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Tag: Jibrin

  • Jibrin Vs. Dogara: A case of sour grapes?

    When in December 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2016 Budget to the National Assembly (NASS), hopes were high that the ‘budget of change’ would revive the dwindling fortunes of the economy. Ever since, it has been one controversy to another.  From initial report of the budget being missing to several padding of figures to its line items, Nigerians were inundated with different tales daily. While these controversies raged, the chairmen of the appropriation committees in the Senate and House of Representatives, Senator DanjumaGoje and Hon. JibrilAbdulmumin being at the centre of it all were literally in the eye of the storm. AbdulmuminJibrin, the member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, however was the more controversial owing to the fact that he was more visible and vocal.

    The storm would later degenerate into a face-off between the executive and the legislators – no thanks to the outbursts of Jibrin. At almost every instance, he not only sought to cast aspersion on the executive, he it was that sold the narrative that the former was responsible for the padding of the budget. The general belief then was that the National Assembly discovered this padding and was doing all it could to correct the situation. That was what Jibrin sold to Nigerians.

    The story has however changed. Last Thursday, Hon Jibrin released a statement accusing Speaker YakubuDogara and the leadership of the House of Representatives of unilaterally allocating to themselves projects worth N40billion out of the N100billion allocated to the entire members. Jibrin had been sacked a day earlier by the Speaker for what many considered as the role he played in the budget impasse. Jibrin’s story however was that his sack was the result of his refusal to admit the Speaker’s request for the N40billion, N30billion of which he said is personally for the speaker’s constituency.

    Jibrin’s decision to spill the beans would ordinarily be a welcome development.  However, the question that begs for answer is why the decision to open up at this late hour? If Jibrin is claiming to be accountable or with clear conscience, why did he choose to speak after his sack from the appropriation committee?

    In his statement on Thursday, Jibrin accused Speaker Dogara, among other things, of wining with President Muhammadu Buhari and dinning with the president’s enemies. He said his decision to open up is because the Speaker added in a statement announcing his replacement – despite asking to be allowed to resign – that the House leadership had already concluded plans to oust him from the appropriation committee.

    Does this not smack of selfish game play by Jibrin? Does the statement not indicate that he decided to speak out because it has to do with his person and not because of his love for taxpayers, the National Assembly and even the nation? Should the self-righteousness being claimed by Jibrin not have been demonstrated long before his sack?

    It ought to be clear to discerning Nigerians that Hon. Jibrin’s volte face declaring support for the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the same man he sold to Nigerians as having presented a hugely padded budget, is nothing but a smokescreen to pitch tents having lost credibility in the eyes of the House leadership.

    It is now public knowledge that Jibrin used his position and privilege as the chairman, House Committee on Appropriation to sneak in projects to the tune of N4 billion for his constituency, at a time some lawmakers had no projects in their own constituencies. Worthy of note is the so-called Muhammadu Buhari Film Village which he single-handedly inserted in the budget and sited it in his village without the consent or knowledge of the President – a project that has since been flatly rejected by the people of Kano State. Need one mention also the N250 million project for the construction of an International Tourism Market in Argungu, Kebbi State, smuggled into the budget of the National Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC)?

    Nigerians can today better appreciate why President Buhari refused to sign the budget.

    In the situation, Speaker Dogara was faced with two choices: Either to back an erstwhile ally and strong supporter said to have used his privileged position as chairman of a very powerful committee to engage in untoward activities, or to honour his vow and oath as Speaker and hence protect the nation’s interests. The first option was a no go hence he chose the latter.  In fact, Dogara before then held series of meetings with President Buhari, where he pleaded and promised to handle the situation. This was why the speaker, after exhaustive consultations, informed Jibrin of his removal – a decision was taken ever since the Speaker was presented with overwhelming details of Jibrin’s many infractions.

