Hembe resigns, alleges:Oteh offered me N30 million bribe

[DT]

     Embattled Herman Hembe yesterday stepped down as chairman of the House of Representatives committee investigating the capital market following allegations that he solicited bribes of N44 million from the Securities and Exchange Commission.  But Hembe did not go down quietly, as he accused SEC director-general Arunma Oteh of trying to entice him with N30 million in the run up to the investigations of the "near-collapse" of the capital market by his committee.

Also yesterday, the House of Representatives constituted an ad hoc committee to take over the probe, confirming a Daily Trust exclusive story published yesterday.

Hembe and Oteh are entangled in corruption accusations, starting last Wednesday when the committee chairman accused her of spending N850,000 on food on a day alone and of incurring N30 million hotel bills. Oteh hit back the following day, saying the committee chairman demanded bribes of N44 million and that he also collected foreign trip estacode from SEC for a journey he didn't make.

At the commencement of yesterday's House plenary session, Hembe raised a point of order to make some explanations. He said the SEC boss "embarked on voyage of false allegations against me. I consequently disqualify myself and request the House to withdraw the entire committee from further conducting the investigative hearing.

"I still reserve the right and liberty to go court not only to obtain a judicial stamp of my innocence but to receive full compensation for the obvious damage these false and spurious allegations have caused me."

"I made no attempt to collect any bribe, rather I worked hard to avoid the offer of such by the SEC DG," he added, lifting documents which were later revealed to be copies of SEC internal memos supposedly backing his claims.

The memos, copies of which were made available to journalists, appeared to show that SEC management initiated the process of giving the House capital market committee N30 million to help facilitate the public hearings.

Shortly after Hembe's comments, chief whip Isiaka Mohammed Bawa (PDP, Taraba) moved a motion in which he asked that an ad hoc committee be set up to take over the capital market probe and report back within 21 days, and for the bribery allegations against Hembe to be referred to the Ethics and Privileges committee "for thorough investigation and report back within 14 days."

Members of the ad hoc committee are Mohammed Tukur El-Sudi (PDP, Taraba) chairman, Ini Akpannudo (PDP, Akwa Ibom), Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi), Abimbola Daramola (ACN, Ekiti), Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), Buba Jibril (CPC, Kogi), Usman Adamu Mohammed (ANPP, Kano) and Rose Okoh (PDP, Cross River).

Speaking shortly after constituting the panel, House speaker Aminu Tambuwal said the constitutional responsibility of exposing corruption was prone to hazards but "it is a duty we won't abdicate from."

"We are totally committed to the fight against corruption and shall deploy all energies available at our disposal to fight this war and in doing so we recognise that we must, like Caesar's wife, be above aboard and suspicion," he added.

What the SEC memos said

The SEC internal memos tendered by Hembe show that on March 1, 2012 Hassan Mamman of the Corporate Affairs department raised a memo in which he suggested that they support the House capital market committee's public hearing.

"In view of the commission's role as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market and in consideration of the existing cordial relationship cultivated over the years between it and the House of Representatives committee on capital market, we find it appropriate for the management to assist the committee by co-sponsoring this three weeks along event," the memo said.

Oteh minuted thus: "Excellent idea."

The second memo dated March 9, also raised by Hassan Mamman recommended that the commission donates N26.2 million for live TV coverage of the public hearing and N4.2 million as secretarial needs, making N30.418 million.

The third memo by E. K. Aighekaen dated March 13, conveyed extracts from minutes of 63rd meeting of the SEC board held on March 12, which approved a maximum of N30 million in support of the public hearing.

The memos did not specifically say if the monies were provided to Hembe, or if he collected.

We never offered N30m bribe—SEC

Later yesterday, SEC issued a statement denying offering any bribe to Hembe.

The statement, issued by a spokesman for Oteh, Mr. Obi Adindu, said, "The Securities and Exchange Commission welcomes the timely action of the House of Representatives under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal in creating the ad hoc committee to preside over the public hearing on the Nigerian capital market.

"There is no doubt that the action of the House aligns with our position and the view widely held by most Nigerians that the hearing had deviated from the course set for it by the House and degenerated instead to a hostile attack on the Securities and Exchange Commission, and its Director General, Ms. Arunma Oteh.

"We note the allegation made by Hon. Hembe on the floor of the House and on live television that it was Ms. Oteh who made financial overtures to him. We wish to state unequivocally that at no time and in no place did the SEC, Ms. Oteh offer Hon. Hembe any financial inducement.

"Despite Hon. Hembe's claims even as he said he had copies of internal memos which he purportedly obtained from the SEC, however Ms. Oteh did not issue or cause to be issued any correspondence to Hon. Hembe which offered him financial gratification.

"We confirm that the SEC received a document in respect of the public hearing with a list of items with cost implications totaling N39,844,490.00.

"The correspondences which the Director General sent to Hon. Hembe comprised a letter dated 5th March 2012 which expressed her support for the public hearing in line with the SEC's role as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital markets and a cover letter for SEC's submissions to the public hearing dated 12th March 2012.

"She had hoped that the hearing would offer a platform for an objective examination of the market with a view to identifying the factors militating against its full recovery. She had expected that the outcome of the hearing would facilitate realization of the SEC's vision of a world class capital market that constitutes the engine room for our country's rapid socio economic growth and development.

"It is sad that a genuine act of support to the process of fair and transparent review of our capital market has been twisted into something reprehensible. We totally disagree with the claim that we tried to financially induce or influence Hon. Hembe or anyone else. It goes against everything that the Director General stands for and has been known for, internationally and locally, by those who have known her in her professional career of over 25 years."


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Daily Trust