The gathering circus of the oil subsidy bribery shakedowns of the oil industry by members of the House of Representatives adhoc committee on oil subsidy probe appear stock in a continuous musical chairs threatening the unraveling of broader bribery scandals that may engulf the entire eight members of the adhoc committee on oil subsidy probe. This is as information available to 247ureports.com through sources close to the adhoc committee revealed that the Nigerian Police Force [NPF] has indicated interest in the bribery allegation leveled against another member of the adhoc committee, Hon. Umar Abubakar Sade representing Darazo/Ganjuwa constituency in Bauchi State.
Following a revealing report published on 247ureports.com titled Subsidy Bribe: Another Committee Member, Hon. Umar Abubakar Sade, In Trouble – where the honorable member of the house of representative was alleged to have engaged in the shakedown of the oil companies such as MRS and A. A. Rano – the men of the NPF who were already investigating the bribery allegation against the deposed Chairman of the adhoc committee, Hon. Lawan Farouk – have expanded their scope of investigation to include Hon. Umar Abubakar Sade and some of the members of the adhoc committee. According to a source from the police department, the activities of Hon. Sade and other members of the committee have since become an interest to the investigating team. “The team is working” said the police source.
Recent development indicates that the honorable representative from Bauchi – following the report – turned to two other members of the adhoc committee accusing them of having blown the whistle against him. The honorable member, in accusing his colleagues of having blown the whistle, threatened to ‘spill the beans’ should the ‘noose tighten’ from the investigating police team. The identities of the two accused members were not readily available to 247ureports.com but it was gathered that the eight members of the adhoc committee have been uneasy about the ongoing rounds of revelations and possible police investigations.
Particularly, reactions from the Darazo/Ganjuwa constituency serve one of the most worrisome aspects of the unfolding oil subsidy bribery brouhaha. As gathered, the residents of Darazo/Ganjuwa who placed numerous telephone calls to the publisher of 247ureports.com reveal that the community leaders have become concerned over the allegation leveled against the representative. Some of the stakeholders indicate that closed door deliberations are currently ongoing within some quarters over the matter.
It is recalled that the lower chamber of the National Assembly [NASS] had set up an eight person adhoc committee consisting of – Farouk M. Lawan, Ali Babatunde Ahmad, James Abiodun Faleke, Alphonsus Gerald Irona, Umar Abubakar Sade, Eucharia Azodo, Abbas Tajudeen, John Owan Enoh.