Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
There are indications that the police
have begun probing the allegations of budget padding levelled against
the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and other principal
officers by a former House Committee Chairman on Appropriation,
Adbdulmumin Jibrin.
It was learnt on Monday that the police
leadership had directed detectives to probe the allegations by Jibrin
that the Speaker colluded with his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, the Chief Whip,
Alhassan Doguwa, and the Minority Whip, Leo Ogor, to earmark N40bn to
themselves in the 2016 National Assembly budget.
Jibrin, an All Progressives Congress
lawmaker from Kano State, who was sacked by the House leadership last
week, claimed that he was being victimised by the Speaker because he
objected to a request from Dogara that he (Jibrin) should allocate
projects worth N40bn to him in the 2016 budget.
Findings indicated on Monday that Jibrin
might be summoned before the end of the week to provide evidence on the
allegations in his petition to investigators, who it was learnt, would
also invite all the people mentioned by the petitioner.
A source said, “The allegations made by
the former House committee chairman on appropriations are weighty and
cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet because it borders on
corruption and an attempt to defraud the nation.
“So, the police have set in motion
machinery to investigate the allegations, ascertain the veracity of the
allegations, and get to the bottom of the corruption as stated by the
petitioner.”
But the Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, said he had not been briefed about the investigation into the petition.
“I am not aware of the petition or the
investigation into it and I have not been briefed about it either. The
fact is that when someone writes a petition, it goes to the Force
Criminal Investigation Department where it would be investigated, but I
have not been briefed about it, but I will find out and let you know,”
he said.
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