EFCC is haunting us for supporting Saraki – Nwaoboshi

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North) chairs the Senate Committee on Niger Delta. He moved the motion for the suspension of confirmation of 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) by the upper legislative chamber for two weeks, pending when President Muhammadu Buhari sacks Ibrahim Magu as acting chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In this interview with OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, the opposition lawmaker speaks on the Senate-Executive face-off and why EFCC is after him.  Excerpts:

What is your reaction to the N2.1billion contract fraud being leveled against you and your brother by the EFCC?

This is the first time I have heard about this probe. And that is what we have always said that the EFCC needs to be overhauled. When Nigerians who don’t want to listen, we keep on saying that it can be you today, it can be you tomorrow. Yesterday, it was the Senate President and Dino Melaye. Now Dino and Saraki have been cleared. Now it is me. Why because I spoke up against EFCC. And if the power to confirm EFCC has been exercised by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria like it is done all over the world. We are watching Americans, appointments are going on now. Nominees of the President are being rejected, Heaven did not fall. And because the other day, I spoke about (Professor Itse) Sagay that is why you are hearing all this type of thing; you didn’t hear it before. But as a Nigerian, I will speak out. My friend Dino will say, ‘you speak the truth you die, you lie you die’. I am the wrong person to be taken on because I will keep on speaking the truth. My people sent me here to speak on their behalf.

Now let me take issues that they have raised. They said there was a contract of N1.5billion for supply of equipment to Ministry of Works and Ministry of Environment. The question I ask Nigerians, who is complaining after seven years? Is it the Delta State Government or by a crooked petition by some individuals to malign me?

I was a Director in Bilderberg Enterprises Limited before I became a senator. And I was not a government functionary. I was not working in government at the time. I am not in a position to award contract. But I must eat. And so, I have my own companies. Delta State Government advertised the contract, the company in which I have interest tendered for that contract and was awarded the contract after due process was followed by the Tenders Board of the Delta State Government. The records are there. When the contract was awarded to us, we brought the equipment from China. And what I hear now is that the equipment are used equipment. The manufacturers of this equipment are alive. The serial numbers of these equipment are there. EFCC can contact the manufacturers in China with the serial number of those equipment to find out whether those equipment were second-hand or fairly used; because the company did not buy any of those equipment from the open market. The company paid directly to the manufacturers of these goods in China and the manufacturer manufactured and shipped the goods to Nigeria. So, if you want to know whether these equipment are fairly used or not, go to the manufacturer, find the date of manufacture, find out with the serial number, when it was shipped to Nigeria, when the Delta State Government took possession of it. Sinotrucks has an office in Lagos, SCNG has an office in Kaduna. Sanya supplied one of the equipment and they have an office here in Abuja. Let Sanya contact their head office and find out whether the equipment was used. The manufacturers were also the shippers of these equipment.

I have called the manufacturers in China and they said nobody has asked them any question, nobody has written to them but what they want to do is to malign my name. We did not only sell to Delta State Government, we sold to individuals who wanted to buy all these equipment.

We have in our possession report from the Ministry of Works certifying these equipment as brand new equipment. We have documents in our possession engineers from the Ministry of Housing, Environment, Direct Labour Agency, Auditor-General of Delta State certifying that these equipment are brand new equipment. They did not obtain these certificates from Delta State Government, all they want to do is malign me in the newspaper.

This is what we have been talking, you prosecute people in the Press, run them down before you go to court. They have already found me and my brother guilty before charging us to court, even before interrogating us.

 

Will you go to court as an individual to seek redress?

I am a lawyer of 27 years, I know what to do.

 

What will the Senate do about this, coming 72 hours after it suspended confirmation of 27 RECs?

I speak for myself. I leave it for the Nigerian people to judge. I have given you the companies. You are free to go and contact them. I have nothing to hide. We have nothing to hide in the company. We do business and we stand by the business and we have nothing to hide while I was there. Although I am no longer a director in that company.

 

Don’t you think if you mellow down a little politically, especially in your opposition to the President’s request in confirmation of certain persons, it will solve the problem?

For me, I don’t have a problem because we will go to court. You cannot stop me from saying what I believe in. What I believe in, I will say. And I said what I said on the floor of the hallowed chamber as a lawyer that if the power of confirmation resides here and that power of confirmation or rejection has been exercised, the appointing authority should do the needful. That’s what I said and that’s what I’m supposed to say. Nobody will say when they were questioning (Ibrahim) Magu, you heard me ask Magu question. I didn’t ask Magu question. But if the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria takes a decision on a matter, it is binding on the whole members of the Senate.

 

Does that mean that you insist that Senate decision should be upheld on Magu’s sack?

What are you talking about? I am a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is an institution that I must protect. I will leave here tomorrow, I wasn’t born a senator. I am a teacher, lawyer, businessman before I became a senator. And so, senators come and go but the institution of the Senate must be defended.

 

Did you declare the properties in your asset declaration form?

If I did not declare those things in assets declaration, that is the job of Code of Conduct Bureau. That’s not EFCC’s matter. Let CCB go and look at my asset declaration form and find out whether I declared those things or not. How does that concern EFCC? If I have made a declaration in asset declaration form, there is a body that is supposed to investigate what I have declared. They will invite me and I will explain to them the position.

It was reported that the investigation was based on a petition. How will you respond to this?

There is no petition. It is crooked up petition. Delta State Government did not petition. They just called some of these miscreants who are begging for money and call them petitioners. The right person to petition is the Delta State Government. These are the owners of the properties. Curiously they didn’t mention the petitioners.

Some senators close to Senate President Bukola Saraki seem to be under the searchlight. Are you paying for the alleged sin of your principal?

We are paying for the alleged sin of our principal. And I have no regret. I only do things I think from my own personal conviction.

I was the first to address a press conference in Port Harcourt and I gave Nigerians reasons why I think that Saraki should be the Senate President. That is based on personal conviction. I’m not a member of All Progressives Congress (APC) but I was also one of those who insisted that People’s Democratic Party should not contest the Senate Presidency; that we should allow the APC to produce the Senate President. On the floor of the Senate that day, we had opportunity of producing the Senate President. I was one of those who insisted on the floor that PDP should not contest that position. When it was clear to PDP that if they moved in, they would take the Senate Presidency, I was one of those that canvassed on the floor that Nigerians will not understand us. They would believe that we want to waylay the government of APC. We should allow them to produce the Senate President.

And if at this age, in the next two months on June 29 this year I will be sixty years. Where I am going to is nearer than where I’m coming from. I can’t spend another sixty years in this world. So, if you think as a man that is sixty, a lawyer with 27 years in the bar, a former teacher, a graduate of History that you can intimidate me then you must be wasting your time. You can’t silence me. Even in jail I will be speaking.

The President has set up a committee chaired by the Vice President to mediate between Senate and the Executive. Do you think the Vice President has the political clout to resolve the crisis?

Whatever the Senate decides is where I stand. I’m happy that the Vice President is a lawyer of repute. He is a messenger of God and he understands what we are talking about. So I believe that his spiritual background in terms of being a Christian, his legal background in terms of being a lawyer, I believe he will be able to appreciate issues and mediate successfully. Anybody who does not believe in mediation does not want this country to grow.

And let me make it clear: you don’t intimidate people to get what you want in a democracy. You lobby and sell your ideas to the other person to understand the point you are making. There are people you don’t intimidate and there are people you can intimidate. So, if in a democracy you believe you must do this, if you don’t do this I lock you up; we are not in a dictatorship. That is not democracy. And that is what people have been complaining about this EFCC. You go to the newspaper you malign the person. Either way, we are ready. We are not afraid of EFCC.