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  • How I, Dogara, principal officers diverted N10b -Jibrin

    How I, Dogara, principal officers diverted N10b -Jibrin

    •Speaker, ex-Appropriation chair in SMS war ahead of resumption

    The sacked chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation,  Abdulmumin Jibrin, has revealed how principal officers of the House allegedly diverted various sums of money.

    According to him, Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other House leaders allegedly diverted over N10b meant for the personal running cost of members. This is coming as members have taken their war to the telecommunication sphere.

    Jibrin said the running cost was not part of the salaries of the lawmakers, and therefore wants the anti-corruption agencies to step in and investigate.

    He described the running cost as part of the corruption confronting the institution. According to him, “It should be noted, however, that money is voted as ‘running cost’ to members apart from salaries.

    “You don’t need a professor or a committee of technocrats to tell you what is reasonable as running cost for member of the House and also how the money should be administered and who should be the recipient of the money.

    “The way the allowances of members are currently structured cannot pass the integrity test of any of the aforesaid. The issue of allowances of Members of the House is another systemic corruption.

    “Since you cannot afford the systemic shock if you go all out and arrest 200 to 300 members at once, what you do is to deal with the issues in phases.

    “Today, I will start with the 10 principal officers of the House of Representatives. If just these 10 are named and shamed, it will force reform in the House. I will therefore provide what each one of them had collected as “office running cost” in their entire stay in the House.

    “If any one of them disputes my figure, he or she should not make a drama out of it but just simply tell the country how much he or she has collected.

    “Running cost is a money collected by many members (with a few exception) and used as personal funds. No more, no less – case closed! Most of these members use it to acquire properties, cars and live a life of luxury they never lived before coming to the House.

    “Though there exist systems for retirement of such money but a simple investigation by a primary school pupil will reveal the massive fraud therein.

    “From computation of various sub heads of allowances of the House, Speaker Yakubu Dogara has been in the House from 2007 to date. He has received about N1.5billion. Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun has been in the house from 2011 to date. He has received about N800million.

    “House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila has been in the House from 2003 to date. He has received about N1.2billion. Deputy House Leader Buba has been in the House from 2007 to date.  He received about N1.2billion.

    “Whip Alhassan Doguwa has been in the House from 2003 to date. He has received about N1.2 billion. Deputy Whip Pally Iriase has been in the house from 2011 to date. He has received N700 million.

    “Minority Leader Leo Ogor has been in the House from 2007 to date. He has received N1.2 billion. Deputy Minority Leader Barde has been in the House from 2011 to date. He has received N700 million. Minority Whip Chuma has been in the House from 2007 to date.

    “He has received N800 million. And finally, Deputy Minority Whip Binta has been in the House from 2011 to date. She has received N700 million.

    “So in between these 10 principal Officers, the country has pumped about N10 billion – and still counting! As I have mentioned earlier, in most cases with few exceptions, these funds are diverted for personal use.

    “I will provide further breakdown of these figures in due course. I will also provide 50 additional names of members with worst cases of diversion of such funds in due course so we can name and shame them.

    “As we continue this struggle to wipe out corruption and restore sanity in the House of Representatives, I will continue to urge Nigerians to remain vigilant as these corrupt elements can go to any length to change the narration and evade justice.”

    Meanwhile, fear has gripped some members of the National Assembly following hints by the Police that they would be proceeding with their planned questioning of Dogara  over the padding allegations made by Jibrin.

    It was gathered that during the week many of the lawmakers who were involved in the 2016 budget processes were asking questions about the police planned inquisition.

    Sources revealed that some of them who had travelled abroad are back in Abuja where endless meetings are daily held to discuss the padding crisis.

    National Assembly sources had talked about a plan by a group of federal lawmakers to scuttle the planned probe by raising false alarms that certain individuals are being targeted for victimization by the presidency as soon as the national assembly reconvenes.

    A reliable source said the plan was the outcome of a meeting held at the Abuja home of a Southeast Senator on Friday.

    “The plan is to discredit the police probe even before it kicks off. Many of those who had one hand or the other in the processes that gave birth to the 2016 budget are scared stiff that police investigations into the padding allegation will no doubt uncover their involvements. Many of them are anxiously finding ways to avert being indicted by the probe.

    “Those having sleepless nights over this padding issue are not just members of the House of Representatives; some Senators are also worried they may be indicted.”

    When contacted, one of the lawmakers mentioned by Jibrin in his allegations, admitted that some lawmakers met in Abuja to discuss the development, but said there is nothing like fear amongst them. Instead, he said the meetings were to discuss how to respond to Jibrin’s incessant allegations in the interest of the national assembly and its leaderships.

    “It is not true to say we are afraid of being probed. It is going to be Jibrin’s words against ours when the probe starts. So there is not talk of anxiety or fear at all. It is true we have met on a number of occasions. We have to meet though the House is on recess. There is need to decide how to react to the many lies being told by Jibrin on a daily basis. Don’t forget the party said all parties should stop the media exchanges, but he didn’t stop.”

