Dogara
The
immediate past Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations,
Abdulmunin Jibrin, is accusing Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other
principal officers of the House of harassing, monitoring and
intimidating him following his allegation that they sought to pad this
year’s budget to the tune of N40 billion.
His lawyers dispatched a petition to the
Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) yesterday,
protesting “subterranean and clandestine efforts” by Dogara, Deputy
Speaker Yusuf Lasun, House Whip Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa and House
Minority Leader Hon. Leo Ogor to “obstruct justice.”
Ogor, responding to Jibrin’s claim about involvement in budget padding, dismissed it as cheap blackmail.
Members of the House were divided yesterday on what position to take on the issue.
Some asked the four principal officers
to step aside while the matter is investigated while others called for
proof from Jibrin, failing which he should be sanctioned.
Jibrin said he stood firmly by his allegations and will prove same at the appropriate time.
Messrs Hammart & Co, Law Bond
Solicitors and Doka Chambers, in a petition on behalf of Jibrin to the
IGP, said Dogara,Lasun, Doguwa and Ogor “ have resorted to blackmail our
client into silence and to further harass his person and family using
the instrument of the obstructive coercion and perversion of due process
by deploying, albeit illegally some elements of the Nigeria Police.
“We now have it on good authority that
these quartet acting in concert are at the moment using some elements
within the police to monitor, harass, intimidate and hound our client
into an unwarranted detention with the purpose of inhibiting his right
to move freely and to express himself as contained in Chapter 4 of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“The purpose of their antics is to
upturn the narrative and paint our client as the black sheep in the
flock, and cleverly presenting themselves as transparent angels.”
They advised the police and other
security agencies “not to allow themselves (security agencies) to be
used to execute the personal objectives of these quartet; more so
appropriate legal action has been taken by our client, as a law abiding
citizen, to protect his fundamental rights as guaranteed by our laws.”
They also warned the quartet ”not to
descend to the narrow aim of dragging the institution of the House of
Representatives into their personal fight and to note that by virtue of
the institution he leads and as a lawyer, he should act within the
confines of the Rule of Law and allow the House of Representatives to
institute a special investigation into this matter where our client will
have the opportunity earlier denied him by the quartet to testify and
provide evidence against them because he who comes to equity must come
with clean hands.”
Some Representatives who spoke on the
condition that their names would not be mentioned branded Jibrin an
angry man who wants to pull the establishment down because he was
removed as chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, while
others said the allegation was too heavy to be left uninvestigated.
“There is a need to investigate the
allegation because it is a very serious one. We are talking about
fighting corruption in line with the policy of the government of
President Muhammadu Buhari, and the House has always touted this,” one
Representative said.
“This is the time to show the world that
we are serious about it. If Jibrin has proof as he said, he should not
hesitate to bring it forward.
“In the interim, I think the Speaker
should also allow the issue be investigated. He should step aside and
allow the Ethics and Privileges Committee, or an adhoc committee
investigate.
“It will do him and the other accused
principal officers a lot of good to be proven innocent. It should not be
waved aside or swept under the carpet,” the member from the South- west
said.
Another member from the South- South
likened Jibrin’s allegation to that made by the former Ambassador of
the United States, Mr.James Entwistle, about sexual misconduct against
three members of the House.
He said: ”Because of the seriousness of
the allegation and the manner it affects the reputation of the House and
Nigeria as a whole, the Speaker constituted a joint committee to
investigate. The same thing is expected here.
“The situation is already bad enough as
Nigerians believe lawmakers are corrupt. This would make matters worse.
It might come to a time when our constituents begin to stone us
believing the N40 billion was in cash and shared amongst members. This
must be sorted out.
“But if the former Chairman of
Appropriations Committee is found to be lying, or does not have proof,
then a commensurate punishment in the House Rules should be brought to
bear on him accordingly.”
The Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, in his response to the allegation, called Jibrin’s allegation cheap blackmail.
He said: “Those are fabricated stories and the facts are in the budget.
“I think this is coming from somebody
who is a little bit upset, who doesn’t know his left from his right. It
is unfortunate, but I don’t want to go into altercation with him.
“At the appropriate time, when we resume
on the floor, we will speak, but I can assure you that they are all a
bunch of lies and there is nothing in it.
“You can read the lines, he has actually lost his committee.
“Why didn’t he make available this allegation all along? Those are the questions you need to answer.
“He was the one that addressed the issue
of this budget on Channels and he accused the Presidency and the
executive in respect of issues that bother on the budget.
“Today, he is singing a different tune,
and I think he is good at singing different tunes anyway. So like I said
I am not going to go into any altercation with somebody I consider not a
serious person.
“I am not going to waste my time over
that issue and what he has said are all lies and this kind of blackmail
doesn’t work with the likes of Leo Ogor, so you see he is just wasting
his time.”
TheNation
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