90Bn Allegation: I Will Waive Immunity To Clear My Name, Osinbajo Reacts To Allegations

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, disclosed his readiness to waive his constitutional immunity to clear his name over the N90 billion he allegedly received from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the funding of the 2019 elections.

The vice president, through his verified twitter handle, @ProfOsinbajo, said the waiver would allow for a robust adjudication of the allegations levelled against him.

A former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, had on Monday said the travails of Osinbajo were due to an alleged N90bn scandal, and that recent developments involving the VP had nothing to do with 2023 politics.

The vice president also announced that he had instructed his lawyers to commence legal action against Frank and one Katch Ononuju for allegedly defaming his person.

Osinbajo said: “In the past few days, a spate of reckless and malicious falsehoods have been peddled in the media against me by a group of malicious individuals.

“The defamatory and misleading assertions invented by this clique have been making the social media rounds anonymously.

“I have today instructed the commencement of legal action against two individuals, one Timi Frank and another Katch Ononuju, who have put their names to these odious falsehoods.

“I will waive my constitutional immunity to enable the most robust adjudication of these claims of libel and malicious falsehood,” he said.

Osinbajo enjoys immunity in line with Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution. The section also covers the president, governors and deputy governors.

It reads in part: “(a) no civil or criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a person to whom this section applies during his period of office; (b) a person to whom this section applies shall not be arrested or imprisoned during that period either in pursuance of the process of any court or otherwise; and (c) no process of any court requiring or compelling the appearance of a person to whom this section applies, shall be applied for or issued…

“This section applies to a person holding the office of President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor; and the reference in this section to “period of office” is a reference to the period during which the person holding such office is required to perform the functions of the office.”

Frank, an associate of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, alleged that Osinbajo, who recently lost his control over some agencies, was being “punished” for allegedly mismanaging N90bn released by the FIRS for the prosecution of the last general elections in favour of the APC.

Speaking further, yesterday, Frank challenged the VP to sue him instead of threatening media houses over his latest revelation, saying he was anxiously waiting to receive court summons.

He also asked Osinbajo to resign as VP to give room for a thorough investigation and unbiased prosecution in court, saying, “This is important so as not to influence the judiciary as well as use public funds to pursue the case as a sitting vice president.”

Reacting to Osinbajo’s decision, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said the immunity made applicable to the president and the vice president, governor and deputy governor under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, cannot be waived by a person.

Ozekhome said the constitution provided for their immunity from prosecution but they could be investigated.

He, however, said the result of the investigation must be kept in the cooler until after their tenure.

He mentioned the case of Tinubu Vs IGP, where the Supreme Court held that they could not be prosecuted while in office, but that they could be investigated and the result kept until they vacated their offices. He said it will be a violation of the constitution to institute legal action against them while in office.

According to him, the only way the vice president could be removed from office was by way of impeachment under Section 143 (11) for gross misconduct and acts that were terribly against the constitution and laws of the land.

This, according to him, will also require approval of two third majority of members of the National Assembly.

Ozekhome said what was happening presently was political power tussle towards 2023 because “the cabal have a game plan and they will not stop at anything.”

A former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Professor Adedeji Adekunle, has said there was no constitutional crisis if the vice president decides on his own to waive his immunity.

Adekunle said there was a precedent with a situation of similarity when the then governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, instituted a defamation case against INB Securities.

In the cited case, Prof. Adekunle said while the High Court and the Appeal Court held that the suit could continue, the Supreme Court adjourned the suit sine die. He also cited a suit instituted by a former governor of Ogun State, Olabisi Onabanjo, against a newspaper company as another precedent.

“I think you can waive immunity. It is yours. So, it can be waived,” he said.

According to him, “If you consider the fact that he (VP) can also sue in his personal capacity…He can initiate a defamatory suit in his personal capacity. So, the constitution is not saying it is a taboo. If he sues, he is waiving the immunity from process.

Also, Barr. Mohammed Tsav, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari branch, Abuja, said the move by the vice president was a good one for democracy in the sense that it would serve as a good precedent.

“If the vice president can say he will waive his immunity to face probe, all the others that have been hiding under the immunity will have nothing to fall back on anymore,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that Osinbajo was not under probe over the National Social Investment Programme and the Anchor Borrowers Programme.

Spokesman of the EFCC Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, also described as condemnable the attempt to use a false indictment and incite Osinbajo against its acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu.

Uwujaren said Magu did not allege corruption in the National Social Investment Programme and the Anchor Borrowers Programme as alleged in a section of the media.

He said news reports, some of which were captioned, “There is corruption in N-SIP programme – Magu”, implied that Magu was quoted as saying that there was corruption in the National Social Investment Programme and the Anchor Borrower’s Programme.

The EFCC statement said a national daily newspaper claimed that Magu spoke through the spokesman of the agency, Wilson Uwujaren at the 15th Anti-Corruption Situation Room organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda in Kaduna, on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, and asked civil society organizations “to investigate the N-SIP.”

The EFCC statement said: “The commission wishes to disclaim the reports as false and a mischievous twist of the goodwill message presented by Mr Uwujaren on corruption and peacebuilding in conflict communities.

“In the presentation, the EFCC spokesperson observed that the agency had received complaints in some zones regarding the social investment programmes, citing an example in Gombe where the commission investigated a case in the Anchor Borrowers Scheme in which sand was bagged and passed off as fertiliser.

“He, therefore, warned that for the crises in these conflict zones not to degenerate, civil society organisations should play more active roles in monitoring the programmes to ensure that their benefits get to the people for which they are intended.

“At no time in the presentation did Mr Uwujaren mention the N-SIP as a programme nor did he accuse those who superintend it of corruption.”

Also, the National Social Investment Office (NSIO) said Osinbajo was not involved in financial transactions or the disbursement of funds for the National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIPs).

Justice Tienabeso Bibiye, the Communications Manager, National Social Investment Office (NSIO), said the Ministry of Budget and National Planning was in charge of all matters regarding financing, budgeting, procurement and disbursement of funds allocated and released for the N-SIPs.

“The ministry also serves as the secretariat of the steering committee that supervised the programme coordination, and was also responsible for presenting memos about the schemes each time that was required at the Federal Executive Council,” he said.