Members of the House of Reps Committee
on Appropriation said yesterday that there was no breach whatsoever in
the 2016 budget process that would warrant the probe of Speaker Yakubu
Dogara, his deputy Yussuf Suleimon Lasun, chief whip, Alhassan Ado
Doguwa and minority leader, Leo Ogor. Addressing a press conference
yesterday in Abuja, deputy chairman of the committee, Rep Chris Emeka
Azubogu (PDP, Anambra), who was accompanied by eight other members of
the committee, said the allegations levelled against the quartet by the
former chairman of the committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, were all lies.
A new group in the House known as
‘Transparency Group’ comprising of
over 100 members, had on Wednesday called for an external probe into the
matter and that anybody found wanting should be punished. But the
appropriation committee members insisted that there was no need for
that.
Jibrin had
following his sack last week alleged that Dogara and the other three
leaders tried to force him to insert projects worth N40 billion for them
in the budget, among other weighty allegations.
However, the lawmakers said they were dismayed and disappointed by
Jibrin’s conduct and allegations since his removal, saying he was the
one who perpetrated all the irregularities in the budget. They also
alleged that Jibrin “hijacked” the budget process and single-handedly
ran away from them only to return after weeks with a report on the
budget. “We wish to state that we totally disassociate ourselves from
all the calculated plot to pull down the integrity of the leadership and
members of the 8th House of Representatives.”
They said following Jibrin’s action of “hijacking” the budget, they
approached the Speaker with complaints and demanded the former
chairman’s sack.
While calling on Jibrin to tow the path of honour and conduct himself in
a manner befitting of a lawmaker, the legislators said they were
“solidly in support of Mr Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and other
principal officers of the House of Reps.”
Credit: DailyTrust
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