Buhari confirmed the suspension of Mr. Lawal over allegations of breach of law and due process in the contracts awarded by PINE. The allegations were made by the Senate ad-hoc committee on ‘mounting humanitarian crisis in the North East’ chaired by Shehu Sani last December.
The Senate adopted Senator Sani’s interim report which contained the allegations and resolved to call for SGF Lawal’s suspension and prosecution.
“It is commendable that the president has taken the senate committee report and recommendations seriously,” Mr. Sani (APC-Kaduna) told PT.
Specifically, Mr. Lawal was accused of holding directorship of a company, Rholavision, while being the SGF and used same company, originally registered for ICT services in 1990, to receive ‘grass-cutting’ consultancy contract from PINE, an agency under his supervision, all in breach of Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials.
The company received the money but did not execute the contract, the committee alleged.
Mr. Lawal denied the allegations of the infamous ‘grass-cutting’ scandal.
The infamous 'grass-cutting' scandal with the way Mr. Buhari cleared the SGF initially had severely impacted on the President's popularity and raised questioned about his commitment to fighting corruption, especially one perpetrated by officials under him.
"The sword of truth is not just cast and sharpened for the neck of foes but also for those of friends," said Mr. Sani, after the eventual suspension.
Similarly, a Peoples Democratic Party Senator from Edo State, Matthew Urhoghide, told the News Agency of Nigeria that suspension of the SGF following the Senate's call meant both executive and legislative arms were working cooperatively to check corruption.
"We are all complimenting each other's effort in fighting corruption, and that is the truth," Mr. Urhoghide was quoted as saying - NAN.
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