N165bn Correctional Service Probe not Targeted at Aregbesola, Says House

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives at the plenary yesterday refuted reports that its resolution to investigate the deplorable working conditions and the poor welfare of staff and inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) despite the N165 billion budget allocated to the agency in the last two years, is not targeted at the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

Following the adoption of the motion sponsored by the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta), at last Wednesday’s plenary, an online newspaper reported that the probe is targeted at Aregbesola as it is coming days after the minister lambasted the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, who is seen as the political Godfather of the House Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.

At the plenary, members of the House, across party lines expressed displeasure over what they described as a deliberate misrepresentation of a joint House resolution.

The Chairman, House Committee on Federal Judiciary, Hon. Onofiok Luke (PDP, Akwa Ibom), who came under point of privilege to condemn the report, insisted that the motion had nothing to do with Gbajabiamila as a person but a normal parliamentary decision seeking to investigate how funds budgeted for federal government agencies were utilised.

Reeling out several other resolutions previously passed by the House for the primary purpose of making institutions perform better, Luke pointed out that it was the opposition that moved the motion and an APC member, which serves the interest of both the speaker and the minister.

He said: “I am not aware that the Speaker has any issue with the Minister of Interior. Even if he has, that is personal. I freely took part in voting to ensure that the sorry state of the Correctional Service is investigated so that we can get to the root of what is going on there.”

Commenting on the issue, House Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, commended Luke for raising the point of privilege and helping to put the decision of the House in its exact perspective.

He urged members not to be cowed or pressurised to lose focus in performing their legislative duty of oversight, adding that the parliament should come up with

frameworks, punitive measures to avoid reoccurrence.

Reacting, Gbajabiamila, who presided over the plenary, said he was as surprised as Luke when the misrepresentation caught his attention.

While stressing that the House will not be distracted from the goal it has set out to achieve, he added that Nigerians are wiser now and could separate the truth from the innuendo dished out to the public by some media outlets.

The Speaker said: “It’s unfortunate that this was misrepresented to mean a political fight initiated by the Speaker against the Minister of Interior. We all read the unfortunate slant that was given to the well thought-out motion by the Minority Leader. It’s the privilege of the entire House that was breached; it is aimed at distracting us. These are things that we ordinarily should ignore. More of it will still come, especially as we move toward the 2023 elections.”