Principal Officers in the House of Representatives on Thursday said
the removal of a former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation,
Abdulmumin Jibrin, was done in the best interest of Nigeria.
The lawmakers, which include Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Minority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, took “full responsibility” for the dismissal of Mr. Jibrin from his post.
“The decision to relieve the erstwhile Appropriation Chairman of his
position was a collective decision of the leadership in response to
unrelenting pressures from the overwhelming majority of Honorable
Members who were irked by the former Chairman’s gross abuse of the
budget process,” the lawmakers said.
The 10 lawmakers who signed the statement included, Mr. Dogara, his
deputy, Lasun Yusuf, Mr. Gbajabiamila, Deputy Majority Leader, Buba
Jibril, House Whip, Ado Doguwa and Deputy Chief Whip, Pally Iriase.
Others included: Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, Minority Whip, Yakubu
Barde, Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuma Onyem and Fatima Maigari.
Mr. Jibrin left his post on July 20. The House accused him of breach of trust.
Mr. Jibrin pushed back against the allegation, saying his effort to
assert his authority against alleged fraudulent attempt by the speaker
and others to manipulate the budget, earned him sanction.
Mr. Jibrin also refused to let the matter die in the House, taking the fight to the public by releasing internal House documents that he said illustrated how the budget was severely padded by Mr. Dogara and other lawmakers.
He also visited law enforcement agencies,
including the EFCC, SSS and the police, where he said he personally
submitted petitions that contained evidence of fraudulent manipulation
of budget by Mr. Dogara and 12 others.
The House denied the allegations.
In their statement tonight, the principal officers, numbering 10,
said Mr. Jibrin’s “allegations are wild, baseless and unfounded”.
The lawmakers said the House joined forces with the Senate to take
over scrutiny of the 2016 budget from Mr. Jibrin when they discovered
that he had bungled the process.
“The Leadership of the House of Representatives wishes to reaffirm
that it took collective action, in conjunction with the Senate and a
team from the Executive, to rescue the 2016 Budget when it became
obvious that the former appropriation Chairman had placed both the
document and the process in jeopardy resulting in a spate of agitations
from Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” the lawmakers said.
The principal officers said they would take careful measures in
dealing with the attacks from Mr. Jibrin “upon the resumption of the
House” in September.
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PLEASE BE POLITE