    Jibrin must come out to tell Nigerians what his game plan is and what he hopes to achieve by throwing spanners in the wheels of the House. Jibrin has successfully muddied the waters by refusing to explain to his audience that there is a statutory allocation for constituency projects and that recommending these is neither a crime, nor is it padding, as attracting federal attention to their constituencies is one of their duties as lawmakers.

    It should be clear and evident to all discerning minds that AbdulmuminJibrin is a man drowning in the pool of his own serial infractions, and hence will surely do/say everything he can to drag someone down with him. As it appears, the bigger that fellow, the better it will be for him. In this particular instance, it couldn’t get bigger than the Speaker himself. Jibrin has released several documents which supposedly prove Dogara’s complicity in some crime, but not one of the many pieces of paper he has released so far would stand up to scrutiny either before the unbiased public or in a court of law. Nigerians will readily recall that Dogara’s tenure as chairman of the House Services was marked with not a single allegation of wrong doing and his stellar record in the 6th and 7th assemblies was why majority of members passionately supported his speakership bid.

    The evil that men do lives after them and those who come to equity must do so with squeaky clean hands. Unfortunately for Jibrin, this is one battle he cannot hope to win as Nigerians are only too aware of his antecedents.

     

    • Onyemere, a public affairs analyst and social commentator, wrote in from Lagos.
  • Reps seek EFCC’s probe of Jibrin for budget padding

    Reps seek EFCC’s probe of Jibrin for budget padding

    Ex-Appropriation chair asks Dogara to clear name

    The Budget 2016 padding scandal rocking the House of Representatives deepened yesterday, with the leadership asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the sacked Appropriation Committee chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin.

    The probe, it said, should start from when he was chairman of the Finance Committee in the Seventh Assembly.

    But, Jibrin dismissed his colleagues’ plan, urging Speaker Yakubu Dogara to clear himself of the allegations of budget padding.

    Last week, Jibrin accused Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, Chief Whip Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor of asking him to allocate to them N40 billion of the N100 billion allocation for members’ constituency projects.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman, House Information Committee Abdulrazak Namdas said Jibrin would also be refered to the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee for investigation

    He said given the workings of the budget process, the House cannot be accused of padding because there is nothing like that.

    Namdas challenged Jibrin  (APC, Kano) to show evidence of the complicity of Dogara and the other principal officers in the padding.

    He, however, declined to take up issue with former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who accused the lawmakers of  corruption.

    Namdas said: “Section 4 empowers the National Assembly to make laws for the good governance of the federation while Section 59 confers on the Legislature final say on the budget.

    “Section 80 (4) on the other hand, which confers on the legislature absolute power of control over public funds, states: “No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly”.

    “The word manner confers absolute legislative discretion.

    “When, therefore, the National Assembly appropriates funds in the budget, it can never under any circumstances or guise be deemed or regarded as tinkering or padding.

    “The legislature is therefore constitutionally incapable of padding the budget.

    “What the Executive submits are mere estimates and proposal as stipulated in Section 81 (1).

    “It is obvious that the Constitution uses the word Estimates advisedly. Consequently, it is therefore an exhibition of crass ignorance, abuse of language, outright mischief and or blackmail for a legislator especially one who chaired the Appropriations Committee to use the word PADDING to describe the action of parliament on the budget.

    “The removal, introduction of projects or the amendment of Mr. President’s estimates in the Appropriation Bill cannot be construed as an Act of corruption or impropriety   because it is at the core of appropriation powers of the National Assembly as aptly enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

    “It is therefore clear, that no crime or wrong doing can be legitimately imputed on the actions or conduct of Mr. Speaker, the Leadership or Members of the House of Representatives before, during and after the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill”.

    He said Jibrin was investigated by the House for gross misconduct  as a result of complaints over his misuse of power by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) since his Chairmanship of Finance Committee in the 7th Assembly.

    Namdas added: “Jibrin’s removal was based on sundry acts of misconduct, incompetence, total disregard for his colleagues and abuse of the budgetary process, among others.

