Senate Is Talking Rubbish – Sgf Blasts Senate Over Call For His Resignation

BEVERLY HILLS, December 15, (THEWILL) – David Babachir Lawal, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), has described the Senate as talking rubbish for calling for his resignation and prosecution over alleged mismanagement of funds meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP).

The Senate had called for Lawal's resignation following alleged contravention of the provisions of Public Procurement Act and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to award of contracts.

This was made known in the presentation of interim report of the Adhoc Committee on Mounting Humanitarian Crisis in the North East, by the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Shehu Sani in Abuja on Wednesday .

Presenting the report, Sani said that some of the contracts were awarded to companies belonging to top government officials' cronies and family members explaining that the committee found out that Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company with Lawal as Director, was awarded consultancy contract.

But reacting to the Senate, Lawal insisted that he resigned from Rholavision Engineering before taking the SGF appointment adding that he was not given an opportunity to defend himself on the allegations raised against him while the committee was sitting.

“The senate is talking balderdash; it has developed the habit of bring him down syndrome,” he said.

“Nigerians have decided that we should destroy our best. We should all destroy the promising and best among us by bringing people down without a cause. This is just how I saw it.

“I have the report of the senate committee in which it was said that I didn't resign from Rholavision Nigeria Limited. Let me tell you, Rholavision was formed by me in December 1990, and it has been a company that was run very successfully.

“Now, when I was appointed secretary to the government of the federation, I resigned from that company on 18th August 2015. I can see that in their report, they are talking about 2016. I don't know where they got their facts.

“By the way, it is very instructive that when the committee was sitting, no effort was ever made to invite me to come and make a submission. It is therefore, surprising that they devoted a whole session of today (yesterday) at maligning me, claiming what is not true without even giving me the chance to come and put my own case before them.”

Story by Oputah David