    In the meantime, members are now locked in an SMS war to woo as many members as possible to their side ahead of the September resumption from recess.

    The two sides are poised to put their popularity to test on the floor of the Green Chamber following the damaging allegations made by Jibrin that Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, Chief Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Minority Leader Leo Ogor and nine others inserted about 2000 projects worth N284 billion into the 2016 budget.

    They have resorted to sending text messages to their colleagues telling their own stories and pleading for support once they resume. They were originally scheduled to resume on September 7 but this has now been fixed for after the Eid el Kabir .

    The Jibrin camp fears that the House leadership plans to suspend him, and does not want him humiliated.

    On the other hand anti-Dogara Reps want the Speaker to resign or step aside pending investigation of the allegations made by Jibrin.

    The Speakers’ supporters do not want that.

    Instead they are mobilizing effort to get enough members to give him a vote of confidence at the first seating when the House reconvenes.

    According to sources, nearly all members, except known die-hard anti-Dogara legislators, are daily bombarded with calls and text messages soliciting their understanding and support for the Bauchi-born politician.

    “I still got a call and two text messages today soliciting my understanding and support for the Speaker,” a Rep said yesterday.

    When contacted over the phone for response to the latest allegation, Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan asked our reporter to contact House spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas.

    Namdas however,                                                       said the House would not respond to the allegations and wondered why Jibrin could not wait for the anti-graft agencies to which he submitted petitions do their job.

    “The party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has directed all parties to stop commenting publicly on the matter. We abide by the party’s directive,” he said.

    Ogor on his part said he would no longer exchange words with Jibrin over the budget padding controversy or any other related issue.

    “I will not have any altercation with Jibrin over this issue again, I think I have spoken enough about the issue. I have made between 10 and 15 comments about the issues raised by Jibrin since the controversy broke out and no matter what he says again, as far as I am concerned, I will not make further comments until the House resumes.”

    However, House Whip Doguwa said Jibrin said nothing new.

    “There is nothing new to respond to. As far as I am concerned, all that Jibrin had said and whatever he may have to say in the future are not true,” he said.

    Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila could not be reached as he was away in Mauritius for the ongoing Commonwealth Parliamentary conference.

    His media aide, Olanrewaju Smart said he was not competent to speak on the issue while calls to Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello were not returned as at the time of this report.

     

     

  • Bauchi politics and Dogara’s indiscretions

    By now, the outpouring of disgust that has continued to trail House of Representatives’ Speaker YakubuDogara’s ill-fated attempt to divert the attention of Nigerians from the allegations of budget padding that he is enmeshed in and which has added to the misery of Nigerians, will hopefully teach him a lesson he will never be able to learn in any history class.

    It must have occurred to the most incurable Dogara loyalist that the needless, badly-scripted drama staged last week, when he led a delegation of some Abuja politicians to report the governor of Bauchi State, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar to the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has backfired because Nigerians are more politically conscious now to allow any politician take them for a ride. For the embattled Speaker, if the attempt was aimed at sweeping under the carpet the issue that directly affects the lives of all 170 million of them, using local politics as a pretext, then it has failed.

    As a lawyer, Dogara knows that anyone coming to equity must come with clean hands. Not even Robert Green, the famous American author of the 48 Laws of Power, who advocates that creating enemies to achieve selfish ends will endorse the amateurism and double-speak that have dogged Dogara’s desperate efforts to fend off attention from the budget padding matter that he sensationally claimed is not a crime.

    To Dogara and his team of spin-doctors, accusing the governor of Bauchi State of not applying the sum of N8.6billion bailout funds to the purpose (according to them) for which it was collected, or merely saying he is running a government that excludes their personal interests, will not get the nation to ignore the real issues at hand. Shifting attention to Bauchi will not be enough to get the discerning public to shudder at the mindless indiscretions of the Honourable Speaker.

    Let us even assume for its mischievous intent that the allegations against Governor Abubakar were true, there is no way an issue that affects only about three million Bauchi citizens will override the more damning matter of budget padding that affects 170 million people across Nigeria.

    Many Nigerians have expressed disgust that the timing of Dogara’s allegations against the governor, and ridiculously following it up with personally leading a delegation to protest against him is not right. Even political grandmasters often tutor their disciples to always master the art of timing.  Clearing his name against the allegation of budget padding should have been more urgent and important to Dogara.

    The truth is that, as in many other states of the federation, Governor Abubakar met an over-bloated civil service of well over a hundred thousand personnel. So over-bloated was the number of civil servants that funds accruing monthly to the state, in statutory allocation from the Federation Account, could not even address payment of salaries, not to talk of other matters of development and of urgent importance to the state.

    Even when he very well knew that it was all landmines set up to entangle him, the Bauchi Governor disappointed the perpetrators of this evil by not sacking tens of thousands of civil servants and causing deep damage to the innocent ones among them. To minimise the damage and ensure justice, the governor decided that the way to go was to institutionalise a process of sieving the grain from the chaff by identifying actual workers from the ghost, non-existent ones.