    “Immaturity and lack of capacity to handle the Office of Chairman, Appropriations:

    “One of the fundamental reasons why the House Leadership removed him is that, he was found not to be fit and proper person to hold such a sensitive office which exposes him to high officials of government at all levels.

    “Furthermore, in the course of the performance of his duties as Chairman of Appropriations Committee, it became evident that he does not possess the temperament and maturity required for such a high office.

    “Tendency and proclivity to blackmail colleagues and high government officials and misuse and mishandle sensitive government information:

    “He was in the habit of collating, warehousing and manipulating sensitive information to blackmail people sometimes apparently for pecuniary purposes. And by the virtue of his position as Appropriations Chairman, he meets with very high and senior public officers at all levels.

    “The Speaker and the Leadership were inundated with complaints by heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over harassment from the House Appropriations Chairman to engage in conduct and acts unbecoming of their offices.

    “The Leadership lunched an internal investigation into these allegations and was largely satisfied that action had to be taken to remove him, in the interest of the integrity of the House.

    “One clear example is the insertion of Funds for the so called Muhammadu Buhari Film Village in his Constituency in Kano State without the consent or solicitation of Mr. President. This has brought both Mr. President and the government to disrepute.

    “Again, it was found out that he was fond of inserting projects into prominent persons’ constituencies without their knowledge to curry favour and possibly use it as a means of blackmail against them when necessary.

    “One of such is the numerous projects he claimed in a Channels TV interview in April 2016, to have cited in Mr. President’s home town of Daura, Katsina State without Mr. President’s solicitation or knowledge, in a desperate attempt to blackmail Mr. President as an answer and justification for allocation of N4.1b to his constituency when confronted by the interviewer.

    “He did not stop there. Hon Abdulmumin went about soliciting Honourable members to nominate projects for him to help them include in the Budget. When called upon to defend his actions as Appropriation’s Chairman, all he did was to be calling names of those members and the amount he helped include for them in the Budget in an unsuccessful  bid to silence them.

    “Most of the affected members took serious exceptions to his despicable antics and sundry acts of  blackmail and protested to the Leadership to prevail on Hon Abdulmumin to expunge  from the Budget what he claimed he allocated to them since they did not solicit for those projects”.

    Jibrin was also accused of being responsible for the friction between the National Assembly and the executive over the 2016 budget through his incompetence, mismanagement of the process and hidden agenda.

    “It was also discovered that the former Chairman, Appropriations, discreetly and clandestinely allocated monies for projects that are not clearly defined in the budget for the purposes of exploiting the ambiguities for personal gains.

    “Furthermore, he was found to be responsible for some bogus allocations in the budget for projects that have no locations and were apparently never meant to be executed.

    “Hon. Jibrin’s mishandling of the 2016 budget process nearly fractured the otherwise cordial relationship between the Executive and the Legislature and   brought the National Assembly and the government to public ridicule.

    “For reasons that were not noble and not in the Public Interest, Hon Abdulmumin had initially inflated the Budget by adding about N250b more to the total figure as submitted by Mr President. This, the NASS leadership out rightly rejected as a form of financial recklessness and inability to appreciate the dwindling resources available to government necessitating that we act prudently.

    “He was directed therefore to make even further cuts below Mr Presidents total figure.

    “Hon Jibrin in his desperation to ingratiate himself into the good books of the Presidency, unilaterally entered into commitments on the structure of the Budget ,without the knowledge of the National Assembly Leadership, in the full knowledge, not only that he had no authority to do so , but dishonestly  had no intentions of keeping to those commitments , having done the exact opposite in processing the budget details.

    “This brought the House into disrepute as it portrayed the National Assembly and its leadership as persons who couldn’t keep their word.

    “He displayed crass ineptitude and general lack of capacity to handle the work, thereby serving as a clog in the appropriations process. He contributed significantly to the delays in the passage of the Appropriation Bill.

