mirror.
She said: As clerks, we may likely receive it as a circular from the Clerk's Office, but I think the House leadership will decide next week (this week). The clerk did not, however, confirm whether the decision would be because of the bribery allegations levelled against the Committee on Capital Market.
''All I know is that the House may not continue with its sensitive probes on live television. The issue would likely be discussed soon, she added. Like a wounded tigress, the Director-General, Securities Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms. Arunma Oteh, on Wednesday revealed how the panel sought N39m from her, how the chairman was sent on a foreign trip and how she ended up parting with N5m.
Her words: '' I was concerned as to your credibility to head this committee and I want you to guide me on that.
''The reasons I made that comment is because of your line of questioning since the last few days. When I signed up for this job, I knew that when you fight corruption, it fights back. I believe that I want to serve my country and I would do that to the best of my ability.
''But I think you took me out of context on the statement you made earlier: You said yesterday (Wednesday) that SEC approached Access Bank for a staff, it meant that would compromise our oversight on Access Bank, so, I in turn said, does it also mean that because your committee approached SEC to give N39m for this public hearing, you will compromise your work? Oteh had said.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives would soon start another probe on the disbursement of ecologic al funds to states since 2007.
The ecological fund probe is meant to ascertain how much of the money given to states have been spent for the purpose it was meant.
To appear before the committee are the Minister of Environment, the Permanent Secretary in the ecological fund office and heads of other key agencies under the ministry.
In another development, accusations that federal lawmakers are demanding bribes from public officials before performing their oversight functions reechoed at the weekend, as a former Inspector- General of Police accused National Assembly members of demanding and receiving bribes to approve the budgets of the Nigeria Police Force. But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Igwe Nwagu, denied the accusation.
The former IG (name withheld) told some select members of the Police Executive Forum in Abuja recently that the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives committees always demanding money before they defend their budgets.
He added that the lawmakers always shared a substantial part of the funds at source when they were evenfually released, leaving little for the force.
Apart from this, the expolice boss also accused the ministry officials and those of the Police Service Commission, PSC, of dipping their hands in the funds.
He said: This usually leaves us with nothing to run the various commands and formations.
''What this means was that we have to tell all the Divisional Police Officers to source funds to run their commands on their own. This in turn meant that the DPOs have to send all their trusted men on the roads to mount road blocks to source for certain amount of funds unfailingly.
''If these officers are not able to meet up the expected target, they are posted to less-juicy assignments.
'' These officers are then put under extreme pressure as they have to meet the target and realise the amount set as their daily tills ''.
''This practice is the major reason why you have police being involved in brutality, victimisation and even extra-judicial killings in order to make the set targets for their bosses.
Revealing the extent the National Assembly lawmakers, Police Ministry and PSC leech on the funds meant for the police force, the former IG added: During the last general elections which held in April 2011, N17bn was released to the police for logistics and others to provide security for the elections.
The fund was released in February, just two months before the elections.
The equipme nt and materials we needed were those things that cannot be purchased on the shelves.
They have to be ordered and the period for that takes between six months and one year. What we did was to use all the logistics and equipment we had in our stores and the others we got through donations from state governments and foreign bodies. The fund, which was virtually untouched, which we could have later been expended on the improvement of the force, were all squandered by these politicians.
Let them show the world what they did with the funds. Up till now, the equipment and logistics have not been purchased, but if they want to disprove this, let them show the whole country what they did with the monies.
Speaking with National Mirror on the matter, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Nwagu, denied the allegations, daring the former police boss (whose identity was not revealed to him) to mention the names of those who were involved in the graft.
He said: Let him mention the session where members collected money from them. Was it the 5th session or the 6th session? Or is it the current session?
''To the best of my knowledge, no senator or committee member was involved because we didn't include anything in the budget, because we know the importance of security. If they say anybody demands money from them, how much do they earn? How much is the budget? We shall investigate and hand over the person to the antigraft agencies, he said.
He dared those making the allegations to reveal the identity of the culprits.
''I know legislation. Let any of them that is making the allegations name those people, if they can't, that means they are cowards'', he added.
Culled from National Mirror
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