Linus Okorie, a lawmaker representing Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to call Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state to order.
According to Okorie, the alleged appointment of two foreign forensic audit firms by Governor Oshiomhole to look into federal government revenue generating agencies from 2010 to 2015 is unconstitutional.
Okorie made this statement in Abakaliki, where he noted that neither the Oshiomhole-led National Executive Council Adhoc Committee on Excess Crude Accounts and Remittances to the Federation Account nor the NEC itself has the power under the constitution to make the purported appointments, Premium Times reports.
He said: “Specifically, the section provides that the National Economic Council shall have power to advise the President concerning the economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the co- ordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of the various Governments of the Federation.
“Section 17 of the Public Procurement Act clearly defines the approving authorities for all procurements by the federal government as Tenders Board and a Ministerial Tender Board. Therefore, clearly and unambiguously, the NEC cannot by any stretch of the imagination be construed as an approving authority under the Act.”
Governor Adams Oshiomhole and President Muhammadu Buhari
Despite showing his support to President Buhari in recovering looted assets, Okorie however warned against any resort to extra legal means of engagement no matter how attractive that may seem.
He said: “President Buhari must avoid any extra legal means, no matter how attractive and populist it may seem. He must remain conscious of the legal maxim that in a democracy, it’s better for 10 offenders to escape justice than one innocent person to suffer injustice.
“While it is within the government’s legitimate mandate to appoint the said forensic auditors, it must be done by the proper authority and within the ambits of law. Anything to the contrary is both illegal and illegitimate.”
According to him, the committee did not go through the acceptable procurement procedures in arriving at the appointment announced by Governor Oshiomhole.
This advise from Okorie comes after Governor Adams Oshiomhole had explained that his government was forced to secure a loan of $75million from the World Bank because of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s looting.
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