    “No one, not even his Deputy and Members of the Appropriations Committee, could reach him at certain periods during the budget process.

    “Indeed, on the last day of the exercise, he went underground to avoid being compelled to show areas he had hidden most of the cuts he claimed he made, an act which amounted to  gross insubordination and an attempt to hold captive, all involved in the budget chain to the point of entirely frustrating the passage of the Budget.

    “The tripartite Committee of the Senate, House and Executive thus completed the 2016 Budget without Hon Abdulmumin as he was hiding, believing that the job could not be done without him”.

    While chanlenging the embattled lawmaker to make good his threat of releasing hard facts supporting his claims, Namdas said EFCC has been invited to look into the past activities of Jibrin.

    He said: “Confirming some of the reasons for his removal and true to type, Hon Abdulmumin has since after his sack, resorted to blackmail, his stock in trade. He has released documents from dubious sources in a desperate bid to lure gullible members of the public to his side.

    “Mr Speaker’s inputs to the 2016 Budget was signed and delivered to him. If he has honour, let him release the signed inputs of Mr Speaker and not pieces of paper that bears no acknowledged authorship.

    “Our counsel to Hon Abdulmumin is for him to be real as a man by bringing up credible, authentic and verifiable documents or stubborn facts which disclose the commission of crime on the part of any Member or Leader of the House.

    “If he can’t, then let him go and sulk in secret over his sack.

    “The Leadership was also in receipt of complaints about his activities as Chair of Finance Committee in the 7th Assembly, which had potentials to embarrass the House.

    “Investigations found that from 2011 – 2015 Hon Abdulmumin domiciled with Hadejia – Jama’are River Basin Authority and few other MDAs some of the allocations meant for his former Finance Committee members.

    “He was alleged to have aided the use of front companies that collected funds without executing most of the projects.

    “The Projects have been compiled and will be referred to the Anti Graft Agencies to establish why the projects were fully paid for and not executed, who collected the funds and why has Hon Abdulmumin not raised any alarm about the non execution of the projects even now?”.

    On why was Jibrin entrusted with Appropriation Committee chairmanship in spite of his antecedents while chairing Finance Committee, Namdas said the leadership and the Selection Committee were not aware of such activities as at that time.

    Jibrin to Dogara: address corruption allegations against you 

    Sacked House of Representatives Appropriation Committee Chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin has challenged Speaker Yakubu  Dogara and the other principal officers to address the corruption allegations he leveled against them.
    In a response to the House’s statement yesterday, he asked: “Why did you take the decision to fraudulently shortchange the House by taking away N40 billion out of the N100 billion allocated for constituency projects and distributing same to yourself and others without the approval of the House?
    ”Why did you approach the former House Appropriation Chairman with written personal requests and list of about N30 billion to be inserted into the 2016 budget and his inability to get that done caused a major rift between you all and him?
    “Why did you insert wasteful projects for your various constituencies worth about 20billion naira despite the former appropriation chairman professional advice against such?
    “Why did you ignore  his complaint to you that just about 10 standing committees of the House inserted over 2000 projects worth 284 billion naira?
    “Why did you take away the Appropriation Committee secretariat on two occasions where several insertions were made into the budget which created avoidable tension during the budget process?
    “Why did you direct the former Appropriation Chair which he rejected to create a strange line item in the service wide vote to allow for a 20 billion naira insertion into the budget under the name of NASS using a former PDP Senator and top politician?
    “Why are you trying to scam members with a fraudulent arrangement to deduct monthly from money meant for members office running cost to fund a so called mortgage arrangement?
    “Why did you abuse your office in a conflict of interest directed an agency to grant loans and a construction company to work on your Asokoro plot and arrange frequent private meetings with heads of MDA’s?
    “Why did you allocate to yourselves the entire 20% inputs reserved for the House after the harmonization exercise?
    “How much did you collect for rent of house and guests houses and how much did Hon Herma Hembe steal from the money that caused the outburst of Lasun?
    “Why are you trying to drag the entire House and illegally using the official spokesman of the House into allegations that were made on you and the three others only?
    “Why did you consistently block  the former chairman appropriation from briefing Hon members and denied him his right to be heard by his colleagues on this matter?
    “Why did you scuttle his effort and Sen Goje’s to assist Mr. President after working so hard consulting ministers on the budget out of envy and vindictiveness that Mr. President granted them audience without you?”
    “Why did you insist and ensured that the immunity clause for the House principal officers is inserted into our agenda despite huge resistance from members and the general public?
    “Why did you connive with 5 other members of the House to use some elements of the Nigerian police and thugs  in an attempt to blackmail, kidnap, intimidate and silence him and his family?
    “Why are you desperately going round media houses offering money to silent  the statements of the former appropriation chairman?
    “Why has it taken you this long to put together such a lame story of why you “sacked” the former appropriation chairman after admitting on national TV that he resigned?”
    “Is it true that you left a huge mess and allegations of money laundering against you as chairman House services both in the 6th and 7th House?
    “Why have you refused to open up the financial dealings and details of internal budget of the House to your colleagues, Hon members?
    “Why do you have problems with reconvening the House immediately to allow an independent investigation on the allegations”.

