We Did Not Take $10m Bribe To Pass PIA — Lawan

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has denied allegations that he and
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila,
collected a $10 million bribe to pass the Petroleum Industry Act
(PIA), which provides 3% to host communities.

He rejected the allegations, which had also suggested that the
bribery was facilitated by a serving minister, while speaking to
correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at
the presidential villa, Abuja on Monday.

He said even though the current administration wants to make it
possible for Nigerians to freely express themselves, people must
not resort to ridiculing leaders.

Lawan said: “But of course, bigger legacies will be that the
orientation of Nigerians in such that they are free to say whatever
they want to say about their government, about their leaders, and
so on and so forth and that we have really established ourselves as
an administration.

“People say anything or everything about the President, about
the administration, about members of National Assembly, they call
us names, and this is part of the intangible dividends of
democracy.

“But we are determined to ensure that the space is wide open for
everybody to say whatever he wants to say. But I will advise that
don’t say things that are bad because people are in the habit of
that.

“Recently somebody said $10 million was given to the Speaker and
the Senate President to give to members of the National Assembly to
pass 3% host community development fund. That is funny, but also
very serious.

“I really want to take this opportunity to make exceptions to
those kinds of unwarranted, unprovable, false and fake information
being fed to the Nigerian public and the danger people will face
with this is you cause unnecessary damage to the reputation of
people.

“I had an occasion to take someone to court because of this kind
of thing about three months ago, but Nigerians are better judges
than anywhere else.

“So, the freedom of expression is there, probably more than
anywhere in the world, but I want to caution that Nigerians should
always think positive about their leaders and their administration
and their governments and if
they have issues they feel very strongly about, let them speak the
truth and we are prepared to make corrections that we feel should
be able to make us do better.”

The Senate President said he discussed the 2022 budget with the
president and how enough money can be allocated to security
agencies to make them more effective and as well for the completion
of legacy projects that will be commissioned next year.

He explained: “We also had discussions on the budget 2022. We
believe that the budget for 2022 will be the icing on the cake, so
to speak. That is to say that we have to make sufficient provisions
for the security agencies and also sufficient provisions for our
legacy projects.

“We hope and our desire now is in tandem with what the
Presidency wants. That is to ensure that the legacy projects are
completed by next year by the grace of God.

“These are the major projects, like the second Niger Bridge, the
Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway and so on and so forth, that these
projects are completed within next year and Mr President is able to
commission them for Nigerians to benefit.

“These are projects that we have to make significant or
sufficient provisions in the 2022 budget so that we’re able to
complete them. They should be part of what will be part of the
legacies Mr President owes to this country in the area of
infrastructure.”

Lawan also revealed that he had a discussion with the president
on ways to enhance revenues so as to stop the current resort to
borrowing, noting that the non-remittance of funds by many
government agencies was a source of concern.

He stated: “We also had discussions on some other governance
issues that have to do with making the revenues in the country,
especially for government at the federal and the state levels, and
even local governments even more. There are so many agencies of
government that are not remitting their internally generated
revenues, and this is something that we have to address and address
as swiftly as possible and as quickly as possible because we need
to find a way of reducing the borrowing that we do.

“So, if there are areas that we can now get revenues that will
help us reduce the amount of borrowing, then so be it, and this is
something that we all agree with Mr President that we should
continue to look at those areas that we need to improve on revenue
generation and collection.

“Thank God, we are on the same page with Mr President, in all
these issues, and for us, it’s a renewal of our commitment to
Nigerians and to the administration, that in the National Assembly,
our focus is Nigeria, our
priority is Nigeria, we have no personal interest in anything. What
will make Nigeria better is what concerns us. At the end of the
day, we will have a date with history and want to be on the right
side of history.”

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has denied allegations that he and
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila,
collected a $10 million bribe to pass the Petroleum Industry Act
(PIA), which provides 3% to host communities.

He rejected the allegations, which had also suggested that the
bribery was facilitated by a serving minister, while speaking to
correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at
the presidential villa, Abuja on Monday.

He said even though the current administration wants to make it
possible for Nigerians to freely express themselves, people must
not resort to ridiculing leaders.

Lawan said: “But of course, bigger legacies will be that the
orientation of Nigerians in such that they are free to say whatever
they want to say about their government, about their leaders, and
so on and so forth and that we have really established ourselves as
an administration.

“People say anything or everything about the President, about
the administration, about members of National Assembly, they call
us names, and this is part of the intangible dividends of
democracy.

“But we are determined to ensure that the space is wide open for
everybody to say whatever he wants to say. But I will advise that
don’t say things that are bad because people are in the habit of
that.

“Recently somebody said $10 million was given to the Speaker and
the Senate President to give to members of the National Assembly to
pass 3% host community development fund. That is funny, but also
very serious.

“I really want to take this opportunity to make exceptions to
those kinds of unwarranted, unprovable, false and fake information
being fed to the Nigerian public and the danger people will face
with this is you cause unnecessary damage to the reputation of
people.

“I had an occasion to take someone to court because of this kind
of thing about three months ago, but Nigerians are better judges
than anywhere else.

“So, the freedom of expression is there, probably more than
anywhere in the world, but I want to caution that Nigerians should
always think positive about their leaders and their administration
and their governments and if
they have issues they feel very strongly about, let them speak the
truth and we are prepared to make corrections that we feel should
be able to make us do better.”

The Senate President said he discussed the 2022 budget with the
president and how enough money can be allocated to security
agencies to make them more effective and as well for the completion
of legacy projects that will be commissioned next year.

He explained: “We also had discussions on the budget 2022. We
believe that the budget for 2022 will be the icing on the cake, so
to speak. That is to say that we have to make sufficient provisions
for the security agencies and also sufficient provisions for our
legacy projects.

“We hope and our desire now is in tandem with what the
Presidency wants. That is to ensure that the legacy projects are
completed by next year by the grace of God.

“These are the major projects, like the second Niger Bridge, the
Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway and so on and so forth, that these
projects are completed within next year and Mr President is able to
commission them for Nigerians to benefit.

“These are projects that we have to make significant or
sufficient provisions in the 2022 budget so that we’re able to
complete them. They should be part of what will be part of the
legacies Mr President owes to this country in the area of
infrastructure.”

Lawan also revealed that he had a discussion with the president
on ways to enhance revenues so as to stop the current resort to
borrowing, noting that the non-remittance of funds by many
government agencies was a source of concern.

He stated: “We also had discussions on some other governance
issues that have to do with making the revenues in the country,
especially for government at the federal and the state levels, and
even local governments even more. There are so many agencies of
government that are not remitting their internally generated
revenues, and this is something that we have to address and address
as swiftly as possible and as quickly as possible because we need
to find a way of reducing the borrowing that we do.

“So, if there are areas that we can now get revenues that will
help us reduce the amount of borrowing, then so be it, and this is
something that we all agree with Mr President that we should
continue to look at those areas that we need to improve on revenue
generation and collection.

“Thank God, we are on the same page with Mr President, in all
these issues, and for us, it’s a renewal of our commitment to
Nigerians and to the administration, that in the National Assembly,
our focus is Nigeria, our
priority is Nigeria, we have no personal interest in anything. What
will make Nigeria better is what concerns us. At the end of the
day, we will have a date with history and want to be on the right
side of history.”