Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission Ms. Arunma Oteh yesterday opened the Pandora's box at a legislative hearing when she accused the House of Representatives' capital market committee chairman Herman Hembe of asking her for a bribe of N44 million.
Oteh, who the lawmakers on Wednesday accused of large-scale fraud, fired back yesterday, saying Hembe made two different demands for money, totalling N44 million.
She said her refusal to give the funds was behind the hostility of the committee to her during the hearing.
Hembe first asked for N39 million to fund the public hearing on the activities of the capital market, she said.
Then, a week before the commencement of the sittings, he asked her for N5 million, which she also turned down, Oteh added, drawing the ire of committee members who made further allegations of corruption against the SEC director-general.
On Wednesday, at the first session of the hearing, Hembe told Oteh that documents available to the committee showed she used N850,000 for feeding on a day alone, and also spent N30 million on hotel bills.
Yesterday, Oteh reeled out her own accusations against the lawmakers, labelling the hearing as a kangaroo court that was worse than the atrocities committed by the late Ugandan leader Idi Amin.
She said last year, Hembe collected from SEC monies and a business class ticket to travel to the Dominican Republic for a conference but did not travel and never returned the money.
"Yesterday you had implied that as a regulator, that by having people on secondment from the private sector, it could undermine the capacity of the regulatory functions of the commission," she said.
"In asking the SEC to contribute N39 million for this public hearing, you think that you are undermining your capacity to carry out your duties? You think that if Hon. Ihedioha, the deputy speaker of this House, being the nephew to Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyuike and having his wife work in Abuja office of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, do you think it will be compromising his capacity to carry out his duties?
"I will like to say to the Nigerian people to know that I do not think that I am given a fair hearing. I do not think that in 2012, after the efforts that the forefathers of this country have made with respect to ensuring that we have a democracy, that we will have kangaroo courts that are worse than what Idi Amin had in Uganda, and I do not think so.
"And I do not think that it augurs well for the Nigerian capital market because one of the reasons people are investing in this economy is because they believe that there is a democracy and they can come to the National Assembly and have a fair hearing.
"I do not think you have given me a fair hearing, I do not think, Hon. Chairman Hembe that it is appropriate for you to have gathered information from the SEC and without even asking us to verify that information, to respond to that issue and that you already made the judgment."
Watch video of Oteh's allegations from Channels TV below
But Hembe denied the allegations, saying he was ready for investigation by the anti-corruption commissions.
"On my father's grave, I have never visited SEC even for oversights and I never demanded money from her," he said.
"Strong issues of corruption have been made against me. Strong issues of corruption have been made against the committee. So it is our hope that you (EFCC and ICPC) will investigate me deeply and investigate the committee too. I give the permission to that and that is my ruling," he added.
Apparently worried by the twist in the hearing, the House leadership sent the whip, Rep. Isiaka Bawa (PDP, Taraba), to maintain order at the venue of the session.
"The House leadership is very aware of the ugly development in the proceedings of the public hearing. So, they have asked me to come and see how both parties can be appealed to in order to ensure a peaceful conduct of the public hearing. We should all put aside our personal differences and look at Nigeria," Bawa said.
Meanwhile, the panel yesterday alleged that Ms Oteh purchased three vehicles at the cost of N42 million without going through tender as provided by the Public Procurement Act 2007.
The committee also said while the DG was living in an official apartment rented at the cost of N66 million for two years by the commission, she also collects monthly rent in line with the provisions of the monetisation policy.
But Oteh insisted that she had not done anything illegal.
While answering questions on the alleged violation of procurement law, director of finance of the commission, Abacha Bulama, said no meeting was held before the vehicles were purchased.
"It was a memo that was sent round. We didn't hold any meeting. We didn't meet physically," he said.
Also, the commissioner in charge of enforcement and legal, Charles Ahamefula, told the panel that when the memo was brought to him, he refused to sign because there was no meeting and he was not a party to the drafting of the memo.
He also disassociated himself from processes that led to the renting of the DG's residence in Maitama District of Abuja and said it was wrong for Oteh to be enjoying housing monetisation and at the same time living in a house rented by the commission.
The long-drawn session became tensed up intermittently as Oteh and Hembe argue and exchange allegations of fraud.
The hearing is expected to continue today.
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Daily Trust