Budget Padding: We need to redeem our image - Chairman, H'Committee on Rules and Business

The Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr. Emmanuel Orker-Jev, on Friday said the National Assembly had the mandate to redeem its image which had been tarnished by allegations of corruption.

Orker-Jev, who testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges on Friday in Abuja, during a public investigation into 2016 budget padding allegations made by former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, against some principal officers of the House.

Jibrin alleged that the corruption in the House of Representatives outweighed that of the Executive and Judiciary combined, and urged anti-graft agencies to investigate.

Testifying before the Ethics and Privileges Committee, Orker-Jev described Jibrin’s action as an act of misconduct against the House.

Orker-Jev, who tendered newspaper copies and video materials as evidence, prayed the committee to apply necessary sanctions against any member guilty of misconduct in accordance with the House rules.

He said that the allegations made by Jibrin were false, scandalous and had impinged on the image of the National Assembly.

He said, “There are internal mechanisms for addressing such grievances.

“We need to redeem our image against allegations that oversight and public hearings conducted in the House of Representatives are riddled with corruption.”

While adopting Orker-Jev’s evidence, the Committee on Ethics and Privileges expressed commitment to be fair and objective in the investigation.

It adjourned sitting on the matter to Sept. 26, 201 when Jibrin is scheduled to appear before the committee.

This followed Wednesday’s resolution of the House which mandated the committee to investigate the allegations, bordering on breach of privileges of members.

It would be recalled that the former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, accused the leadership of the National Assembly of padding the 2016 budget.

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