FAROUK VS OTEDOLA :Otedola to release 17 more audio, 6 video tapes •Appears before Reps, insists on public hearing

FAROUK VS OTEDOLA :Otedola to release 17 more audio, 6 video tapes •Appears before Reps, insists on public hearing

CHAIRMAN, Zenon Oil, Mr Femi Otedola is set to release 17 more audio tapes and six video tapes of what transpired between him and Farouk Lawan, the House of Representatives member in the $3 million bribery scandal.
Nigerian Tribune learnt from credible sources that Nigerians will get to hear and view all the tapes by the end of this week.
Only yesterday, the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges inquiry into the $3 million bribery allegation levelled against Lawan, the sacked ad hoc committee chairman on the management of fuel subsidy by Otedola, hit a brick wall.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that when Otedola appeared before the committee, all the questions directed at him were not answered. He was said to have insisted that the meeting should be held in the open rather than being made a closed door session.
Otedola appeared before the House panel probing his allegation against Lawan, accompanied by 10 persons, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Jide Koku. He insisted that the probe must be held in the open before he could be able to make any statement.
Otedola’s address to the committee reads in part: “This is a matter that has generated a lot of public interest and controversy. The House of Representatives committee on the management of fuel subsidy, headed by Honourable Farouk Lawan, held all its sittings in public. When this issue (bribery allegation) arose, the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges publicly stated that its investigations will be held in public.
“It is, therefore, surprising and curious that this committee has made a U-turn to hold its investigative sittings in camera, particularly in the light of unfolding events. I strongly believe that the interest of the public will not be best served if this investigation is held in camera.
“I have nothing to hide and will only speak on this issue when this investigation is conducted in a very transparent manner and the press as well as the general public are allowed to be present at the sittings of this committee from the beginning of its investigation to its conclusion,” he concluded.
Nigerian Tribune, however, learnt that the committee’s session with Otedola was stormy as all efforts by the panel to commit him into answering the questions posed to him were unsuccessful.
The committee’s session with Otedola which lasted for about one hour and 30 minutes failed to achieve any result.
Immediately Otedola stormed out of the committee room, where he was supposed to be interrogated, journalists accosted him for a response but he stood his ground that he would not say anything, claiming that Lawan had been inconsistent in his statements on the issue.
Otedola’s lawyer, Mr Koku, also said, “Otedola’s position is simple, that Farouk Lawan’s statements have been inconsistent. First he denied accepting the money and later turned around to admit that he collected the money.
“He (Lawan) said he gave (Honourable Adams) Jagaba the money, Jagaba denied that he received the money. He said he had discussed the issue with the EFCC chairman, who has denied same,” he said.
However, the chairman of the House committee, Honourable Gambo Dan-Musa, who later briefed newsmen confirmed that Otedola failed to answer all the questions posed to him and that rather than answering the question, he (Otedola) was laughing at the lawmakers.
According to him, “Mr Otedola appeared before us in compliance with our invitation in order to get to the root of the bribery allegation levelled against one of our members, but unfortunately, he refused to answer all the questions posed to him. We even told him that he was not an accused before us today but a witness against one of our members who was accused of wrongdoing, but he refused.”
To this end, he disclosed that despite the refusal of Otedola to answer the committee’s question, the committee would still go ahead with the investigation and invite all other concerned parties in the bribery allegation.
Source: Tribune