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Finally, the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday evening met behind closed doors to resolve the lingering crisis over the domiciliation of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
BusinessDay gathered that the two Cjambers may resolve to domicile the NFIU in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of efforts to fast-track the passage of the bill.
The report of the Conference Committee will be signed by the Senate on Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption as well as the House Committees on Financial Crimes next week Monday.
The crucial meeting between the Senator Saraki and Speaker Dogara came on the heel of the Point of Order sponsored by Chukwuka Utazi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, alleging that Kayode Oladele, chairman, House Committee on Financial Crimes had refused to honour series of scheduled meetings.
Utazi who spoke during Thursday plenary session, also alleged that the delay in transmission of the conference report was due to the insistence of the House Committee on Financial Crimes to domicile the Unit within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
However in his ruling, Senate President President of the Senate, Bukkola Saraki pledged to meet with the Speaker of the House of Representatives with the view to sort out the grey areas.
While reacting to the allegation, Oladele who spoke with BusinessDay and other legislative Correspondents, disclosed that the crisis has been unanimously resolved by the leadership of both Chambers, with a promise from the Senate President to put the record straight on the misleading Point of Order raised by Senator Utazi.
He said: “the update is that we have resolved the knotty issues. Initially, we had a problem with a clause which after the meeting of the leadership of the National Assembly was finally settled.
“I think in the next few days, we are going to sign the Conference report.”
Speaking further, Oladele who described the Point of Order raised by Senator Utazi as mere speculation, argued that previous efforts initiated by him for Utazi to convey the maiden meeting were shut off.
“He had alleged that many attempts to see me for a meeting was abortive and that I did not make myself available for the meeting, but the few times we had met, I was the one that went to his office sometimes, I will even wait in his office for about one hour.
“He doesn’t know where my office is, he doesn’t know the location of my office and I will give him that respect as the chairman of the Conference Committee and sit down in his office. There was never a time he called for a meeting that I never attended. After the National Assembly passe the resolution, last week he sent a text to me on he evening of Monday last week that if I will be going to France for the Financial Task Force meeting on Tuesday last week, that we should meet that evening. And I responded to him that I will be going to France, please choose another date I have it on my phone, the text message is here.
“The there was no reply from him, so when I got to Airport in the evening of that Tuesday, the first person I saw was Senator Utazi wanting to board the flight to France, the same place I was going, the same evening that he was proposing that we should meet in Abuja here. So it was more of a set-up!
“Anyway, I did not say anything other than, but you proposed that we should meet in Abuja this evening and I told you I will be going to France, you never told me you are also on your way to France. It ended like that. Then just three days ago, we met again at the State House at an event organised by PACA. We sat next to each other, then I asked Mr. Chairman, when are we having the Conference Committee meeting, but he shut it off. Two times I asked him just few days ago he shut it off.”
While reacting to the news making around on the delisting of Nigeria from the EGMONT Group, Oladele (APC-Ogun) who allayed fears over the report that Nigeria described the report as unfounded.
He however said: “there is this news all over the place about whether Nigeria will be expelled in which our cards will no longer be tenable and other consequences but I want to allay the fears of Nigerians, that there’s nothing like that we are not going to be expelled from the EGMONT Group.
“Of course, people should just disregard the news going around in the social media.”
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
