http://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2000/may/14/1.html Senate To Probe Babangida From Saxone AkhaIne Kaduna THE Senate is set to probe the activities of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, particularly the allegation of six billion dollars said to have been siphoned during his tenure. Specifically, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Chief Joseph Sanusi, to furnish the legislators with vital documents and information on the spendings on major contracts and international debt-buy-back during his regime. The Committee Chairman, Senator Idris Abubakar, who spoke to reporters in an interview after a programme with Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Kaduna yesterday stated that "we are aware of the allegations made against General Babangida, particularly the John Fashanu discoveries and my committee has asked the CBN to officially comment on the allegations indicating that various accounts are held outside the country through which supposed fraud were committed." Abubakar said that immediately there is response from the CBN governor, there would be a motion in the Senate for a probe of Gen. Babangida. Said he: "We are waiting for the response of the CBN. If we get anything confirmed by the CBN, people of Nigeria shall hear from us and we shall not compromise our statutory role." Abubakar added that "it has always been my position that as leader, your status, past or present, does not matter. If there is any need to invite you on any issue to the National Assembly, I would expect anybody to be invited to the National Assembly to answer questions or give account of his stewardship to Nigerians." Senator Abubakar also blamed the executive arm for allowing the public to continuously speculate on how much the government has been able to retrieve from corrupt past leaders of this country. He was particularly irked by the recovery made by the Presidency from the Chagoury family, though unknown to the public, albeit a staggering sum of money. The Senator said: "I think I have to agree, and as a result of this clandestine picture of recovery exercise, a lot of speculaton arise and you cannot blame those who speculate. "With evidence of forthrightness and free flow of information by government, you cannot allow rumour mill to function. There is, for example, this allegation that 300 million dollars was recovered from the Chagoury family and out of it only 180 million dollars was paid into the government treasury." Added Abubakar: "Now, you know this allegation can dent the image of the government and the country as a whole, because a government based on probity, transparency and accountability cannot afford a cloud hanging over it." He explained that "my committee has written to the CBN to confirm how much was recovered from the Chagoury family, if any; what was paid into the treasury and when it was paid in. By the time the CBN respond and confirm, we would, of course, ask the government to tell Nigerians how it intends applying those resources, and we intend to do our best in the committee to clear the air." ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------