20 Years After N54m Bribery Saga, El-Rufai Raises New Storm In Senate

Almost 20 years to the date he first crossed paths with the Nigerian Senate over bribe demand allegations from two senators, and following that, allegations of insubordination, among others, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai again appeared before the Senate albeit again not without controversy.

El-Rufai caused a national furore in 2004 when he in a newspaper interview accused two principal officers of the Senate, Senator Ibrahim Mantu now deceased, and Senator Jonathan Zwingina, respectively deputy president of the Senate and deputy majority leader, of demanding N54 million bribe to enable them to demolish opposition to his ministerial nomination.

The N54m it was alleged was to be shared among the 109 senators at N500,000 each.

GWG.ng reports that despite pressures on him to deny the claim, El-Rufai stood his ground on his claim and the allegation remained almost a permanent tar on the two senators who were disowned by their colleagues over the allegation.

The relationship between El-Rufai who was then the minister of the FCT and the Senate worsened during the demolitions in the FCT. The Senate constituted a committee to investigate the demolitions which indicted him but El-Rufai stood his ground backed by President Olusegun Obasanjo leading to a stalemate. In between the Senate also set up a number of probes on the activities of El-Rufai and indicted him on several counts including the recruitment of Hadiza Bala Usman among others as one of his consultants.

20 years on, El-Rufai returned to the Senate on Tuesday after a tour of duty as two-term governor of Kaduna State and was received with a mixed reception.

While he was hailed by all three Kaduna senators and by several other senators including former governors Abdulazziz Yari, APC Zamfara and Danjuma Goje, APC Gombe, Senator Sunday Karami, Kogi West, however, brought out a petition against him.

Senator Karami said the petition had to do with a matter of national security which he wanted the senate to address. The petition raised a little uproar as several senators rose against the move and rose to the nominee’s defence.

Even an attempt by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to touch on the issue was suppressed by the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Ruling on the issue, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said that the Senate chambers would not be used as a forum to try anybody and that he was in receipt of petitions against other nominees. He then said that the petition against El-Rufai would be tried during the confirmation hearing during closed-door.

Upon that, El-Rufai took a bow and unlike his past appearance with no suggestion of a bribe demand.

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