Senate Presidency: CSO Alleges Vote Buying, Asks Anti-graft Agencies To Probe

A civil society organisation (CSO), Adopt a Goal for National Development Initiative(AGNDI), has raised the alarm over bribery allegations in the campaign organisation of one of the aspirants for the 10th Senate Presidency in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by its director of programme, Victor B. Martins, and issued in Abuja on Sunday, AGNDI described the allegation as a weighty one that must not be swept under the carpet.

The CSO said it was shocked by reports accusing an aspirant for the position of the Senate presidency of bribing Senators-elect with the sum of $10,000 to secure their votes.

Martins stated: The despicable act, our group  discovered, could be traced to a former Chief Executive of a State from the North  who would be inaugurated into the Senate for the first time in June. He has been accused of boasting that he would stop at nothing in getting the highly coveted seat no matter what it would cost, including guile.

“The Senator-elect who wrote a letter congratulating all Senators-elect mischievously referred to himself in the letter as a Distinguished Senator instead of Senator-elect, apparently to hoodwink  new members. The question is how could a fresher that has never stepped his feet into the Senate nor inaugurated refer to himself as Distinguished Senator?

“Our group calls urgent attention to the issue of this former Governor who though a fresher going to the Senate, already corrupting the system. This is a Governor under whose watch banditry started and ravaged the whole zone.

“Same Governor was recently indicted by the EFCC alongside the discredited former Accountant-General of the Federation for mismanaging States funds running into several billions. Reports reaching us at the moment indicate that the same Governor has pencilled a wooping N500M to book a whole floor for his Campaign Headquarters at Transcorp Hilton!

“Such a whopping sum in hiring a whole floor for a campaign lasting not more than two months?”

The CSO said it’s investigations further revealed that the former governor is bent on getting the position in order to cover up his numerous corruption cases!

“Where on earth has a fresher to the parliament pursued the Presidency of the Senate or Speakership in this manner? The ranking rules remain valid for all members to respect not disrespect.

“We therefore call on all the anti corruption agencies to swing into action by investigating this allegation and bringing him to book if found guilty.

“We also call on the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be very circumspect in choosing whom to support for leadership positions in the parliament as all eyes are on him to clean the nation’s augean stables under his watch,” it further stated.