The Transparency Group in the House of Representatives comprising of over 113 lawmakers on Wednesday insisted that Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his Deputy, Yussuff Lasun; Ado Doguwa, Chief Whip and Leo Ogor, Minority Leader, must be prosecuted over the allegation bothering on padding of the 2016 budget raised by Abdulmumin Jibrin, former Chairman House Committee on Appropriations, since it is a national issue.
Spokesman of the Group, Musa Soba (APC-Kaduna), chided the Speaker for failing to yield to the group’s agitation earlier before the passage of the budget and for overruling the observation of Bode Ayorinde (APC-Ondo) on the N100 billion zonal Constituency projects against the N60 billion agreed by members ahead of the passage of the budget.
Meanwhile, Dogara through his counsel, Joash Ojo Amupitan, has given a seven day ultimatum to the former Chairman of House Committee on Appropriations to tender an unreserved apology to him and retract all allegations made against him or face legal action.
The Group, which called for external investigators into the alleged padding of the 2016 budget, adopted the queries raised by the National Assembly Budget Research Office (NABRO) which highlighted several infractions on the budget.
The Group represented by Lawal Yahaya (APC-Bauchi); Yusuf Ikara (APC-Kaduna); Baballe Bashir (APC-Kano) and Abubakar Chika (APC-Niger) also vowed to petition relevant security agencies if Nigerians and Federal Government fail to take necessary action.
They maintained that the allegation cannot be handled by House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, stressing that the case of the criminal allegations leveled against the principal officers of the Senate was not handled internally but by external investigators.
The Group specifically disassociated itself from the Press briefing organised by Abdulrasak Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity in which he stated that the action of the Speaker was not criminal, stressing that the spokesperson of the Speaker and other accused principal officers should be left to clear their names.
The aggrieved lawmakers who spoke at a press briefing at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, also urged relevant security agencies and anti-corruption agencies to probe all the parties mentioned in the scandal including staff of Appropriations Committee and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the budgetary process with the view to unraveling and nipping in the board their criminal tendencies.
Musa Soba (APC-Kaduna) who spoke on behalf of the Group specifically frowned at Speaker Dogara’s lackadaisical attitude towards the Group’s earlier demand to sack Jibrin who they accused of having overriding interest on the budget.
To this end, he disclosed that the group had earlier embarked on collection of signatures to protest against the passage of the budget without explaining the breakdown of the budget details before it was eventually passed through third reading.
“The history of the 2016 budget padding is not new because we have at different times raised this issue to alert Nigerians on the move by our presiding officers and some principal officers of the House to insert unnecessary and illegal projects into the Appropriation Bill with a view to taking advantage of their respective positions against the collective national interests.
“If Hon. Jibrin could be sacrificed as the Appropriation committee chairman due to complaints and allegations against him by the Honourable members of the house, it is hypocritical for anybody to insinuate that the presiding officers and principal officers are immune to such complaints, allegations and subsequent investigations.
“We condemn the 2016 budget padding and consider it as an abuse of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as it relates to chapter 2 under the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. It is also an abuse of legislative ethics and privileges by the very individuals that are suppose to be the custodians of the laws of the land.
“As we continue to consult with other honourable members on the best way to bring sanity into the green chamber and restore the confidence of Nigerians, we urge the leadership of the House of Representatives to respect all norms and conventions of legislative practice and stop presenting the 2016 budget padding allegations as the problem of the entire house.
“Let those at the centre of the controversy answer to all the allegations made against them individually and collectively in line with legislative practice and our criminal justice system,” Soba maintained.
On the demand of Dogara’s counsel, Joash Amupitan, who signed the letter to Jibrin, noted that the claims of the former Appropriations chairman, who was removed for padding the budget and other actions, that the speaker is corrupt and abuses his office is aimed at tarnishing his image at home and abroad and is a clear case of libel.
“By the said publication and without putting to the public any shred of evidence, our client is portrayed as a criminal, corrupt, dishonest, fraudulent, dishonourable and unfit to hold the position of Speaker of House of Representatives.
“Our client’s reputation has further been brought down in the estimation of right thinking members of the society and he has been thrown into public opprobrium, odium, scorn and ridicule.
“Consequently, we consider your publication on the matter as not only libellous but made in bad faith; an act of vendetta owing to your recent removal as the chairman of house committee on appropriation.
“The said publication is also aimed at causing disaffection between Nigerians and members of the house of representatives.
“Sequel to the above, we have to request you to submit immediately to us a clear and unqualified apology and retraction of the publication in an equally conspicuous position in all the print and electronic media where the publication appeared,” the letter read in
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