Here is Guardian’s editorial on the Honorable (or should I say, dishonorable) mess:

Cost of renovating the Speaker’s house

IT is the most telling sign of the times, that nothing shocks Nigerians any more. Yet, the widespread condemnation that greeted the latest scandal in the House of Representatives shows just how appalled Nigerians have become at official misdemeanour. The whistle over the scandal was blown the other day by House Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Suleiman Kawu. He disclosed that contracts worth N628 million had been awarded for the renovation of the official residences of the Speaker, Hon. (Mrs.) Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, and her deputy, Alhaji Babangida Nguroje, and for the purchase of 12 cars, at a time when, and in a country where, poverty and disease are pandemic.

It is even more shocking that this contract award was among the first concrete actions of this session of the House of Representatives. What manner of legislators are these, who have done nothing to alleviate the condition of Nigerians, but have been busy awarding massive contracts to renovate their homes?

If, according to Hon. Eziuche Ubani, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, the contract for the renovation of the two houses was “only N238 million” (or N.24 billion), it means that the balance of N390 million (or N.4 billion) was spent on 12 cars, at a cost of about N32.5 million each! It should be noted that what was allegedly done with the sum of N.24 billion was the renovation of existing buildings, refurbished only in 2003, and not the building of a residential estate or even the construction of two brand new houses.

In a country where the average citizen spends less than $1.00 per day, to expend the stated sum of N.238 billion on the renovation of the residences of only two of the several elected lawmakers in just one of the two chambers of the National Assembly trenches on scandalous prodigality, if not on a crime, and it places a moral burden on the national legislature.

The 1st to 5th sessions of the National Assembly, which held in the last administration, were dominated by bickering and stormy exchanges among “honourable” and “distinguished” members over money sharing, which stood between them and the discharge of their primary responsibility, the duty to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the country. The present scandal, the renovation of two houses and purchase of 12 cars for a colossal and dreadful sum of N628 million, raises a number of gnawing questions: First, shouldn’t the renovation of the Speaker’s and Deputy Speaker’s residences have been undertaken by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) whose properties those two houses are, in the first place?

Secondly, if the House of Representatives twisted the arms of the FCDA for permission to undertake the renovation exercise and to purchase the 12 cars by itself, was the said sum of N628 million budgeted for in the Capital Vote for the House? Thirdly, if so, did the release of that prodigious amount of money pass through due process in the House? Fourthly, if the official residences of the Speaker and her deputy cost N238,852,192.00 to renovate, for how much was Aso Rock, the seat of Federal power, renovated?

Fifthly, are there no established rules and procedure governing the award of contracts and fixing the maximum amounts in contracts for specific projects? Sixthly, did the alleged award of over N628 million contract to three firms through the notice board of the National Assembly accord with the established House rules and procedure? Seventhly, if the houses in question belonged to Speaker Patricia Etteh and the money for their renovation was to come from her own pocket, would she have endorsed the contract for the refurbishment of two houses that were comprehensively renovated only in 2003, and a N390 million contract for the purchase of 12 cars (i.e. at N32.5 million per car)?

Finally, shall we assume that some people in the lower chamber of the National Assembly are completely bereft of conscience? Surely, such wastage, such recklessness and acts of profligacy, underlie the sub-human existence confronting millions of Nigerians today.

Not a few Nigerians are beginning to wring their hands in utter frustration at a situation in which a massively discredited set of rulers most of whom got into office through a gravely flawed process, is routinely succeeded by a worst set. Only in July, last year, a damning report on Nigeria’s economic growth was released in a collaborative effort of two U.S.-based influential organisations, The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

In the report, the two bodies ranked Nigeria 146th out of the 157 countries on the list. In fact, in sub-Saharan Africa, the report rated Nigeria above only one country: Zimbabwe! It can hardly be gainsaid that the bane of rancid corruption, unconscionable wastefulness and misfeasance is at the root of Nigeria’s abysmally low socio-economic growth. This explains why we had argued in previous editorials for the need to intensify the war against corruption, a morbid phenomenon, and to carry it further to the doorsteps of legislators and appointed public officials, at the Federal and state levels, including local government chairmen.

A panel must be instituted forthwith to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the alleged award of N628 million contract(s) for the renovation of two houses and for the purchase of 12 cars ostensibly for some principal officers of the House. For good measure, the probe must be done in the full glare of the public. And the ruling PDP must do nothing to sweep this scandal under the carpet. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh, has in the face of the allegations, been busy offering excuses. This is shameful. Her honour and integrity are at stake. If she understands this to be so, she should act honourably by stepping aside, to allow proper investigations to be carried out.