In unprecedented move, Reps summon Jonathan over Malabu scandal(updated)

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on OPL 245 on Wednesday invited former President Goodluck Jonathan to testify in the investigation into the Malabu Oil deal.

The invitation would be the first time the federal legislature would invite either a sitting or former president to testify before it while carrying out its oversight functions.

In justifying the invitation to the former president, the committee noted that although its extensive investigation into the OPL 245 saga was drawing to a close, it was imperative that evidence should be taken from the former president in light of recent information that had come to light both nationally and internationally which suggested that the former president may have been complicit in the controversial OPL 245 deal.

The committee also cited ongoing proceedings in the Italian Courts instituted by the Public Prosecutor of Milan in which President Jonathan and ministers in his administration were mentioned, as further justification for his invitation.
The committee In a statement released on Wednesday, outlined a number of facts undergirding the former president’s invitation as follows:

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(i) Mr Jonathan was the President at the material time the Ministers brokered the deal that lead to the allegation of $1bn diversion of funds;

(ii) Mr Jonathan’s name features in the proceedings initiated by the Public Prosecutor of Milan in Italy;

(iii) A U.K. Court Judgment in relation to an application to return part of the money being restrained, castigated the Jonathan Administration as not having acted in the best interest of Nigeria in relation to the ‘deal’;

(iv) The Attorney-General of the Federation at the material time, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has recently instituted proceedings in court wherein he pleads that all his actions were as instructed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The statement concluded that the Secretariat will write to the former president asking for his response and submissions.
It should be recalled that in April of this year, the House had arrived at the resolution to invite the former president in its plenary and mandated its ad-hoc committee on the investigation into alleged corruption, malpractices, and breach of due process in the award of Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 to follow through on the resolution.

 

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