From Kemi Yesufu
The Supreme Court, on Friday July 23, sacked the member representing, Vandikwa/ Konshisha Constituency in the House of Representatives, Herman Hembe and ordered him to return all salaries collected at the point of his removal. The court, in its ruling also ordered the lawmaker to return all salaries and benefits collected while in office within 90 days.
The Court sitting in Abuja further ruled that Dorathy Mato who won the All Progressive Congress (APC) party ticket for the constituency was the rightful candidate of her party, and as such the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should issue her a Certificate of Return, without any further delay.
Hembe’s removal practically overshadowed the apex court’s decision the same day on Senator Sani Abubakar Danladi, who represented Taraba North Senatorial District. No thanks to his being well known to many political observers, due to the different controversies he was involved in his 10-year stay in the National Assembly.
When a good number of people think of the former lawmaker, who hails from Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue state, they would remember the controversy involving him and former Director -General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Arunma Oteh. What was supposed to be a public hearing as part of an investigation by the House Committee on Capital Market into the crash of Nigerian Capital Market, triggered one of the biggest controversies in involving the National Assembly.
It was Hembe whose removal came few days after his 42nd birthday that threw the first punch by accusing Oteh of breaching the code of conduct of public officials. He listed some of the breaches by Oteh to include incurring a N30 million bill at an Abuja hotel within eight months. He also raised the issue of Oteh hiring two staff of Access Bank to work as advisers to SEC, while they remained staff of the bank.
Oteh unable to stomach the damaging allegations responded that members of the committee lacked enough credibility to give her a fair hearing. “Hembe lacks credibility. For instance, he collected estacode and other travel allowances from the Securities and Exchange Commission to travel to the Dominican Republic on a capacity enhancement conference for capital market regulators. He did not go neither did he return the money collected.
“Also, he asked the Commission to contribute N39 million towards the ongoing charade of a public hearing and demanded another N5 million cash on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. He made both demands by proxy. So I doubt it if I can have fair hearing from this committee and this fact has been more than demonstrated with the way you are handling this important issue”, she said.
The ex-lawmaker denied all the allegations. But it did not stop him from stepping down as head of the probe panel on the basis of the allegations. He later presented documents to the House, indicating that it was SEC, with Oteh’s approval, that offered N30 million to the committee, contrary to her allegation that the lawmakers demanded for kick-backs. An adhoc committee headed by Ibrahim Tukur Sudi took over the investigation even as Hembe insisted on his innocence during the first sitting of the House after the scandal broke.
“I have not, and will not let you down. I want to put on record that I demanded no bribe and took no bribe. I made no attempt to collect any bribe, rather I worked hard to avoid the offer of such by the SEC DG,” he told his colleagues on the day. And in March 2014, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, ruled that Hembe had no case to answer in corruption charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC had accused Hembe of converting an estimated N600, 000 given to him by the SEC to travel to the Dominican Republic, for a conference in October 2011.In a unanimous decision, a panel of justices of the Court of Appeal held that Hembe did not commit any offence to warrant him facing trial.
In the two years he spent as a member of the current House, the ex-lawmaker also had to go through controversies. Suspended former chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, had named Hembe as one of the standing committee heads, allegedly involved in padding the 2016 budget.
Jibrin at different times claimed that his Benue colleague lived above his means and ought to be investigated by anti-graft agencies based on this.
“Hon. Herman Hembe is living above his means. Apart from being adept at misappropriation, he has plenty questions to answer for movement of massive amount of money in the Federal Capital Territory budget”, Jibrin, had wrote in his letter to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Despite the many times former Appropriations Committee chairman called him out, Hembe only replied once in a terse statement in which he assured that, it was Jibrin who would be prosecuted for breaking the law and not him. “I understand that the suspended Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin has fled back to Nigeria after the report of his ownership of five foreign accounts in Backlays bank and property located at No. 81, Cotswold Gardens, London, NW2, 1PE in London was published.
“I wish to remind Jibrin that there is no hiding place for criminals. He fled to U.K after getting a hint that anti-graft agencies in Nigeria were investigating him in order to avoid arrest and prosecution.
