The Nigerian Senate on Friday dismissed allegations that its leadership received a $10 million bribe to halt the screening and confirmation of Mr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat as Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
In a statement issued in Abuja, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said the Red Chamber stepped down Ramat’s confirmation due to what he described as “a baggage of public and private complaints” filed against the nominee.
He emphasised that the decision had nothing to do with any inducement.
The clarification followed claims made by Alwan Hassan, a former Special Adviser to ex–Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who alleged that the leadership of the 10th Senate collected a $10 million bribe to frustrate Ramat’s confirmation.
Describing Hassan’s accusations as “baseless and satanic verses of a political mercenary,” Adaramodu stated that the Senate intended to take legal action to compel him to substantiate his claims in court.
“The attention of the Senate has been drawn to the uncoordinated cacophony of one innocuous Alwan Hassan, who is a hand-tool to one Mr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat,” Adaramodu said.
“Mr. Alwan has ludicrously alleged that the Senate was compromised by yet-to-be-disclosed ghosts to reject the nomination and confirmation of Mr. Ramat.
”For the unsuspecting public not to be persuaded by the satanic verses of this political feckless mercenary, the Senate wishes to state that Mr. Garba Ramat has a baggage of public and private complaints against his nomination, ” he added.
Adaramodu also stressed that the Senate acted strictly within its constitutional duty, noting that several nominees have been stepped down in the past due to similar public concerns.
The Senate’s statement underscores its position that Ramat’s nomination was reviewed based on merit and public interest, not external influences.
