SPEAKER’S RESIDENCE TEARS TAMBUWAL, BANKOLE APART

There appears to be a strain in the relationship between former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and his successor, Aminu Tambuwal, as well as the latter’s deputy, Emeka Ihedioha.

We learnt that for some time now, they have not been in talking terms the way they used to be over issues bordering on agreement reached on the Speaker’s apartment when Bankole was still in office on one hand and, on the other hand, over issues relating to Bankole’s unpaid foreign travel allowances.

Sunday Independent gathered that the bitterness in the trio’s relationship is linked to the house allocated to Bankole before he became Speaker, following the monetisation exercise of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, which the leadership of the House “agreed” should be rented, but along the line, the Tambuwal regime reneged.

According to our sources, Bankole and his principal officers were said to have “agreed” that the house allocated to him be rented by the House of Representatives for the Speaker because of its size and other facilities therein pending when the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) will build a permanent official residential apartment for the Speaker.

Sunday Independent gathered that before the “deal” was struck, Bankole was already residing in his Guest House at Asokoro which he privately arranged in his capacity as Speaker, given that there was no official residence for him.

During the week, this newspaper learnt that following irreconcilable differences between Tambuwal and his other principal officers privy to the understanding reached with Bankole over the apartment that the House was to hire from him on rent, the former Speaker moved out of the Guest House at Asokoro last month to his monetised apartment in Apo Quarters when it became obvious that his colleagues had reneged on renting the place.

A dependable source close to Bankole told Sunday Independent that the former Speaker saw the development as a stab in the back and the indication that his colleagues were not prepared to honour the understanding emerged when Tambuwal opted to stay in an apartment arranged for him at Maitama by the FCDA until the official residence of the Speaker is ready.

Bankole had hoped that his successor would move into the monetised apartment on Apo Phase 3, but was shocked when Tambuwal opted to stay in the Maitama home.

It was not possible to establish all the reasons Bankole decided to relocate to his Apo Phase 3 home, but our source said the rent he was paying for the private Speaker’s Guest House in Asokoro was becoming unbearable. For instance, Bankole was said to have been renewing the rent in the last two years and it was not unlikely he no longer has the money which runs into millions of naira to pay as rent, hence the decision to move.

Although our source said Bankole’s annoyance is mostly with Tambuwal and Ihedioha, and he may have stopped relating with them as he used to (both being principal officers during his tenure and in a position to respect the understanding they reached), the aides to both the Speaker and his deputy said the trio’s relationship is still intact.

Apart from the feeling of disappointment over failure of the House leadership to rent his house, Bankole is also said to be concerned as to why he is unable to collect his allowances running into millions from the current House management, two years after leaving office. Bulk of the money was from the Daily Travel Allowance (DTA) meant for the former Speaker and his ex-aides.

An aide to Tambuwal told Sunday Independent that his principal enjoys a robust relationship with his predecessor; the same thing an aide to Ihedioha told this weekly unofficially. “They do not have any issue,” one of the aides said.

Tambuwal’s aide added: “Their relationship is very fine, very cordial. Even the former Speaker’s younger brother, Tayo, is an aide to Tambuwal. I am not aware they are having issues.”

Sunday Independent investigations revealed, however, that the former Speaker and his former aides as well as aides to Tambuwal and other workers in the National Assembly, have been on the neck of the Clerk to pay them their DTA arrears which is believed to be in excess of N300 million.

Regarding Bankole’s unpaid allowances and those of his former aides, it was said that the Clerk of the House was in a better position to speak on that, and that those who work with Tambuwal are also having issues with their DTA.

For instance, another of Tambuwal’s aide noted that after embarking on more than 40 local and foreign trips, the authorities are yet to pay them their allowances, even when they are still being paid the old rate of DTA after variation had reportedly been carried out. Incidentally, Bankole is claiming to be owed a whopping N300 million from foreign travels alone and had written to Tambuwal to pay him on that.

But we learnt that the Speaker referred his letter to the NASS management since he does not have the final say on matters where such huge sums are involved.

Apart from the aides to Tambuwal and Bankole, other political aides and staff of National Assembly who served in the Sixth Assembly under the Speakership of Bankole are not happy that almost two years after vacating office, some of their entitlements are still being held on to by the management of House of Representatives.

Some of the affected aides of principal officers of the sixth Assembly who spoke with Sunday Independentunder anonymity expressed sadness and frustrations over the refusal of the management to settle their outstanding allowances, especially DTA.

According to them, they were not paid the statutory DTA while on official trip, as they were told then that there was no money to settle the bills.

They were allegedly promised that the money would be paid, but nothing came their way till they left office.

Some of them are, however, laying the blame at the feet of the current Clerk of the House, Mohammed Ataba Sani-Omolori, who they say is refusing to pay them now, even when money is available to the parliament.

The Clerk, one of the aggrieved aides said, has consistently refused to part with the money, even after Tambuwal had waded into the issue and instructed him to commence payment of the debts as soon as money is available.

For instance, Sunday Independent gathered that when some former aides of Bankole petitioned Tambuwal on the matter, he handed them over to his Chief of Staff with stern directive that he should take them to the Clerk of the House for immediate attention.

“Though, some of the staff of Speaker Tambuwal are also being owed their DTA, he specifically gave instructions that the backlog of our DTA be paid, but why the Clerk is refusing to pay is what I can’t understand,” another of the affected aides said.

He disclosed further that there is a plan to draw the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to their plight, as they are of the opinion that the Clerk must have diverted the money meant for their payment for personal use.

The Clerk could not be reached for comments over the allegations.

Omonori was recently invited by the EFCC to help the Commission in the pending case of alleged fraud involving Bankole.

Omolori was a Prosecution Witness (PW) in the controversial N38 billion loan obtained by the leadership of the sixth session of the House under Bankole.

Bankole and his erstwhile deputy, Usman Nafada, were slammed with a 17-count charge of criminal breach of trust, and dishonest use of House of Representatives bank account to obtain loan, before Justice Suleiman Belgore.

Justice Belgore had since struck out the case.

Meanwhile, indications emerged during the week that the FCDA may not be in a hurry to complete the official residence of the Speaker and the Senate President, believed to be located somewhere within the National Assembly Complex.

According to Sunday Independent findings, the pace of work does not indicate that the desired seriousness is being attached to the project despite the impression being created by the authorities of the FCDA and huge sum the FCT ministry had proposed in the 2013 budget.

This newspaper’s investigation indicates that work for the projects is still at the consultancy stage.

The authorities of the FCDA also confirmed that to Sunday Independent at the weekend when they were contacted.

Nosike Ogbuenyi, the Special Adviser, Media, to the Minister of the FCT, Bala Mohammed, told Sunday Independent that the choice of the National Assembly Complex is for security reasons and an attempt to deepen our democracy.

He added that the former site proposed by the FCDA for the Senate President, Speaker and their deputies’ official houses was downscaled because of security reasons and the place now used for guest houses, noting that a site in NASS Complex had been mapped out accordingly.

However, Ogbuenyi was not prepared to be drawn into the timeline for the projects since the 2013 budget of the FCT is still awaiting approval at the National Assembly. “It is at the consultancy level and the site mapped out; we are optimistic work would soon start, all other things being equal,” he added.

Source: Daily Independent