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Reps budget padding: emerging facts nail principal officers, police wade in

Embattled former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin continued his onslaught against the Speaker Yakubu Dogara on July 25, 2016, as he accused him and his cohorts (Deputy Speaker Hon. Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun, the Chief Whip Hon. Ado Garba Alhassan and the Minority Leader Hon. Ogor Leonard Okuwehof of seeking inappropriate favours from agencies and multinational companies, among other corrupt practices.

The latest wave has caught the attention of the Police force as it was reported that an investigation into allegations and a probe of the four principal officers has been ordered by the police head on Monday, July 25, 2016.

Recall that following his sacking as Committee chairman on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, Jibrin has been a regular figure in the media, where he has been levelling all manners of allegations against the speaker and the three other principal officers.

Hon Jibrin who claimed he was not fired, but willingly stepped down, is bent on bringing the aforementioned officers down as he has promised to reveal all evidence and proof of their corrupt practices in the lower chamber.

In the latest allegation, he said, “Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his senior cabal namely Deputy Speaker Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority leader Ogor have promoted corruption so badly in the House that if President Muhammadu Buhari with his disdain for corruption and corrupt people has the slightest idea, he will ban the quartet permanently from the Villa before they eventually allow for proper and unbiased investigation by the House.”

According to a Premium times report, Hon. Jibrin detailed how Mr. Dogara and others allegedly diverted funds meant for legislative functions to service their guest houses and official apartments, saying the Speaker was once engaged in an open brawl with a lawmaker over the matter and how Dogara blackmailed government agencies and multinational companies into succumbing to his financial demands.

He said : “Mr. Speaker and Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun diverted millions of naira all in the name of paying for guest houses and official residence. The issue became so messy that the Deputy Speaker openly accused Hon Herma Hembe of short changing them of millions of naira in the deal to the shock of many Hon Members.

“Speaker Yakubu Dogara frequently abuses his office amounting to conflict of interest by soliciting for inappropriate favours from agencies and Multinational companies. He forced an agency to grant loans and a construction company blackmailed to do some work at his Asokoro ‘plot’.”

Hon. Jibrin also added that Mr. Dogara “runs the financial management of the House like a cult aided and abated by the Chairman House services Hon. Babanlle Ila. It is no longer news that all over the House, Hon Members are aware of the monumental fraud perpetrated by Speaker Yakubu Dogara in this regard..

“We are even told that this is a child’s play compared to the mess and allegations of money laundering he left behind as Chairman, House Services in both the 6th and 7th Assembly. The EFCC should have something to start working with in respect to his tenure as Chairman House Services if they properly dust their files,”

He called for investigation and prosecution.

“I am therefore once again calling on honourable colleagues and well meaning Nigerians to prevail on Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his three other cohorts to put the interest of country first and allow the House to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations on them,” he appealed.

Meanwhile, a police source told the Punch that “the allegations made by the former House committee chairman on appropriations are weighty and cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet because it borders on corruption and an attempt to defraud the nation.

“So, the police have set in motion machinery to investigate the allegations, ascertain the veracity of the allegations, and get to the bottom of the corruption as stated by the petitioner.”

Hon. Jibrin might even be summoned to provide evidence on the allegations.

OlalekanOlonilua for encomium.ng

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