Abdulmumin Jibrin, former chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, on Monday accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara of N5 billion money laundering and collecting $5 million bribe from a former minister of petroleum resources while serving as chairman, House Committee on House Services during the seventh Assembly.
Jibrin, who stated this while reacting to allegations levelled against him by National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN – anti-corruption unit) over non-declaration of five foreign accounts in his Asset Declaration form No. MHR 002400 and some properties acquired in choice places in Abuja and Kaduna.
Ifeanyi Okoronkwo, NYCN coordinator, who raised the allegation against Jibrin at a press briefing at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, called on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Attorney General of the Federation and other agencies to prosecute him for operating five foreign accounts with Barclays Bank, United Kingdom and breaching the extant laws.
He alleged that Jibrin breached the Fifth Schedule, Paragraph 3 of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits categories of public officers including members of the National Assembly, from maintaining or operating foreign accounts in any country outside Nigeria.
“We have also obtained among many other Code of Conduct Bureau Assets Declaration forms of several other Nigerians we are investigating that of Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, which he deposed to at the FCT High Court on 8th June, 2015.
“From the copy of the form, it was revealed that Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin declared he owns only one house, a 4-bedroom bungalow in Kaduna which he bought in 2008 for N150 million onky, furniture of N2.5 million onky for the N150 million house, one car which he also bought in the same 2008 for N15 million only, while he also claims in the form that he does not have any vacant undeveloped plot of land, does not own farm, orchard or ranch, factory or other enterprise and he also perjured in his deposition that he does not own a foreign account.
“The same Hon. Jibrin, Nigerian, known in Abuja living in affluence is the same one creating a Spartan image for himself. How fraudulent? As you can see, Hon. Jibrin set out to deceive the Code of Conduct Bureau and in the process made depositions he knew at the time of making them not to be true. The account numbers we published in our petitions to EFCC, CCB, Hon Attorney General of the Federation and other agencies along with the Sort Codes for the account and all the accounts have one owners address,” Okonkwo said.
To this end, he urged the Speaker and the House to publicly investigate the fresh evidence of corruption and pass a resolution and declare the seat of Jibrin vacant so that INEC can conduct election into the Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency for the good people of that Constituency can have good and befitting representation.”
In his reaction, Jibrin, who described the NYCN allegations as ‘another bunch of lies and misinformation’, disclosed that his legal counsel in London was preparing to file suit against Speaker Dogara and others on the alleged N500 billion monumental scam called running cost before the Interpol and FBI.
“You will recall that similar allegations were made by the same group few weeks ago that turned out to be a tissues of lies with the aim of blackmailing me and damaging my reputation. I promptly reported the matter to the police and sued the group and its sponsor to court. It is curious why the police are yet to take decisive action on the matter since the last episode.
“Even as the latest allegations still have nothing to do with my five years stewardship in the House, the question is, why has the Ethics committee or the so called youth council turned deaf ears on the monumental allegations of 40 billion, 20 billion, 30 billion and 284 billion budget fraud?
Diversion of projects by the Speaker to his farm? Millions of naira in bribe collected on 2015 MDG and car purchase in the 7th House, N500 million collected by the Speaker and his deputy for rents? N2 billion worth of house the Speaker built in Abuja within six months? N5 billion laundering as chairman House services in 7th Assembly, $5 million bribe money collected from a former petroleum minister at the house of a Lebanese businessman in Abuja?
“Massive farm that moved from 10 heaters to 500 hectares funded from illicit funds within months of becoming Speaker? Speaker Dogara refusal to release internal budget of the House? Fraudulent contracts and misappropriation and mismanagement of billions of naira of House allocation after deduction running cost? Why don’t the Chairman Ethics committee and the so called anti corruption group start by investigating the Chairman House ethics Committee himself who has out rightly stolen his running cost allowances. If we truly want to help the country the above mentioned is where to start from.
“On the latest misinformation, the Barclays account were opened long before I joined the house. All the accounts including the Euro and Dollar are dormant with no transaction what so ever as claimed and balance of 1 euro and 1 dollar respectively until they were closed. The mortgage account, which I used to buy 81 Cotswold garden in 2009 is non performing and has been in debit. On the piece of land in my village, it is owned by local farmers who are willing to donate such lands so long as it will be used to bring massive development to our town. The allegations are false and concocted to portray me in bad light in the eyes of the public.”
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
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