  • Dogara’s camp, Jibrin trade accusations  

    Dogara’s camp, Jibrin trade accusations  

    The exchange of brickbats continued yesterday between sacked House of Representatives Appropriation Committee Chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin and the camp of the principal officers of the House over padding of this year’s budget.

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara described Jibrin as a drowning man after he launched another round of allegations against the leadership of the House, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the House.

    Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs Turaki Hassan, in a statement, said:  ”These are all lies and desperate attempts of a drowning man to clutch onto anything, having found that all his frivolous allegations do not disclose any element of corruption or wrongdoing against Mr. Speaker”.

    House spokesman Abdulrazak Namdas promised to reply Jibrin’s allegations today.

    A member of the Appropriations Committee, Lynda Ikpeazu, denied that the committee members were moved to a secret location during the 2016 budget preparations. She said Dogara and the body of principal officers did not do anything wrong. The allegation, she said, is untrue.

    It was learnt that meetings were going on in regions as members discuss how to react to the allegations levelled against the Speaker and three other principal officers.

    Another member, Johnson Agbonayinman, described the allegations as a distraction to the leadership of the House.

    He said: “I don’t want the leadership of the House to be distracted. No human organisation is 100 per cent perfectly run; I hope to reach out to speak with people on the issues raised. But for now, I urge that we put Nigerians first as there is so much hardship in the land. We should concentrate on making life easier for our people,” he said.

    Ikpeazu, a member of he committee, in a phone conversation, said no one took any budget to a secret location.

    She said: “Jibrin should not even go that route, that the Committee was taken to a secret location. He should not just take that route. If he took the budget to a secret location, he should tell us. The leadership of the House did not take the 2016 Appropriation Bill to any secret location. That is simply not true.

    “This not a question of them taking things for themselves. Nobody took a anything for himself. What we are talking about is that projects were attracted to constituencies by lawmakers. Please, what is wrong with that? Were those projects attracted to places in Benin Republic? These are constituencies in Nigeria that these projects have been attracted to.

    “Let’s even assume that it was true, that a principal officer attracted more projects to his constituency, there is reason why they are principal officers. We are all equal in the House but there are people who are firsts among equals.”

    Jibrin again launched attacks against Dogara and the other House leaders,  saying their action is in contrast to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    In a statement yesterday, Jibrin said: “Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his senior cabal, namely Deputy Speaker Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority Leader Ogor have promoted corruption by, according to him, diverting millions of naira all in the name of paying for guest houses and official residence.

