Presidency says, President Buhari won’t interfere in the probe of Obasanjo by the Senate

 President Muhammadu Buhari won’t meddle in the probes of past President Olusegun Obasanjo and the boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Lamorde, because of his respect for the principle of separation of powers, the Nigerian presidency has said.

 A senate committee probing the power sector has revealed how trillions of Naira was pumped into the power sector under Obasanjo without commensurate megawatt at the grid.

 Specifically, the permanent secretary in the ministry of power, Godknows Igali, had last Monday told the Senate ad-hoc committee probing the sector that N2.7trillion had been spent on the power sector since 1999.

A chunk of that sum had been frittered during Obasanjo’s time as President.

 The Senate committee on ethics and business is also probing the chairman of the EFCC after a petitioner alleged that Lamorde had diverted N1trillion being proceeds from the anti-graft war.

 “There is separation of powers and the Senate has the power to conduct probes”, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, told the Punch.

 Adesina added that; “the presidency does not need to oppose or endorse any probe being carried out by the legislature. It is within their powers to do so”.