    But in a manner that leave their flanks open, and which could make people to suspect their involvement, Dogara and his gang had as a prime reason for their protest to the APC National Chairman: the need to get the governor to stop the process of verifying the truth. In the words of Senator Suleiman Nazifi, (APC Bauchi North), “all the unending verifications must end,” even though they know, more than most of us, that what they were demanding will only benefit a handful at the expense of millions of good people of Bauchi State.

    Did Governor Abubakar divert the bailout funds meant for payment of salaries to something else? First of all, it is to the credit of the governor that with all the venom coming out of Dogara and his co-travellers, none of them accused him of diverting the money for his personal use. And the answer to the question is that the bailout funds were never diverted. Anyone in doubt can crosscheck with the ICPC which investigated the matter and gave Governor Abubakar a clean bill of health. The funds were openly applied for the purpose for which it was collected. Save for mischief, Dogara knows more than all of us  that though Bauchi is situated on the lower rung of the statutory allocation ladder, with very little potential for internally-generated revenue, Governor Abubakar has strived to be as up to date as possible, with payment of salaries to civil servants. Any check will easily establish the fact that only last month’s salary is being owed the workers. Even at that, efforts are being made to ensure prompt salary payment.

    To lay a solid foundation for the development of the state and boost its sources of revenue, the governor has developed and transformed the Yankari Games Reserve to international standards, and has been paying commensurate attention to overall development and transformation of all of Bauchi, not sections thereof, even though he is inhibited by the clearly-known national tragedy of paucity of resources.

    This brings us to the question of motive. People have rightly been asking: what does Dogara aim to achieve by sabre-rattling? In Bauchi today, people openly talk about demands on the governor to purchase properties in Abuja and abroad for some federal legislators, and share out the state resources on a monthly basis to the agitators, even if far more resources are needed to develop the state and transform the lives of the people. There are also intrigues surrounding the general election year of 2019 as another reason Dogara and his cohorts are neck-deep in fighting the governor. The group is believed to have co-opted a member of the federal cabinet to contest against Governor Abubakar in 2019 in case Dogara’s rumoured candidature fails.

    To buttress the fact that the motive of the latter-day agitators is far from being noble; that it is all about personal interest, they complained to the APC National Chairman that Governor Abubakar is running an exclusive government.  This was also shot down by Comrade Sabo, the governor’s media aide when he pointed out that “after the gubernatorial primaries, the governor picked Engineer Nuhu Gidado as his deputy, though Gidado had contested against him in the primary election.

    “Again, the allegation that the governor has side-lined them is unfounded because five serving commissioners were close to these people that are now fighting the governor. Why are members of the state House of Assembly and the state chapter of the APC not complaining? It goes to show that the Abuja politicians are out for mischief.”

    Does Dogara listen to any wise counsel from his retinue of advisers and hangers-on? Only they can provide the answer, but it is either they are giving him inferior advice, or they are afraid to tell him the bitter truth because of his rumoured over-bearing, only-me-knows-it-all nature. People have rightly been asking: How many wars can the speaker fight at the same time? Throughout history, even wisest generals believe the best way to win a war is not to spread your strength thin. Of course, he can seek to fight on all fronts if his motive were pro-people.

    In the traditional Bauchi society that some of us sprouted from, trouble is regarded as an enemy that one is enjoined to always keep a safe distance from. Not just when it knocks on one’s door. Trouble is like an ill-wind, which blows no good to anyone.

     

    • Musa wrote from Bauchi.
  • Buhari, Dogara meet again in Aso Rock

    Buhari, Dogara meet again in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met behind closed doors with Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives for the second time in as many weeks.

    The meeting lasted one hour.

    The agenda was not disclosed although it is suspected to be in connection with the alleged padding of the 2016 budget by the leadership of the House of Representatives.

    Dogara was accompanied to the Villa by some lawmakers from the National Assembly including Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi).

    Dogara parried all questions from reporters at the end of the meeting apparently to avoid a repeat of the controversy that trailed his interview with reporters at the end of the first meeting with the President .

    The following encounter ensued between Dogara and State House correspondents:

    Question:How long is your (House of Reps recess) holiday going to last?

    Dogara: I don’t know. You should know now because we adjourned during a plenary session. Everyone (media organizations) was there.

    Que:Is your presence here part of making up with the President?

    Dogara: I have not heard of that. This is a distinguished Senator from Bauchi (referring to Nazif)  and he is not a member of the House. So if I come to see the President with him, you know it is not a House matter. Make up? If there is a fight, I don’t know.

    Que:But there must be an effort to make up with what is happening at the National Assembly between you and Honourable Jubrin? You just feel like seeing the President?

    Dogara: Feel like?

    Que:What should Nigerians expect when you resume?

    Dogara: Ask me the question when we reconvene. Allow me to enjoy my recess.