    “Speaker Yakubu Dogara has consistently refused members access to the financial dealings and internal budget of the House. He runs the financial management of the House like a cult aided by some committee chairmen.”

     

  • Budget padding allegation: Jibrin writes IGP, DSS

    Budget padding allegation: Jibrin writes IGP, DSS

    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.”

  •  N90b botched budget padding behind my removal, says Jibrin

     N90b botched budget padding behind my removal, says Jibrin

    Sacked Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation Abdulmimin Jibrin, yesterday allged that his disagreement with the leadership of the House over injection of about N90billion personal projects into the 2016 budget accounted for his removal.

    He said the body of principal officers was uncomfortable with him over his refusal to cover up plans to allocate N40billion constituency projects to the principal officers out of the N100billion allocated to the entire National Assembly.

    He also alleged that Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Chief Whip,Ado  Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor, met to demand the N40billion worth of projects in addition to about N20billion “wasteful projects” which they allocated to their constituencies.

    He accused the Speaker of seeking N30billion personal requests with three other offices.

    He said he was weighing legal options if the House won’t allow him to explore internal mechanisms to explain his side of the budget padding fiasco.

    Jibrin, who opened up on his twitter account, said his removal was to cover up the 2016 Budget padding secrets before the recess, which commenced after yesterday’s sitting. The House will return in September.

    He said the budget padding won’t be swept under the carpet adding that it is a major issue which will define the next session of the House after resumption.

    He said: “I strongly believe with every conviction that in cleaning up the budgeting system and considering what transpired during the 2016 budget, which I have all the facts and documented, Speaker Dogara, Deputy Speaker Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor should resign.

    “These members of the body of principal officers were not comfortable with my independent disposition and my refusal to cover up their unilateral decision to allocate to themselves N40billion out of the N100billion allocated to the entire National Assembly.

    “The four of them met and took that decision in addition to billions of wasteful projects running over N20billion they allocated to their constituencies.

    “They must come out clean. My inability to admit into the budget almost N30billion personal requests from Mr. Speaker and the three other principal officers also became an issue.

    “I have every documented evidence to this effect.”

    He gave further insights into what transpired between the House leadership and members  on how to manage the N100billion allocated to the National Assembly and why he was stopped from further briefing the lawmakers on the 2016 budget.

    He added: “After the submission of the first version of the budget which was returned by Mr. President, I briefed members in Executive Session and told them as agreed at our pre-budget meeting with chairmen and deputy chairmen of standing committees.

    “We simply adopted their reports with little amendments. Nobody faulted my submission.

    “Members insisted they must know how the N100billion was allocated, I told them the truth.

    “Since after that meeting, Mr. Speaker with the support of the three other principal officers effectively blocked me from briefing members and ensured I was not at the last Executive session and refused to investigate the  issues I raised that I believe must be addressed if we intend to build a better budget system for the House.”

    “I gave Mr. Speaker statistics of 2000 new projects introduced into the budget by less than 10 committee chairmen without the knowledge of their committee members.

    “He did nothing about it because he was part of the mess. Yet he is talking about improving the budget system.”

    Jibrin insisted that he resigned as the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation.

    He alleged that the Speaker misled the public on what transpired when they met.

    He added: “Meanwhile, I intend to explore all internal avenues of the House to brief my colleagues in detail and testify against Speaker Dogara; Deputy Lasun Yusuf; Chief Whip Doguwa and Minority Leader, Ogor on why they should resign.

    “If I am not allowed to exercise my privilege, I shall consider legal options. I can no longer bear the brunt of abuses and baseless allegations, keeping quiet all in the name of ‘confidentiality’ expected of an appropriation chairman.”

    “I will not allow anybody, no matter how highly-placed, to destroy my life as intended by the full statement of Speaker Yakubu Dogara.”

    “It is a fact I went to the Speaker and told him clearly I wanted to leave. He confirmed this in his statement but it appeared he wished he had fired me instead of my personal decision to step down.

