Obasanjo fires education minister for bribing senate leader

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has fired Education Minister Fabian Osuji for bribing the leader of the senate and six other members of parliament to smooth the passage of his annual budget. He has also strongly criticised Senate President Adolphous Wabara for accepting the bribe, paving the way for his likely downfall. Obasanjo, who is on a crusade against rampant corruption, went on television on Tuesday night to tell the country that the education minister withdrew 55 million naira (US $410,000) from government coffers, which he shared out between Wabara, five other senators and a member of the House of Reprentatives, the lower house of parliament. “Fellow Nigerians, it is a disheartening event that the number three man in the government hierarchy in the country is involved in this sordid matter,” Obasanjo said, referring to Wabara. “It is an action that violates all known norms of good governance, progressive leadership, integrity and credibility,” he said. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and leading oil exporter, is regularly ranked one of the world’s most corrupt countries. In a statement issued after the speech, members of the House of Representatives said they shared the president's anxiety about corruption but they cautioned against sweeping comments and trial by television. "The war against corruption should not be against the National Assembly as an institution," the members said. Others named in public by Obasanjo in the bribery scandal were John Azuta Mbata, chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Chris Adighije, chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Shehu Matazu, head of the education committee in the lower house. The two other senators accused of pocketing bribes were Badamasi Maccido and Emmanuel Okpede. Obasanjo said Nigeria's corruption watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had uncovered the scam. The bribe money “will be kept and used as exhibit” in a forthcoming trial of those accused of corruption, he said. In January 2003 he fired Labour Minister Hussein Akwanga over allegations that he took bribes from the French company SAGEM that enabled it to win a contract to produce new identity cards for Nigeria's 126 million inhabitants. Akwanga and three other senior politicians charged with him are currently free on bail pending the conclusion of their trial. The influential Guardian newspaper said on Wednesday that Wabara had handed in his resignation as head of the senate with effect from 5 April, the day that parliament returns from its Easter recess. But Wabara’s spokesman Henry Ugbolue denied the report. “To the best of my knowledge the Senate President is still in office,” he told IRIN. Wabara admitted in a statement at the weekend that he had facilitated an encounter between the education minister and a parliamentary education committee in December 2004 to help Osuji win approval of his budget “in the interests of the education sector”. But he shrugged off any notion of impropriety. “At no point at the meeting was any form of monetary demand made from the minister and at no point did the President of the Senate ask the minister to give money to anybody,” Wabara said. Nigerian newspapers have previously alleged cabinet ministers were bribing legislators to win approval for their budgets without too much scrutiny. The president said in his speech that these allegations were being investigated. Although the drive to wipe out graft has been a major plank of Obasanjo’s two-term presidency, allegations of government corruption remain rife. The international corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Nigeria third to bottom, just ahead of Bangladesh and Haiti, in its 2004 Corruption Perceptions Index. Two former senate presidents have resigned over allegations of corruption since Obasanjo, a former military ruler, returned to power as an elected head of state in 1999. However, no charges have so far been laid against either Evan Enwerem or his successor Chuba Okadigbo. Wabara however could be headed for a different fate. Obasanjo told the nation in his televised speech that a formal report would be submitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, which has powers to prosecute corruption cases. Wabara also appears to face imminent removal as senate president. Obasanjo said that a report was already before the body for “necessary action”. Although Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer, 70 percent of the population live on less than one dollar a day, according to the United Nations Human Development Index. President Olusegun Obasanjo has fought to rid Nigeria of corruption while vowing to spare no one in his anti-corruption crusade. But critics point out that no top official has yet been convicted on corruption charges, despite signs that the problem is worsening.