A senior official of Nigeria’s National Assembly, Ifeoma Ofili, has exposed corruption allegedly perpetrated by the federal lawmakers ranging from bribery during oversight functions to manipulation of legislative reports and misappropriation of staff entitlements.
Mrs Ofili, a director at the House of Representatives and former Clerk of the House Committee on Local Content, exposed the lawmakers during a retreat organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for Directors and Committee Clerks.
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The event took place on 27 June in Abuja.
The video of her speech exposing the lawmakers at the retreat has since gone viral on social media, generating outrage among Nigerians who accuse the lawmakers of institutionalising corruption under the guise of legislative duties. Some were of the opinion that corruption is not just prevalent in the legislative arm, but deeply entrenched within the executive branch as well.
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Bribery during oversight functions
In the video, Mrs Ofili explained how the federal lawmakers allegedly accept bribes from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) during oversight visits, an act meant to compromise their integrity and allow MDAs to evade accountability.
“We are talking about oversight. How do you account for the fact that the flight ticket to go and oversight somebody was paid for that person by the agency. What are you coming to write?
“You go there, they tell you what to write, they give you money, they quarter you, they give you flight and the members will come and fight over the money that they give to them. They will not give the clerk. They will not give the committee assistance that they took along.
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“But it’s not even the fact that they didn’t give the clerk. Now you are compelled to write a report of what you did not see, what did not happen, and you lie. Me as a Catholic, I will just go for confession first,” she said.
Manipulation of public hearing reports
The director also accused lawmakers of manipulating reports of public hearings by hiring external consultants to write falsified reports, bypassing committee clerks who are legally and procedurally mandated to handle such documentation.
“Then secondly, financing a public hearing. We did a public hearing last year and then the committee called me to tell me that a consultant was employed to write a report. And then I asked the consultant, were you at the public hearing? He said ‘no.’, So, what do you want to write. I, Ifeoma will give you material to write the report? I said no, it’s not going to happen. I will not work with you. I put my feet down and I told him I’m not going to work with you.
“And I sat down because they are looking at us as if we do not have capacity. Me, I’m just two steps out of National Assembly for retirement. So right now, my mother says she’s not dancing so that people will give her money, It is so that they will see me. So I will say what I want to say. I sat down and I did a proper report of that public hearing and I took it to the chairman.
“I said, this is the report, and they were looking at me like, you mean it. I said, yes. ‘Oh no, you have to change that. I said no, this is what happened.’ If you want to change it, you can now go ahead and change it, but the original report is in my system. I don’t use secretaries. I type my report myself. So if they want to change it, they should go ahead and change it, I am waiting,” she added.
False transparency, compromised investigations
Mrs Ofili criticised lawmakers’ perceived transparency, especially during critical investigations of MDAs.
While appearing tough in public regarding misappropriation of funds in government agencies, the director alleged that many probes were deliberately compromised behind the scenes.
“Then we are talking about punishing MDAs. They will come on TV and they will say, this erring MDA did this. All the atrocities that are being committed in the National Assembly, who punished them?,” she queried.
She noted that budget allocations meant for staff welfare, such as allowances for training, health, and sports are often “collapsed” into vague budget lines and embezzled by lawmakers.
“We don’t follow the budget process the way it is. They will budget money for… for instance, staff budget, money for training, money for clinics, money for sports, money for books, money, they collapse it.
“It is in the National Assembly we are still hearing about “collapse.’ Now, allowances that are budgeted for National Assembly staff is collapsed. So, we as citizens, because we are still citizens, first, before we became National Assembly staff and then you have no power to even go and hold a press conference because we have sworn to oath of silence. So I can’t even tell the world how I feel.
“Allowances that are constitutional, even, put it in the constitution this time, statutory allocation to the National Assembly staff, they collapsed it till now.”
Neglect, hardship of National Assembly staff
Mrs Ofili painted a sad picture of life for many National Assembly staffers, especially retirees, who she said are often left unpaid for years after their exit from service.