    He was quoted by reporters after his first meeting with Buhari on the alleged budget padding, Dogara as saying: “What is padding?You haven’t told me. Ask Jibrin what is padding. I studied law and I have been in the legislature and all this period I have never heard of the word padding being an offence under any law. If I don’t know, you are the media, research the law and let me know.”

    A cross section of Nigerians did not take kindly to the comments and condemned him in strong terms.

    A few days later,Dogara  said at a forum in Abuja that the  legislative business of the House, “cannot be grounds for any investigation or any procedure or proceeding to be commenced in court against a member of parliament, either the Speaker or even the Senate President, once they are done in exercise of their proper function.

     ”The law is there. Both communications, whatever it is, they are privileged. That is in order to give independence to the legislature. If the legislature is not independent, we can’t do anything.

    “ If whatever you say on the floor or before a committee or whatever you communicate is subject of litigation then all the members will be in court and at the end of the day when debate comes you cannot even air your views.”

    This drew a barrage of criticisms from Nigerians, prompting the Speaker to make a U-turn last Saturday that he was misrepresented, and that he was not above the law.

    His spokesman,Turaki Hassan, said: “He (Dogara) did not say or mean that he is above the law of the land or that he is shielded by the law or has immunity for any infractions of the law.

    “This clear restatement of the law has been twisted by sections of the media to mean that neither security agencies nor the courts could investigate or prosecute or try him .

    “This is most uncharitable and a deliberate and calculated attempt to pitch the Speaker against the Nigerian public and paint him as lawless.

    “As an Officer in the Temple of Justice, Dogara not only owes unalloyed allegiance to the judiciary but also to the institutions of law enforcement. He indeed swore to an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “Dogara should not be portrayed as insensitive or arrogant as this is contrary to his true nature of humility and humaneness that has endeared him to his colleagues and Nigerians.

    “Indeed, Dogara had initially adopted silence as his response, but having observed the grievous damage Hon Jibrin’s extensive misrepresentations and lies was inflicting on the country and distracting our common and urgent resolve to tackle our distressed economy and security challenges, he opted to offer some explanations on the issues as continuous silence may have amounted to insensitivity, admission or arrogance.

    “Mr Speaker, Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, wishes to reiterate and assure all Nigerians that no kobo belonging to Nigerians has been misappropriated, stolen or lost in this budget saga.

    “There was no act of corruption by him during and after the preparation of the 2016 budget. Mr. Speaker urges all Nigerians to be vigilant with respect to the execution of the 2016 budget to ensure that Nigerians are not shortchanged”.

  • Dogara and his moral baggage

    Dogara and his moral baggage

    In the last few weeks, Nigerians have been treated to an abnormal orchestra taking place right inside the bowels of the House of Representatives in Abuja. Today, the scandal has evolved from what initially appeared like a routine disagreement amongst lawmakers, into a full-blown national embarrassment which has sparked relentless demand from Nigerians that Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House, should  resign his position.

    It is like, in the words of William Shakespeare, the House has “murdered sleep” and so, shall sleep no more. The House, which is currently on recess, is rocked by one of the greatest scandals to ever erupt in the National Assembly. Simply known as the budget padding scandal, this burning issue has thrown up more than ever before, questions about the processes and the extent of scrutiny the appropriation bill can be subjected to. It has also raised questions on the propriety of legislators appropriating funds for what they call “constituency projects” in the yearly rituals involved in the making of the appropriation bill.

    While many Nigerians have been thrown off balance by this maggoty scandal oozing out of the National Assembly, Dogara has remained undaunted. In fact, rather than being sober, he recently poured salt on the sour wounds when he declared that he had not committed any offence by padding, as it were, the 2016 budget with fictitious figures as alleged by Abdulmumin Jibrin, his traducer. Jibrin, until recently, was the chairman House committee on appropriation before he was suddenly yanked off his seat.

    Unsurprisingly, Dogara’s arrogant behaviour has led many individuals and civil rights groups to rise against him for daring to say that he has no case to answer. For instance, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP said Dogara should resign. According to the body, “If padding is not corruption, what else would qualify as corruption? Budget padding is obviously corruption. If we take the condition of those who have made the submission that the budget was padded, if we got their story correctly, it means after they had agreed at the plenary on the 2016 budget, if the speaker and some groups, thereafter, decided to make insertions into the budget, that is definitely criminal. It is a breach of public trust and an abuse of public office that can be aptly described as corruption. Categorically, that budget padding is corruption.”

    In any case, the issue has raised questions on what actually constitutes padding. As this column wrote last week: “If after the whole House had vetoed and passed the appropriation bill, a privileged few met and made fresh imputations into the bill without the knowledge of the entire House, then that is padding and an illegality. It cannot go by any other name. It becomes more serious and criminal if the funds so added, are meant for the exclusive use of the coterie.”

    Ever since this controversy broke out, a lot of under-hand dealings have been going on in a desperate bid to extinguish the raging inferno. At a point, Dogara visited the President, supposedly on account of this scandal. He emerged from the villa thereafter, brimming with confidence. The police later invited him for explanations but he ignored them. Meanwhile, Jibrin has remained unrelenting in making more scandalous revelations to the public domain. The latest is the accusation of massive money laundering in the National Assembly.

