LAGOS lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), said yesterday that President Olusegun Obasanjo has violated the Code of Conduct for Public Officers contained in the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution by owning substantial part of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (TRANSCORP) through Obasanjo Holdings Limited.
Transcorp was incorporated on November 17, 2004 and during its formal launch on July 21, 2005, President Obasanjo announced some concessions to the corporation as part of government’s support and encouragement.
The corporation has acquired so far, four oil blocks allocated to it by the Federal Government on July 21, 2005, Nicon-Hilton, Abuja in October, 2005 for $105 million and NITEL on July 3, 2006 for $750 million.
However on the 13th of this month, the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Dr Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke said President Obasanjo has shares in Transcorp through Obasanjo Holdings Limited which was confirmed by the Trustees of the company appointed by Obasanjo, Messrs Daniel Atsu and Lucky Egede.
But Chief Fawehinmi in a statement yesterday argued that the use by the President of Obasanjo Holdings Limited to own substantial part of Transcorp is wrong, illegal and unconstitutional “by virtue of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers contained in the Fifth Schedule, Part 1, Paragraph 13 of the 1999 constitution which provides that: ‘A public officer who does any act prohibited by this code through a nominee, trustee or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Code.’ ”
According to Chief Fawehinmi, “the admission by the Trustees (Elder Daniel Atsu and Barrister Lucky Egede) of Obasanjo Holdings Limited, compounds the constitutional illegality of the President’s involvement in Transcorp. At the time Transcorp was formed and four oil blocks allocated to it with attendant licences, the president, General Olusegun Obasanjo was the Minister of Petroleum Resources a position he held from May 29, 1999. Consequently for the president to allocate oil fields or blocks to Transcorp in which he has substantial shares is clearly an abuse of office under Section 15 (5) of the 1999 constitution.
“A major aspect of the president’s reforms programme is privatisation of major industries. Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), a public concern which belongs to the major sector of the Nigerian economy was privatised. It was sold by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo to Transcorp substantially owned by the President. It is both a corrupt act, a violation of the Code of Conduct and constitutes a shameless abuse of power by the president.
“For the Federal Government to divest its shares in NICON Hilton Hotel, probably the biggest hotel in Nigeria and for the hotel to be bought by the president’s partly-owned company, Transcorp also amounts to a gross abuse of power, a corrupt act and a violation of the Code of Conduct.”
Chief Fawehinmi therefore urged the National Assembly to pass a resolution declaring Transcorp as an unconstitutional commercial organisation and to set forth the process of impeaching the president under Section 143 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 with regards to his involvement in Transcorp. He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to invoke its powers under Sections 7, 29 and 34 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004 and to confiscate all assets and properties acquired by Transcorp.