Budget Padding Scandal: I Won’t Appear Before House Ethics C’ttee Unless Hearing Is Made Public – Jibrin

Abdulmumin JibrinThe member representing Kiru/Bebji Federal Constituency of Kano State in the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin has vowed not to appear before the Ethics and Privileges Committee unless the proceedings are made public.

Mr. Jibrin, who levelled weighty allegations of budget padding against the Speaker of the House Yakubu Dogara and some other Principal Officers, was yesterday referred to the Ethics and Privileges Committee following a point of order raised by Emmanuel Oker-Jev, Chairman, House Rules and Business, that the House address alleged breach of its ethics by the Kano lawmaker.

Reacting to the decision of the House to refer him to the Ethics and Privileges Committee, Jibrin, a former Chairman of the Appropriation committee, accused the House leadership especially the Speaker Dogara, of trying to cover-up “the allegations of budget fraud and corruption”.

This was contained in a press statement he posted on his Twitter handle: @abdulabmj on Wednesday.

RELATED POST: House Refers Jibrin’s Budget Padding Allegations To Ethics C’ttee

The statement read: “The House belongs to Nigerians, not the 360 members! Despite all these and since I can substantiate the allegations I raised with cogency, I will take up the opportunity provided by the Ethics committee to state my case under the condition that the proceedings will be public and the Ethics committee will allow the Press, CSOs, NGOs, NLC, ASUU, NANS, NBA and the general public to witness the entire proceedings.

“This is the only way that I can have the comfort and confidence that the proceedings and outcome will not be manipulated or compromised. I am ready to appear before the committee even today if the proceedings will be public”.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, who attended the sitting of the House yesterday, said he carefully observed the proceedings concerning the allegations he raised and came to the conclusion that the House rules were grossly abused and manipulated by the Speaker.

According to him, “rather than open up the matter for discussion in view of the public interest it has generated and allow me to brief my colleagues, an opportunity I have been denied for several months, Mr. Speaker deployed some legislative tricks and theatrics to save the day.

“In a move that smacks of abuse of process, Mr Speaker granted point of order, an opportunity to the Chair of Business and Rules Committee who started with a speech then suddenly transited to a motion under – a clear case of manipulation and gross abuse of the House rule.

“This is the easiest resort since the attempts to secure a vote of confidence had woefully failed. The motion was therefore passed and referred to the Committee on Ethics and Privilege with one week to submit its report.

“The grand plan is to dilute the ongoing external investigation by the police and EFCC and use the Ethics Committee for a soft landing.

“I have never lived with the illusion that this matter will be a sprint, knowing the corrupt interest of a few cabals in the House; I have all the stamina and agility to go the marathon and ensure justice is served. I have said repeatedly I stand by my allegations and will continue this struggle to expose the 2016 budget fraud and corruption in the House even if I am alone.

“The approach will mean that the Speaker is superintending over his investigation and that clearly makes him a judge in his own case. The allegations are too grievous to be reduced to such process open to manipulation and tele-guiding.

“I will therefore continue to cooperate with the anti-graft agencies who are already investigation the matter. I will also proceed to build a massive coalition with CSO & well-meaning Nigerians to ensure that this matter is not swept under the carpet.

“Predictably, in his speech, Mr Speaker tried to drag the House into the matter to give the impression that the entire House is the accused. I wish to state for the umpteenth times that the allegations are against Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and few others; NOT the entire House.

“You will recall that Mr Speaker had tried unsuccessfully in the past to drag other institutions and individuals into this matter. It will be tragic if the House condones a situation where some few corrupt members will commit offence and then use the institution of the House as a shield to evade justice. This is the script Speaker Dogara is trying to implement.

“It is a known fact that the Speaker was able to rally support at the caucus meetings he organized by applying heavy blackmail on members. I wish to call on members to be courageous and live above such blackmail & deal urgently and decisively with these individual allegations.

“Anything short of this, will drag the entire House into a scandal that it has never witnessed. This is what the Speaker & his cabals want. Typical of a drowning person, he wants everybody to go down with him. We must not allow ourselves to fall into his trap.

“The bad news is that in the face of such grievous allegations on Mr Speaker, which members are aware of, and his decision to sit tight, the Speaker has become a lame duck. But more painfully is that we will continue to call them Principal Officers’ though in the short run. Let me use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that the struggle has just begun and there is no going back”.