    While Jibrin has been spilling the beans, Dogara’s camp has not been folding its arms either. In the last one week, Nigerians have been inundated with counter allegations against Jibrin, allegations that are believed to have emanated from Dogara’s camp and designed either to blackmail or hoodwink Jibrin into desisting from pursuing his self-professed anti-corruption crusade. Although many Nigerians rightly see Jibrin as a later day convert to the anti-corruption crusade, nonetheless, he has opened a can of worms that will be difficult for Dogara and his clique to sweep under the carpet in the usual Nigerian way.

    Many Nigerians believe that Jibrin may also be an accomplice in this unfolding scandal and, therefore, cannot be totally exonerated from it all. But one thing is that he has been able to expose the shenanigans of some of the leaders of this country whose stock-in-trade is to wear two faces in office: one as patriot and the other as thieving rogues.

    Perhaps, the futility in trying to sweep the issue under the carpet must have dawned on Dogara last weekend when the embattled speaker suddenly made a recant and offered himself to be probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and other anti-graft agencies. This is a sharp departure from his earlier comments that lawmakers cannot be probed for carrying out their legislative duties. That was one of the statements he made in an apparent bid to contain the fallout of his claim that the public outrage over the budget padding scandal was misplaced.

    A statement issued by Turaki Hassan, Dogara’s media aide in Abuja last weekend, read: “As an officer in the temple of justice, Dogara not only owes unalloyed allegiance to the judiciary but also to the institutions of law enforcement. He indeed swore an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” It is pertinent to point out that Dogara’s last minute shift in tone underscores the impact the scandal, which has remained in the headlines since it first broke out few weeks ago, has had on his political life.

    This is coming after concerted efforts to push back on allegations that he fraudulently manipulated the 2016 budget to the tune of N40 billion. Initially, he described those leading the call for his prosecution as ignorant. In his words: “Recent efforts seeking to discredit the document are a consequence of inadequate knowledge of the legal framework governing appropriation in a presidential democracy.”

    This remark and other ones he made before it, had earned the embattled Speaker widespread criticism from Nigerians, with many describing his defiance as a hint of his guilt.

    By his latest statement, it appears Dogara is trying spuriously to defend the privileges of legislators while at the same time, also reassuring the public that the legislators aren’t above the law. That was why his media aide apparently added some polish to his paymaster when he said: “Dogara should not be portrayed as insensitive or arrogant as this is contrary to his true nature of humility and humaneness that has endeared him to his colleagues and Nigerians.”

    Polish or no polish, the fact remains that there are lots of unwholesome practices going on in high places in government in spite of the present administration’s posture of fighting corruption. There is no gainsaying that the National Assembly has, over the years, become a citadel of corruption as members engage in a race for the survival of the fittest by callously dipping their hands into the public till to satisfy their inordinate quest for wealth at the expense of the suffering people of Nigeria.

    Now that Dogara is ready for a probe of his affairs in the House so far, it behoves on him and his co-travellers in the leadership of the House, to climb down from their Olympian height in order to enable the anti-graft agencies do a thorough and unbiased investigation of all the accusations and counter-accusations involved in this scandal. Nothing short of this would be acceptable to the teeming masses of Nigerians who have watched helplessly for many years as their leaders make away with their common patrimony while they are left pauperised and dehumanised.

    The point is, Dogara, his co-travellers and Jibrin himself, have a moral baggage to bear like a goitre hanging precariously on their necks.

     

  • In Dogara-speak

    The embattled — or it is invincible? — Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, is fast becoming the making of a legislator as a yo-yo.  He is suddenly developing the cutting-edge capability to blow hot and cold, without caring “whose ox I gored” — to use Olusegun Obasanjo’s favourite cliche.

    Yet, in his seeming hubris, he is somewhat cutting the picture of the Biblical Nebuchadnezzar. That tragic figure, at the height of his glory — and folly — thought himself ultra-special: the real deal, to put it in contemporary American-speak.

    But when hard reality set in, and humiliation, for him, was the hard road to travel to humility, he suddenly realised he was no deal, real or false!  At least, however, he got his redemption, and got cured of his hubris, even if the hard way.

    Since Abdulmumin Jibrin started his budget padding allegations against the Speaker, Dogara has indulged in bluff and bluster, which somewhat betray a disturbing vainglory, powered by full emptiness.

    Emerging from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Speaker Dogara beamed and preened, his idea of appearing unruffled and invincible, and crooned: nothing in our statutes made budget padding an offence!

    To that extent, he smiled in triumph: he had absolutely nothing to fear — and perish the thought, should such satanic thinking course through anyone’s mind that he should resign!

    So, in Dogara’s Speaker-speak, anyone could rewrite the budget estimates, use the parliament — and ignore the people — by stuffing it with whatever he likes- just because he is a lawmaker-and go enjoy his gravy without end.  Nothin’ spoil, as they say in the pidgin street-lingo!

