Senator Melaye Accuses Obasanjo of Exposing Lawmakers To Corruption

A letter written to the leadership of the National Assembly by a former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, is raising dust in the country, as a Federal Lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, is accusing the former President of exposing the National Assembly to corruption.

In his statement, Senator Dino described Mr Obasajo’s action through the letter as a ‘misplacement of anger’.

Part of the letter reads;

“I have tremendous respect for the former President, but if the truth must be told, Obasanjo’s letter to the 8th National Assembly on the issue of corruption, introduced by himself to the 4th Assembly, was uncalled for, moreso, when the 8th Assembly and in particular, the 8th Senate, has nothing to do with corruption,” the lawmaker claimed.

He added that though he was against corruption anywhere in Nigeria, he would not support accusations based on anger and vindictiveness.

Senator Melaye further alleged that the government of former President Obasanjo exposed the National Assembly to corruption and easy money and expressed hopes that the letter the former President sent to the National Assembly was not in an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Halliburton and Siemens corruption allegations.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had written to the National Assembly criticising the lawmakers of being insensitive by planning to buy cars for themselves despite the harsh economic situation in Nigeria.

President Obasanjo in the letter also urged lawmakers to be transparent in their finances by publishing their recurrent expenditure and opening their books to an external auditor from 1999 till date.