Budget Padding: Jibrin indicts Speaker Dogara with fresh allegation, insists he should resign

Abdulmumin Jibrin is a former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations who has accused principal officers of the House of corruption and budget padding.

Tha man has now reiterated his call for the resignation of the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara.

According to The Punch, he is also demanding for the resignation of the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun, Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and the Minority Leader of the House, Leo Ogor.

Jibrin’s call was contained in a 17 page letter to members of the House.  The letter which was dated September 16, 2016, was sighted by The Punch, in Abuja, on Saturday.

In it, he accused the four principal officers of monumental fraud, corruption and abuse of office.

According to him, he was compelled to resort to the media to tell his own side of the story after an attempt was made to smear his reputation with the way he left or was removed from the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee.

He urged his colleagues to ask the affected officials to step aside to allow for a thorough investigation of all the allegations he leveled against them so as to ensure that the House as an institution does not become a laughing stock.

He explained that his “anti corruption” stance was the reason why the Speaker and the accused principal officers wanted him out of the way.

Jibrin’s letter partly read: “The truth of the matter is that I stood against corruption. I stood against budget fraud. The Speaker and the 3 Principal Officers saw me as a stumbling block to a free flow of corruption and budget fraud. They desperately wanted me out.

“That is why despite the fact that I told him of my decision to resign, from his pronouncement, he had wished he fired me. I have stated repeatedly that I did nothing wrong in the 2016 budget, I did not abuse my office or corruptly enrich myself in the 5 years I have been in the House. I have stated repeatedly that anybody that has an allegation against me in that regard should feel free and bring it up.

“The pronouncement of my questionable “sack” on the floor was immediately followed by a heavy campaign of calumny in the media spreading falsehood against my person and family sponsored by Speaker Dogara and in several instances using the House spokesperson and later his spokesman until some patriotic members called the House spokesperson to order.

“But that was a joke compared to what followed after the close of session on Thursday, July 21, 2016. The plan is to execute my “sack” just before the recess so that by the time we return I would have been buried and the issue forgotten. I promised Mr. Speaker on July 21st that this issue will never be swept under the carpet.”

When contacted, Special Adviser (Media) to the Speaker, Mr. Turaki Hassan declined comments. Calls to the mobile telephone numbers of the Deputy Speaker, and Whip were neither picked nor returned as of the time of filing this report.

However, the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor said, “Tuesday is only a few days away, lets all be patient, everyone will be given an opportunity to state his case.”