Lawmakers accepted bribes

[Richard Akindele]

LAGOS (Reuters) - A new Nigerian opposition party called on Saturday for the prosecution of lawmakers alleged to have been bribed to support President Olusegun Obasanjo's bid to rewrite the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

A former national police chief and member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) alleged bribes of 40-50 million naira had been paid by Obasanjo backers to lawmakers, but another PDP member said there was no evidence.

"I have been told that money is being distributed to people to support (Obasanjo's) third term, 50 million naira for each senator and 40 million naira for every member of the House of Representatives," former police chief Nuhu Aliyu told Reuters by phone from his home state of Niger in central Nigeria.

"There is no smoke without fire," said Aliyu, chairman of senate committee on national security and intelligence and an outspoken critic of tenure extension.

Newspapers in the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter splashed details of the alleged bribes by Obasanjo supporters to support a bill now in the National Assembly to change the 1999 charter and allow him to run again in elections next year.

The opposition Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), dominated by dissident PDP members, called for the prosecution of lawmakers and presidential aides alleged to be involved.

The ACD "called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of all pro-third term legislators alleged to have received ... bribes to ensure the passage of the tenure elongation clause."

Obasanjo's spokeswoman Remi Oyo was not immediately available for comment, but she has previously denied that the government had bribed lawmakers.

The chairman of the senate committee on media and publicity, PDP member Victor Ndoma-Egba, said there was no evidence any senator had been bribed over the controversial third term issue.

"A bribe is not something that is given in a market place. I have heard the allegations, but I have absolutely no evidence to prove that it is true," Ndoma-Egba told Reuters.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

The latest allegations could complicate Obasanjo's campaign for a third term and dent his high-profile anti-corruption crusade, political analysts said.

Nigeria is ranked by anti-sleaze watchdog Transparency International as the third most corrupt country in the world.

The National Assembly began debate on the amendment this week, and a preliminary vote in the lower chamber showed Obasanjo was unlikely to get the two-thirds support he needs to change the constitution.

Bribery scandals are not new to the National Assembly, where lawmakers have previously been accused of taking bribes from the presidency or government agencies to pass bills, including the federal budget. Lawmakers usually deny the allegations.

A main proponent of the amendment, Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, is under investigation for allegedly receiving 400 million naira in bribes from business interests in March, to back the plan. He denies any wrongdoing.

Last year, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara lost his position and about a dozen lawmakers were indicted for their involvement in a bribe-for-budget scandal.

Under the 1999 constitution, Obasanjo cannot seek a new mandate after his second and legally final term expires in 2007, but his allies are lobbying to change the constitution. Opponents argue any extension would undermine democracy.

Source: Reuters