    “Speaker Dogara’s statement was a complete misrepresentation of the facts, false, mischievous, unfair and a calculated attempt to bring my name to disrepute, blackmail, silence and use me as a scapegoat.

    “The plan is to execute it just before the recess so that by the time we return, I would have been buried and the issue forgotten.

    “Mr. Speaker, this will never be swept under the carpet. We are closing for recess with it and we shall commence the next session with it.

    Jibrin said: “I did nothing wrong. I worked within the rules of the House and instructions of Mr. Speaker

    Jibrin threatened to release further details.

  • Reps angry as Dogara, Jibrin, others inject N40b projects into budget

    Reps angry as Dogara, Jibrin, others inject N40b projects into budget

    The impasse over the 2016 Budget assumed a rowdy dimension in the House of Representatives with members demanding the resignation of the

    Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

    They were furious that Jibrin influenced the allocation of projects worth N4.169billion to his constituency outside what was budgeted by the Executive.

    Also, members opposed allocation of N40billion( at N20b apiece) to those in the leadership of both the Senate and the House.

    They specifically faulted the concession of projects of over N3billion to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara out of the N20billion for the House leadership.

    Amidst shouting match, the lawmakers said the House should do away with past practices of personalising budget.

    It was gathered that  sensing likely protest at the plenary over the budget, the Speaker and his principal officers opted for an Executive session.

    The Executive session began at about 11.30am on a sombre note with the Speaker offering some rapprochement in order to calm down frayed nerves.

    A source at the session said: “After initial courtesies, the Speaker hit the point by claiming that everything being said about the budget remains hearsay because the Executive has not returned the Appropriation Bill.

    “He quickly added a caveat by urging members to avoid anything which could affect the unity of the House.”

    Lending weight to the Speaker’s plea, Hon. Monguno (Borno) urged members to “wait for reactions until the budget is returned.”

    It was gathered that Dogara’s plea fell on deaf ears as members raised issues on the controversy surrounding the budget.

    Some of those who spoke at the session on the budget included Nnana(Imo); Aliyu Sani Madaki( Kano); Prof. Mojeed Alabi(Osun); Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and Comrade Phillip Shuaibu( Edo).

    Jibrin, who rose to defend the budget details, met more than he bargained for.

    A ranking Representative said: “Most members were not persuaded by attempts by Jibrin to incite them against the Executive. They rose up and started shouting at Jibrin for not doing a diligent job.

    “Some asked him whether it was the Executive that asked him to allocate huge projects to his constituency when there was no provision for these in the proposals of the Executive.

    “Many  were yelling and demanding Jibrin’s immediate resignation for the ineffective manner the Appropriation Committee handled the budget.

    “Even when the Speaker called for calm, they shouted that they “cannot defend  the indefensible in the press because Nigerians are angry against the National Assembly for playing politics with the budget.”

    A lawmaker from the South-West said: “At the Executive session, members asked the leadership about the N40billion projects allocated to the principal officers of the Senate and the House. Each of the leadership of the two chambers will share N20billion projects.

    “Members queried why N3billion projects have been allocated to the Speaker and why Jibrin favoured his constituency with N4.169billion projects.”

    “The leadership said the N20b projects were captured under zonal intervention as it had been since 1999 but members said if others were doing it in the past, it should not be now.”

    Some of the projects allocated to Jibrin’s Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency are:

    • N100m for Town Hall
    • Construction of roads in Kiru/Bebeji—N150m
    • Solar street lights—N300m
    • Badaf Road Construction—N405m
    • Pedestrian Bridges —N200m
    • Bebeji Earth Dam—N270m
    • Empowerment items—N100m
    • Entrepreneurship Development Training and Vocational Centre —N100m
    • Rehabilitation of Gwarzo Kiru, Kwanar Maiyaki–N180m
    • Rehabilitation of Sharada-Kwanar Dogara—N1.445billion
    • Construction of solar powered boreholes–N150m
    • Supply of tricycles, grinding machines and set of women salon empowerment kits—N200m
    • Small irrigation scheme ins in Kiru—N100m

    Findings revealed that at the end of the day, Speaker Dogara managed to douse the tension by begging members to sheathe their swords.

