Huhuonline.com understands that Hon. Herman Hembe, chairman House of Representative committee on capital market and his deputy, Chris Azubogu, has admitted that they did not attend the conference for which they received estacode from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The duo informed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interrogators that they collected estacode from the SEC to attend a capacity building workshop in Dominican Republic but never did.

Our checks reveal that this practice has been the norm in SEC, who at sundry times, seek ways to offer monetary gifts as inducement to regulators.

Following the persistent denial, accusations and counter accusations by both parties (SEC and the House Committee), the anti-graft agency said it is determined to fish out the initiator of the bribe allegations.

A dependable Huhuonline.com source said “Hembe and his deputy admitted that they were sponsored by SEC to Dominican Republican for a capacity workshop but could not attend. They also confirmed that they collected all allowances accruable for the four-day capacity training.

Hembe claimed he travelled to the United States (U.S.) and by the time he arrived in the U.S., he realised that he would miss the conference and informed SEC of his intention to return home, while Azubogu admitted that he did not attend the workshop in Dominican Republic but collected the estacode and still expecting SEC to demand the return of the estacode, saying that the money is still in his possession.

The EFCC has raised pertinent questions on “How did Hembe route his ticket? Shouldn’t his ticket take cognisance of the days set aside for the workshop? Is it necessary for Hembe to fly to Dominican Republic through the U.S.? Assuming he preferred to go to Dominican Republic through U.S., why did he arrive in the U.S. late?

An EFCC source disclosed that “We will certainly re-examine Hembe’s itinerary, stamps on his passport, flight schedule and movement in the U.S. I think we may still interact with Hembe after meeting with travel agency and SEC staff.

“We are talking to other staff to see at what stage the bribe was demanded. Each party is accusing the other of initiating the bribe.  We will certainly unravel who made the request. Investigation can lead to any direction; we are conducting it with an open mind.

“We have invited more staff of SEC to appear before our investigation team on Monday. We have interacted with the Clerk of the House Committee and other staff. We will get to the root of how the bribe was offered.

“The EFCC has granted Hembe, his deputy and the staff of the committee administrative bail but we have asked the House Committee to bring documents; we are awaiting their response.”

Meanwhile, during Oteh’s grilling by the EFCC, the anti-graft source hinted that “We took her statement on Thursday, based on her bribe claim but she needs to also respond to counter-allegations from Hembe and others. So, we may still take more statement from her.

“But we have started probing the N30 million she allegedly incurred on hotel bill. That is another vital angle to the row.

 ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…“The EFCC has retrieved some documents relating to Oteh’s hotel and feeding bills. More SEC employees have also been invited for questioning.”

Source: Huhuonline