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N10bn loan: Speaker Dimeji Bankole owns up as his time expires

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on November 30, 1999 at 12:00am
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, may have owned up to borrowing N10bn from a commercial bank to manage the affairs of the lower arm of the National Assembly, investigation has revealed. A member of the House leadership, told our correspondent that Bankole, who was absent at Wednesday's plenary when the issue came up, gave satisfactory reasons for the loan during a closed-door session by the House leadership on Thursday. The member said, "He gave reasons why the loan was taken. We were satistified. In fact, most of us who make up the House leadership were in the know about the loan. "We just agreed that he should convey our decision at the plenary which will have all members in attendance. The decision was to prevent a row in the House." Bankole had come under fire during Wednesday's plenary with members giving him till Thursday (yesterday) to explain why the loan was taken by the House leadership without carrying them along. The bank had reportedly withheld the second quarter allowances of members on account of the loan, resulting into anger and anxiety in the chamber. But on Thursday, rather than hear the speaker in the open, the House went straight into the closed-door session, which lasted for nearly two hours. When it reverted to plenary, Bankole read out two resolutions he said were taken at the closed-door meeting. He claimed that the members "discussed House matters and issues and the Speaker offered satisfactory explanations." The speaker added that the meeting also resolved that the remuneration of the 11 re-admitted lawmakers led by Mr. Dino Melaye should be paid to them immediately. However, mixed reactions greeted the resolutions. Some lawmakers shouted "no", "no", indicating disagreement, while others shouted "yes", "yes" as Bankole asked whether what he said was the true reflection of the resolutions of the meeting. Findings however revealed that at the closed-door session, the speaker clarified that the loan was an institutional loan as against the rumour that he used the name of the House to take a personal loan. He was reported to have said that the money was used to manage the affairs of the House. The development confirmed allegations that lawmakers jacked up their entitlements, collecting jumbo salaries and allowances. A disgruntled member said that the loan was used to fund the "recklessness" of lawmakers, who raised the quarterly allocation of each member from N28.9m to about N42m in July last year. The decision, in ad
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