  • Why I want to be Speaker, by Jibrin

    Why I want to be Speaker, by Jibrin

    THE Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has said his experience and age have positioned him as the most qualified candidate for the Speaker of the House in the eighth Assembly.

    Other contestants include the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila; Agriculture Committee Chairman, Mohammad Monguno; Pally Iriase and House Services Committee Chairman, Yakubu Dogara, among others.

    Jibrin said the contest for the office of the Speaker should not be seen as an ethnic issue as being promoted by some contestants from the North.

    The Finance Committee Chairman, who spoke yesterday in Abuja, said his chances of being elected are brighter because he has the requisite capacity to manage the office.

    Being the Chairman, Committee on Finance, the lawmaker said the intensity of the activities of the Committee has been contributory to his legislative development.

    “I came into the House four years ago and I have been chairman of the Finance Committee since then. I have participated in a lot of parliamentary investigations. “I’ve served in a lot of ad-hoc committees and I have been in the centre of everything that has happened in the last four years.

    “I’ve mastered the rules of the House. I understand the dynamics of working and leading equals,” he said.

    Jibrin noted that his educational background has also prepared him adequately for the job.

    He said: “I attended a lot of public schools in Nigeria from primary school to  university. I went abroad and combined it with my vast local experience in Nigerian educational institutions.

    “I passed through major institutions of learning from London Business School to Harvard and to the Swiss Business School. I graduated with an MBA. I think a combination of both my local educational pursuit in Nigeria and of course my exposure outside the country gives me different perspective about the issues of governance and economies of different countries.

    “Before coming to the parliament, I have had a very wide experience in the private sector. I ran a company very successfully. I’ve also had a stint in the university where I lectured.

    “I believe that my age also places me at advantage; I’m the youngest of all the contestants. Perhaps you may want the youth representative within the government so that we will complement the older people.

    “I believe that my energy, drive and other things will also come to bear if I’m elected speaker”.

    He, however, noted that if the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not zone the position to the North, it should not be seen as a gang up against the North.

    “Right now, the contest is being run on ethnic ground. Northern members are being chased from place to place, organising themselves and making it look like a Northern agenda.

    “At one of the meetings that I was invited, I had raised that issue. The North is not under threat. If anything, the country has been very gracious to the North at this point in time. Anybody who wants to run an election base on ethnic agenda I will never be a party to it”, he added.

    He added that he is open to whatever decision the party might come out with.

    One of the contestants, Mohammad Monguno, said he is not desperate to become the next Speaker.

  • Why I want to be Reps’ Speaker, by Jibrin

    Why I want to be Reps’ Speaker, by Jibrin

    A member of the House of Representatives and Chairman, Committee on Finance, Abdulmunin Jibrin, has declared his intention to contest for the position of the Speaker in the Eighth House.

    The lawmaker, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja yesterday, said his ambition stemmed from his desire to ”help deepen the change that has taken hold of the political space”.

    In June, the Eighth House will vote to choose a new Speaker and Jibrin, who is in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and hails from Kano State, said he was well-equipped for the position because he has the “requisite qualification, aptitude and experience to hold the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives”.

    He said: “The last four years in the House gave me a solid understanding of the workings of the House of Representatives. To this end, I have designed a three-point agenda, which will guide me in ensuring my colleagues and I strive for an improved performance of our collective legislative duties.”

    The highlights of the three-point agenda, he said, are transparency in discharging the people’s mandate, strengthening the institution of the House and continuity in Legislative Business.

    He added that he would make the allowances of House members public.