“Some people have retired. It takes over a year, two years for them to pay the National Assembly staff their retirement benefit. Before you start talking about pension, go and see them. They look like scarecrows. Our former colleagues call us, direct us to beg for money for fuel. They are coming to the National Assembly. You see them standing at the junction into the National Assembly. They can’t afford to fuel their cars.”
She claimed that statutory allocations for staff allowances are misappropriated, and even constitutional entitlements are not respected.
“So apart from what the constitution says, they themselves (lawmakers) who is looking at the one they (lawmakers) are collapsing and chopping. They (lawmakers) chop their own, they chop our own” she added.
PREMIUM TIMES could not reach the spokesperson for the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, for comment on Saturday as he did not pick calls to his mobile telephone.
Previous instances where Nigerian lawmakers were exposed of being corrupt
Mrs Ofili’s disclosure is just one among several instances where Nigerian lawmakers have been found guilty of being corrupt. Despite these revelations, many of the implicated lawmakers continue to enjoy public support and celebration, even after being found guilty.
In 2007, Patricia Etteh, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, faced allegations of approving N628 million for the renovation of her official residence and the purchase of luxury vehicles. She eventually stepped down from her position due to the widespread public outrage and mounting pressure from fellow lawmakers and civil society groups.
Mrs Etteh was later cleared of the allegation.
In 2012, Farouk Lawan, who was then the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), was caught on camera accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman Femi Otedola. The payment was allegedly meant to remove Mr Otedola’s firm, Zenon Oil, from the list of companies implicated in the fuel subsidy scandal.
Mr Lawan, who represented Bagwai/Shanono Federal Constituency in Kano State, was later prosecuted and sentenced in 2021 to seven years in prison, later reduced to five. He has served out his jail term.
In 2016, Abdulmumin Jibrin, then Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other House leaders of padding the nation’s budget with personal projects worth billions of naira.
Mr Jibrin was suspended for 180 legislative days, and the allegations were never thoroughly investigated by any external body.
Lawmakers have also frequently been accused of collecting bribes during oversight functions, with reports of them accepting sponsored travel, accommodation, and other perks from government agencies.
In 2020, during a public hearing on alleged financial mismanagement within the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), members of the National Assembly were accused of receiving contracts and kickbacks.
The commission’s acting Managing Director, Daniel Pondei, collapsed during the hearing, while then Niger Delta Minister (now Senate President), Godswill Akpabio, claimed that several lawmakers had benefited from NDDC contracts. Despite the public uproar and the exposure of serious irregularities, no significant prosecutions were carried out.
Similarly, a PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation in August 2023 exposed corruption by a House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating job racketeering in federal agencies. The committee, headed by Oluwole Oke, was accused of demanding bribes from heads of MDAs and educational institutions to avoid being publicly disgraced.
Though the committee projected an anti-corruption stance publicly, its members were allegedly using their powers to coerce illegal payments from agency heads.
The lawmakers often investigate MDAs but sometimes the outcomes of those exercises are not made public.
Running costs, perks of office as lawmaker
Controversy is still trailing the exact amount the federal lawmakers collect as salaries and allowances.
Although, the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) prepare salaries and allowances for the lawmakers, they allegedly get more than what the commission approved as allowances.
Shehu Sani, a former senator representing Kaduna Central, once confirmed that senators receive N13.5 million monthly for running costs in addition to their monthly consolidated salary and allowances.
Kano South Senator Kawu Sumaila recently disclosed that each senator earns a minimum of N21 million monthly when salaries, allowances, and running costs are combined.
Mr Sumaila, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said his basic monthly salary is less than N1 million, but with the addition of running costs, his total monthly earnings rise to at least N21 million.
READ ALSO: Police arrest Jigawa APC member over social media comment
Despite humongous allowances and perks of office, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said during the week that many lawmakers face financial hardship after losing elections, with some unable to afford basic medical care.
“Nigerians think a lot of money is spent in the National Assembly, but once you step out of the National Assembly you are looking for money to even treat yourself, which shows the fallacy of all the insinuations and innuendos thrown at the legislators.
“So, I think it was an eye-opener for a lot of people. Some people think that we come here to make money. They don’t know that we come here to sacrifice for the nation’s growth so we can leave a better country for future generations,” Mr Akpabio said.
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