Senate president denies having criminal past

Nigerian Senate President Evan Enwerem told a news conference in Abuja on Thursday that the claim made by a weekly news magazine that he had a criminal past were untrue, news organisations reported. Enwerem defended himself against each of the charges, which included allegations of fraud, falsification and holding a criminal record, saying that his character, integrity and reputation were "grossly maligned", 'The Guardian reported.' He spoke ahead of an appearance on Friday before the Senate investigating committee. The allegations against Enwerem, who holds the third-ranked post in the Nigerian constitution, were published in the weekly news magazine `TELL'. Delta probes alleged dumping of toxic wastes The Delta State Government on Thursday set up a six-member panel to investigate an alleged dumping of suspected toxic waste by an oil firm some two weeks ago, `The Guardian' reported. A fact-finding delegation, led by the commissioner for health, carried out preliminary investigations and recommended that a full probe panel be put in place, the newspaper reported. The committee will be responsible for finding out if the allegations are true. If so, it will recommend appropriate sanctions against those responsible, suggesting ways of preventing such dumping in future. The committee will also recommend guidelines to the state government in drawing up policy for ending the environmental pollution, according to `The Guardian'. The committee will be headed by a director in the Ministry of Health and include representatives from the Delta State Environmental Protection Agency, the local government council and oil firms in the region, `The Guardian' said.