    Then shortly after, when seized by his sense of legislative Leviathan, Dogara made it clear to all, at another forum, that as Almighty Speaker, he could not be questioned, investigated, queried or arrested.  That was why, he quipped, he had not made himself available for police questioning, in the ongoing probe of budget-gate.

    Why? Because whatever he did in Parliament was ex-cathedral, just as a judge is master of his court and a priest is master of his pulpit. That may not be untrue in general terms.  But Dogara, as anyone, should know — if not overtaken by hubris — that even this is subject to good faith.

    But with his sweeping assertion, Dogara and his Leviathan gang may as well slaughter citizens and get their bodies displayed on national television, just to press their legislative supremacy!  Common sense posits that is bunkum.  But then, common sense is not common, particularly when you are consumed by hubris, as Dogara appears!

    Still, a few days later, Dogara ate crow as sensationally as he had crowed! He made his media assistant put it out that he was not as supreme or as invincible as he had earlier bragged.  Indeed, mercifully, Dogara is not above the law!

    But given the triteness of this new confession, shall we then legitimately dub the Speaker as scaling new heights in bluffing before thinking?

    Dogara and his co-travellers should know: being slammed with budget padding is grim and serious business. It is such a serious allegation of breach of trust that anyone thus accused should bury his head in shame.

    But now that Dogara has climbed down from his high horse, the law and security agencies should do their job. But Dogara would be tragically deluded if he ever thought anyone needed his concession to call him to order.

    Who knows? Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Dogara may yet find his humility, without booking his flight in humiliation!

    Who knows?

  • Dogara’s annoying cant

    Dogara’s annoying cant

    The Speaker must defend himself rather than try to wish away serious corruption allegations   

    Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was the very symbol of crass insult, extreme insensitivity and sheer gratuity when, emerging from a reported meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, he declared that he had nothing to fear, since “padding” was no offence under our laws. With in-your-face audacity, he declared: I won’t resign.

    To be sure, that is hardly surprising. In these climes, hardly anyone resigns under the storm of scandals, no matter how severe; unless they are forced to.

    Still, keeping to that tradition of dishonour is one thing. Wearing a smirk, as if he just dusted Usain Bolt to win Nigeria its first Olympic gold in the men’s 100 metres dash, is another. With that, Mr. Dogara crossed the threshold. This polity, for its sanity, must never tolerate such condemnable semantic gymnastics.

    Between the Speaker and Abulmumin Jibrin, ousted chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, has been a cross-fire of allegations over budget padding — read criminal stuffing of the Appropriation Act, for self and constituency benefits, over and above what the House legitimately approved.

    The Speaker, it would appear in closet, first accused Mr. Jubrin of such misconduct. But when the two allies could not mutually paper over what they did in secret, they went public with the rotten tales. The Speaker apparently climbed a moral high horse, making it appear Mr. Jibrin got the boot because of “betrayal” of the House management. That betrayal was allegedly diverting over N4 billion, in constituency projects, to his Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency of Kano State. Mr. Jibrin was promptly replaced by Mustapha Bala, also an All Progressives Congress (APC) member from Kano, hitherto, chairman, House Committee on Housing.

    But Mr. Jibrin fired back. First, he took exception to being “fired” when he already had a closet understanding with the Speaker that he had resigned. But he would appear even more furious with the Speaker’s alleged hypocrisy, since he alleged Mr. Dogara was guilty of even more grievous and soulless padding, swearing to open a can of worms which, with its sheer rot he was sure, would unhorse the Speaker. He then released a volley of damaging allegations, of how the Speaker had allegedly expanded his farm in Nasarawa State, and bought new glittering equipment, since he became Speaker, just over a year ago. He suggested the Speaker was creaming off public resources, while grandstanding as the holy pope of Parliament. He also claimed the Speaker, with his House principal officers, had formed a ring of sleaze around the parliament.

    Mr. Jibrin climaxed his serial bombshell by, with full media flourish, visiting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to present damning evidence against the Speaker. In his latest allegations, he accused Mr. Dogara of collecting N25 million every month and allegedly building a “new mansion” in Wuse II, a plush Abuja neighbourhood. He later revisited the EFCC where he was reported grilled for seven hours, apparently to throw more light on the allegations.

    It was in the midst of all these fireworks that the Speaker pulled off the bold face that with all his experience as a ranking Representative, he had not sighted any legislation that made budget “padding” a crime. Perhaps that should rival former President Goodluck Jonathan’s infamous quip that stealing was no corruption. That was sophistry most irresponsible. Mr. Dogara has just equalled such verbal infamy.

    True, there might not have been a legislation criminalising “budget padding”. But everyone knows that surreptitiously smuggling a vote into the budget, while parliament as dutifully constituted isn’t looking, is a financial crime. It is execrable. It is dishonourable. It is a forgery, if proven.

