Citing forgery, graft, Reps want Buhari to sack Obono – Obla

…Seek his prosecution, withdrawal of law degree, bar certificate …Senate confirms Owasanoye as ICPC chairman The House of Representatives on Thursday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Chairman, Special Presidential Investigation Panel (SPIP), Okoi Obono – Obla, for alleged certificate forgery and corruption. Also, the House urged the president to dissolve the panel headed by Obla, requesting that the Code of Conduct Bureau be strengthened to perform the functions of the presidential panel in the anti – corruption crusade of the Buhari administration. Members of the House reached the resolutions following the adoption of the recommendations of an ad hoc committee set up to investigate the legality and modus operandi of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel. It would be recalled that the House ad hoc committee had conducted an extended public investigation on the activities of SPIP in July this year. The hearing which was conducted based on the allegations of corruption contained in the audit report of the auditor – general of the federation on the financial transactions made by the panel, also involved sundry allegations of arbitrary use of the powers and office of the chairman by Obla and forgery of his academic, and professional credentials. Adopting the recommendations contained in the report of the ad hoc committee chaired by Rep. Aliyu Patigi at the committee of the whole presided by Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, the House also called on the Independent Corruption Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to prosecute him. Moving for the adoption of the recommendations, Rep. Kingsley Chinda said the “president should be urged to dissolve the panel in view of the arbitrary use of powers and abuse of office of the chairman. “The Code of Conduct Bureau should be utilised for functions the panel seeks to perform in the current anti – corruption drive. The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission should investigate the allegations of corruption contained in the audit report of the auditor-general of the federation on the financial transaction of the panel and prosecute the culprits. “The law degree of Chief Okio Obono Obla, having been obtained fraudulently should be withdrawn by the University of Jos. The Body of Benchers should withdraw the call to bar certificate awarded to Ofem Okoi Ofem (now known as Chief Okoi Obono Obla) as it was based on the degree which he obtained from the University of Jos through fraud. “The president should discharge Chief Okoi Obono Obla of his responsibility as special adviser and chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel. “The president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), the director-general of the Nigerian Law School, the vice chancellor, University of Jos, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Chief Justice of Nigeria should ensure Obla is prosecuted,” he added. Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Justice Uwani Abba-Aji as Justice of the Supreme Court, as well as the Bolaji Owasanoye as chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. Also confirmed were Grace Chinda, Okolo Titus, Obiora Igwedebia, Olubukola Balogun, Adamu Bello, Hannatu Muhammed, Abdullahi Saidu and Yahaya Dauda as members of the ICPC Board. Recall that their confirmation was initially suspended after some lawmakers observed that the composition of the board did not comply with federal character principle. By Henry Omunu, and Tunde Opalana, Abuja