Plans by the House of Representatives in Abuja to investigate the Securency bribery scandal have drawn a sharp rebuke in the Australian parliament with comments by a ranking senator in Canberra saying the Nigerian parliament cannot be relied upon for probity.
“I wouldn’t follow everything the parliament of Nigeria did,” shouted Stephen Parry in reaction to comments by a senator and leader of the Australian Greens Party, Bob Brown, that the affair had been taken up in Nigeria and that legislators in Nigeria had begun inquiry into the matter.
The exchange took place on Tuesday during a hearing in the Australian parliament on the polymer scandal. Mr. Brown had moved a motion asking for a parliamentary investigation into the matter. He urged the Australian Senate to borrow a leaf from Abuja, saying the allegations were “extraordinarily serious”, and calling on the Senate to complement the ongoing investigations by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as well as the private investigations by Securency’s management.
John Agoda, a House of Representative member from Delta State proposed a bill to investigate the Polymer scandal. The bill succeeded and a committee has been set up to investigate the allegations that millions in bribes were paid to Nigerian officials by Australian company, Securency, to secure the contract to supply the new polymer notes.
Refering to the Nigerian investigation, Mr. Brown said “there is a parliamentary inquiry going at the same time as the relative crimes commission in Nigeria...I do not think it would be an exercise in probity for this parliament to wash its hands of these extraordinarily serious claims,” he added to support his motion for a concurrent inquiry with that of the Australian police.
The sitting, however, took a new turn when Mr. Parry, from the Liberal Party, opposed Mr. Brown’s motion, making snide comments about Nigerian legislators. The motion was also opposed by Donald Farrell from the Labour Party who argued that launching new investigations could prejudice the outcome of the AFP investigations.
Mr. Brown fired back angrily in defence of the Agoda initiative, remarking that “I for one respect what the parliament of Nigeria and its members try to do and try to achieve,” following up with a citation of the occasions in which Securency’s agents had been named in connection with corrupt practices in at least four other countries besides Nigeria; namely Uganda, South Africa, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
A draft of the Senate proceedings obtained by NEXT showed that a lively argument ensued after Mr. Brown’s proposition.
Australia’s reputation at stake
Mr, Brown moved a motion in which he said “I move that the following matter be referred to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 4 February 2010...It is not just incumbent upon but the responsibility of this parliament and I believe, through this motion, the committee system to investigate these extraordinarily serious charges,” Mr. Brown said. The senator then referred to newspaper articles both in Nigeria and Australia and urged the Senate to begin investigations in order to avert any damage to the international image of Australia whose Reserve Bank co-owns Securency.
Mr. Brown said he was alarmed that neither the Prime Minister nor the Reserve Bank of Australia had responded to the matter before the parliament, adding that the members of the board of the Reserve Bank should have been aware of the activities of its subsidiaries. “You hear a litany of connections with dodgy dealers, with corrupt officials, with shady persons, with people who have criminal records and with people who are involved in multi-million dollar international deals, which include money being passed from agencies of the Reserve Bank to offshore tax havens for payment. This Senate and this parliament has to be very concerned indeed,” Mr. Brown added. Both the Liberal and Labour Party in the Senate, however, rose to defeat the motion.
Nigeria reacts
In reaction to Mr. Parry’s comments, Mr. Agoda, lashed out at Mr.Parry’s insinuations, restating the commitment of the Nigerian legislators to the investigation. He also said the investigating committee had begun preliminary work on the matter.“We are a sovereign nation and we did not begin these investigations because anybody asked us to. We believe what we are doing is right. We know our responsibilities and we are carrying out our responsibilities based on the laws of Nigeria,” Mr. Agoda said in a telephone interview with NEXT. “Before you start an investigation, you have to get some preliminary details. The committee has done that and is now making preparations to start the investigations. All we know is that we are out to find out the truth and to do justice,” Mr. Agoda said.
While the Nigerian investigations have commenced, analysts say the Australian parliament is under mounting pressure to investigate the scandal.
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