    So, for the Speaker to be accused of such alleged misconduct is bad enough. But to resort to crass legalism, in a futile bid to deodorise the moral repulsion, is akin to playing the Yoruba rascal who though accused of habitual stealing (albeit without proof yet), has the annoying habit of dancing in public with lambs of suspect ownership! It is simply insensitive and irresponsible.

    But while all of this goes on, the executive made the point that it was not executing a padded budget. Shortly before, the ruling APC had told Mr. Jibrin to stop media comments on the matter, pending the party’s investigations. But from police preliminary probe, three different versions of the budget had reportedly been unearthed.

    Whatever the case, both the Buhari Presidency and APC must steer clear of the matter. If they don’t, they stand being legitimately accused of putative but condemnable cover-up. If APC still has any illusions on embarking on such wide and merry ways (which, by the way, lead to perdition), the party should remember the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which resolved even the most abhorrent of crimes as “family affairs”. It would be tragic, indeed, were APC to be snared by the same self-set trap as PDP!

    Besides, President Buhari has so far run an admirable war against corruption. In that war, the Saraki-Dogara National Assembly has been an unfazed black leg, showing itself as the very extreme opposite of the executive, and projecting itself irrevocably opposed to the rectitude the president is trying to foist on Nigerian public behaviour.

    Let, therefore, the anti-crime agencies probe the allegations. Whichever party is innocent, free them. But whichever party has a case to answer must face the full weight of the law.

    Meanwhile, let Speaker Dogara wipe that insulting smirk off his boyish face. He is not being toasted for being the gold standard in public rectitude. Rather, he is being accused of legislative turpitude, bordering on soulless forgery.

    It probably may be too much to ask him to step down now, pending prompt investigations into the allegations, given the horrible extant public service culture. But until innocence or guilt is established, some sobriety would do just fine.

  • You won’t be owed again—Dogara assures Dream Team

    You won’t be owed again—Dogara assures Dream Team

    The Speaker of The House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday in a passionate appeal to the national U-23 team styled Dream Team V1, promised that the players would be paid to the last dime all that is owed them.

    The number four citizen spoke against the backdrop of complaints of Team’s Head Coach, Samson Yebowei Siaisia, that the players had refused to train on Thursday due to unpaid allowances and wages.

    “We will do all we can to ensure that all entitlements due to the team are paid, as we are already talking to relevant government agencies”, Dogara declared.

    He noted that football being the major unifying factor in the country should be maximized by all for Nigeria’s continued joy and unity. “We will stop at nothing to ensure that we get the team to excel in Brazil and for Nigeria to recreate the watershed of Atlanta ’96.”

    The team called off their strike on Friday after the sports minister, Solomon Dalung promised to pay all their allowances  ahead of tonight’s quarter final encounter against  Denmark at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympics.

    He said the Dream Team should take patriotism as a fulcrum of their campaign.

    He said the team with the likes of John Mikel Obi, Yakubu Umar, Oghenekaro Etebor and William Troost-Ekong has a very bright chance of repeating the feat of the Atlanta ’96 Dream Team led by the legendary Nwankwo Kanu and the team should be encouraged by all Nigerians.

  • Budget padding: Jibrin sues Dogara, others

    The former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has sued the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun and other principal officers of the lower chamber over an alleged plan to suspend him.

    In the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/595/2016, which commenced by way of writ of summons and filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, August 9, Jibrin asked the court to restrain the House of Representatives and its principal officers from suspending him as member of the House.

    Jibrin, an All Progressives Congress (APC) legislator representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, also filed an ex-parte motion, seeking among others, an order restraining the defendants from taking steps to suspend him pending the determination of the substantive suit.

    Listed as defendants in the suit are – The House of Representatives, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Dogara, Lasun, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Leo Ogor, Herman Hembe, Umar Mohammed Bago, Zakari Mohammed, Chike Okafor, Dan Asuquo, Jagaba Adams, Haliru Jika and Uzoma Abonta.

     

  • We can’t be tried for padding, says Dogara

    We can’t be tried for padding, says Dogara

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara insisted yesterday that budget padding is not an offence, saying no lawmaker can be investigated or tried for it.

    “No member of the National Assembly can be investigated or charged to court for performing his constitutional responsibility of lawmaking including passing the budget”, he said at the Civil Society Dialogue session on one year of the legislative agenda organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Abuja.

    Dogara, who drew the flaks over his statement last Friday that “padding is not an offence”, said lawmakers have the constitutional right to tinker with the budget proposal presented by the executive.

    “Tinkering with it should not amount to or be regarded as padding”,  Dogara added, noting that it is wrong to accuse lawmakers of using constituency projects to “pad” the budget proposal.

    The Speaker was reacting to the allegation of budget padding levelled against him and 12 others by ousted Appropriations Committee chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin.

    The others are Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, Chief Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Minority Leader Leo Ogor and nine committee chairmen. They were said to have padded the budget with 2000 projects worth N284billion.

    A Special Investigation Panel (SIP) raised by acting Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are looking into the matter.

