The Presidency has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari will not interfere in the ongoing probes by the National Assembly.
According to the Presidency, the Senate’s probes of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, and the power sector from 1999 to 2015, were purely legislative matters and that the President could not stop them.
It will be recalled that the Senate Committee on Business and Ethics has commenced probing an allegation of diversion of N1tn proceeds of corruption recovered by the EFCC.
The probe was embarked upon by the Senate after it received a petition from the Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems, Mr. George Uboh, accusing Lamorde of diverting the money.
Also, the Senate Ad-hoc committee on power is investigating expenditures in the power sector under former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, while speaking with Sunday Punch, stated that the President could not interfere with the probes because of his respect for the principle separation of powers.
“There is separation of powers and the Senate has the power to conduct probes. Thus, the Presidency does not need to endorse or oppose any probe being carried out by the legislature. It is within their power to do so.”