“Now, having realised that even in the UK the National Crime Agency and the Financial Intelligence Unit have already profiled him and may soon open a case against him; he quietly sneaked back to Nigeria. His days of freedom are numbered and sooner rather than later he will face the full wrath of the law”, the statement read.
Months after Jibrin was suspended for one legislative year for infringing on the collective privilege of the House and bringing the Green Chamber to disrepute, scenes similar to 2012 with Hembe as one of the dramatis personae played out again.
To be precise, it was during the investigations into the $18.72 billion Centenary City project by the House Committee on FCT which Hembe headed until his removal by the court.
Former Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim accused the Benue born politician of organising the investigative hearing as a way to get back at him for refusing to heed his plea to sack Oteh, when she accused him of demanding a bribe from her. Besides, Anyim protested the mode of invitation the committee extended to him as the Chairman of the Centenary City Project, arguing that, as a former Senate President, the letter inviting him to appear before the committee would have emanated from the Clerk of the National Assembly and not from the Clerk of the committee.
He said, “When the former Managing Director of Security and Exchange Commission accused you of demanding bribe from her, you pushed for her sack and I refused to sack her as Secretary to Government of the Federation. I will not allow you to use the platform of this committee to victimize me”.
Also at the hearing, immediate past FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, displayed his anger over questions from committee members to the Managing Director of Centenary City Project, Dr. Ike Odenigwe, on how the award of contracts for the project were carried out.
“I think at this stage I want to be sworn-in. Haba! I am not talking except when I am asked specific questions on this issue as it appears there is a communication gap in this whole gamut. You are behaving childishly” he stated.
Mohammed’s statement caused uproar as some of the lawmakers started shouting, asking him to withdraw the statement and went ahead to even displayed the Constitution which gives them the power to ask questions that must be answered by government officials or former officials when summoned. The former minister maintained his position, saying, “I will not take it back, take me to court, do your worst, my privilege is being impugned upon by this show of childishness”.
Though he vehemently denied the allegations from Anyim and Mohammed, insisting he showed the former Senate President a lot of respect before and during the investigation. He added that he had maintained neutrality on the matter, but, a member of his committee from Ebonyi state, Linus Okorie took the less road less travelled by submitting a dissenting report on the investigation into the centenary city project. Regardless, Hembe submitted a report to the House with recommendations for Anyim and Mohammed to be prosecuted by relevant agencies over alleged breach of extant laws on Public Procurement Act and a Presidential directive on multi-billion naira Centenary City project.
Following his submission of the Centenary City project investigation report, the House of Representatives, last year, directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate Senator Mohammed for infractions in the land for Infrastructure programme. The Land For Investment Programme better known as the Land Swap Deal was introduced under the Jonathan administration by Mohammed. Under the deal, 7,600 hectres of land was made available by the FCT ministry to investors, for the development of housing, roads and related infrastructure.
0The last of the controversies that involved Hembe several days before he was sacked by the Supreme Court could be likened to a storm in the tea cup, compared to other scandals. Hembe was right in the mix of the disgraceful fight between National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS’ factions who were guests at the Friday June 9 event to mark the second anniversary of the House. One of the factions accused the former lawmaker of making Dogara recognise the wrong person as its president. Hembe told the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reporter who called to speak with him on the incident to write whatever he wanted.
Though Hembe has left the House and can only return through an election, many are wondering if the individual taking over him can step into his shoes. Love him, hate him, Hembe all through his stay in the House was influential as he was close to Dimeji Bankole as Speaker, he also shared a strong bond with former Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, just as he was one of the Dogara boys in the 8th House.
On the floor, he had a voice, often times using his experience to argue issues in favour of his state. Each time there was a motion to investigate Fulani Herdsmen and farmers clashes in his home state, the former lawmaker spoke up and ensured the motions were passed. Kogi state lawmakers will not forget in a hurry how Hembe months back, along with another ranking member from his state, Emmanuel Orker-Jev, shot down a motion seeking the declaration of Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states as oil producing states. He may be gone as a member of the House, he is however likely to return to the House before the end of the 8th House as an aide to Speaker Yakubu Dogara.