    Dogara said the 2016 Budget was “controversial from the beginning”, adding: “it took dialogue, compromise and consensus to produce a workable document.”

    The Speaker argued that by virture of the provisions of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act, no member of the parliament can be charged to court or investigated for exercising his powers of law making.

    The budget, he said, was the appropriation bill, which like any other bill must be subjected to normal legislative processes and scrutiny.

    Dogara said: “The Constitution talks about the estimates of revenue and expenditure to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly. The Constitution did not mention the word budget. And the reason is very simple. Budget is a law. Going by the very pedestrian understanding of law which even a part one Law student can tell is that the functions of government is such that the legislature makes the law, the executive implements and the judiciary interprets the law.

      “The budget being a law, therefore, means it is only the parliament that can make it because it is a law. And I challenge all of us members of the media and civil society. organisations  (CSOs) to look at our law and tell me where it is written that the president can make a budget.”

    The Speaker maintained that by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, only the National Assembly has the powers to scrutinise the revenue and expenditure estimates submitted by the President.

    “What I am saying is further reinforced by Section 80(4) of the Constitution which says that no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other fund of the federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.

    “I want this thing to sink so that we can understand it from here and perhaps it may change the ongoing discourse.

    “If you say the National Assembly doesn’t have the powers to tinker with the budget; that we just pass it. When it is prepared and laid we turn it into a bill. If it is a bill how do other bills make progression in the parliament in order to become law?” he asked, adding:

    “If you contend that we cannot tinker with the appropriation bill, even though it is a money bill, it, therefore, goes without saying that we cannot tinker with any executive bill.

    “Because if they (Executive) bring a bill they will not consult the public to say come and give us your input on this bill. It is the legislature that does that by the instrumentality of public hearing and when we aggregate your views it is only our duty as representatives of the people including the media and CSOs to make sure that your voices are reflected so that by the time we hear from you we now turn it into a legislative bill and when it gets to the President and he signs they say oooohhh some people have padded the bill.

    “The budget is a law and nobody can object to the fact that only the legislature can make law so it is only the parliament that can conclude it.”

    On constituency projects,  Dogara said it was the only means through which lawmakers can attract federal projects to their constituents.

    According to him, this is necessary because the process of selecting constituency projects “lacks integrity as it is always lopsided against most federal constituencies”.

    He said: “If you come from a constituency like mine for instance, right now, we don’t have a permanent secretary anywhere, we don’t have a director anywhere, so if you look at the 2016 Budget, if you were to go as proposed by the executive, there is no single federal funded borehole, even if it is N50, there is no N50 meant for any project in my three local governments. Why? Because I don’t have anybody where they are preparing, sharing or making allocation.”

  • Budget padding: APC won’t sanction Dogara, Jubrin

    Budget padding: APC won’t sanction Dogara, Jubrin

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday ruled out sanctioning House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and former Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations Abdulmuminin Jibrin for alleged budget padding.

    Deputy National Chairman (North) Senator Lawal Shuaibu told reporters at the APC secretariat in Abuja that its constitution empowers the party to take certain steps, but it would not do so in order not to unsurp the functions of law enforcement agencies.

    He said: “Article 7 (5) of the APC constitution gives us the power to do certain things. So, you see, what we are doing is the right thing. But only we don’t want that in the public gallery”.

    Shuaibu asked “what is padding? saying the party would not sanction anybody for  that. “What is of concern to us is where any member contravenes the party constitution in his conduct,” he said.

    “That is why I referred you to Article 7 (5) of our party constitution. We are not a law enforcement organisation. We don’t enforce law. We only ensure that the constitution is complied with. All members of the party are answerable to the party and answerable to their constituencies.

    “The two members that are subjected to this are elected or appointed members of the party including those that are holding public office. So, you expect the party to sit down and watch. No. We have to do our work. So, the question of sweeping anything under the carpet does not arise at all. But we don’t want to do it in the market place, in the party secretariat”.

    On the funding of the party, Shuaibu said: “We have a credible source of funding. Every member of APC in this country pays N100. So far on our data base, we have 12.7million registered members. Others are still waiting for us to just open our portal to do their membership registration.

    “Assuming those on our data base paid their membership levies, just calculate N100 of 12.7million members for you to know how much we can get. So we have our way of sourcing for fund.”

    Speaking on the complaint of hardship by Nigerians, the former lawmaker said: “You are talking of hardship. This government is just one year old. Sixteen years of destruction and you want the magic in just only one year? Nobody is talking of 16 years of the destruction that brought the hardship.

    “But when the destruction was going on, people were praying for somebody who could correct all these things and reconstruct the country. But nobody said it will just happen overnight. It is not possible. I think if you have a scratch on your hand now, it will take some time to heal. But the system destroyed so many things. It was an atmosphere where impunity was officially recognised”.

    On filling vacant party positions, he said: “There is a committee looking into our constitution, we are waiting for them. It will be a mini-convention. What we want to do is to amend some parts of our party constitution after operating this one for about two years. Where it is inadequate we want to perfect it”.