Budget Padding: The Scandal That Refuses to Go Away

This is an insight into the budget padding saga involving APC chieftain, Abdulmumin Jibrin, Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and other principal officers of the lower chamber.

Truly Abdulmunin Jibrin, who appears to be unrelenting in his self-acclaimed efforts at exposing “massive corruption” in the House of Representatives, seemingly kept to his words by issuing at least a statement daily since the commencement of the saga. From the beginning, Jibrin alleged that Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yussuf Suleimon Lasun, chief whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa and minority leader, Leo Ogor almost compelled him to include projects worth about N40 billion for them in the budget. Jibrin later broadened the scope of his allegations to include nine other members of the House, who chair different committees, whom he said allegedly connived with Dogara to insert about 2000 projects worth N284 billion in the budget. He then turned to attack Dogara as a person with other allegations, saying the speaker operated the budget of the House in secrecy and encouraged wasteful award of contracts, declaring further that the speaker diverted a water project to his farm in Nasarawa State. He also alleged that Dogara enticed lawmakers with $25,000 to sign a document for the vote of confidence on the speaker and that he introduced to members a fraudulent mortgage system in the House and proposed illegal deduction from members running costs. The allegations got so personal that on July 27, Dogara issued a 7-day ultimatum to Jibrin within which he must retract a statement issued two days earlier and apologize, or face legal action. Dogara said in a letter to Jibrin written by his lawyer, Professor Joash Amupitan, that: “The attention of our client has been drawn to a libelous press statement you issued on Monday, July 25, 2016 which was made available to members of the press (print and electronic media) entitled: ‘The corrupt Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his 3-man cabal.’ “The personal references are obviously directed at our client and amount to a very serious libel. By the said publication and without putting to the public any shred of evidence, our client is portrayed as a criminal, corrupt, dishonest, fraudulent, dishonourable and unfit to hold the position of Speaker of House of Representatives. “Our client’s reputation has further been brought down in the estimation of right thinking members of the society and he has been thrown into public opprobrium, odium, scorn and ridicule. “Sequel to the above, we have to request you to submit immediately to us a clear and unqualified apology and retraction of the publication in an equally conspicuous position in all the print and electronic media where the publication appeared. Take notice that in the event of your failure/refusal to comply with the above mentioned demands within seven days of your receipt of this letter, we have further instructions to institute a suit against you in a court of law. If we have to pursue this course, we shall be claiming aggravated and exemplary damages,” Dogara said in the statement. However, the All Progressives Congress, (APC), to which both Dogara and Jibrin belong, made an attempt to intervene into the matter when it met with the duo separately early August. That meeting culminated in the party writing two letters to the duo on August 4, directing them to stop making further public comments on the matter. However, two days later, Jibrin broke his silence and issued another statement containing other allegations. The House leadership, had, while describing Jibrin’s allegations as wild, baseless and outright false, said that it would not join issues in the media with the lawmaker. Jibrin’s latest allegations included all the 10 principal officers of the House, where he alleged that the 10 of them put together got N10 billion “illegal” allowances throughout their stay so far in the green chamber. In the allegations, Jibrin said Dogara, who has been in the House since 2007, got N1.5bn; Lasun (2011-date) N800m; House leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (2003-date) N1.2bn; deputy leader, Umar Buba Jibril (2007-date) N1.2bn; chief whip Doguwa (2007-date) N1.2bn and deputy whip Pally Iriase (2011-date) N700m. Others are minority leader Ogor (2003-date) N1.2bn; deputy minority leader Chukwuka Onyema (2007-2011) and (2015-date) N800m; minority whip; Yakubu Umar Barde (2003-date) N1.2bn and deputy minority whip Binta Bello (2011-date) N700m. For the first time since the scandal broke out, Jibrin indicted himself last week by admitting that he collected the sum of N650 million as part of allowances and running cost from 2011 to date. He said in a statement last Saturday that “Abdulmumin Jibrin has been in the House 2011-date 650 million naira. I have records and account of how I spent every penny that I have taken. Infact it has been published in a 150 page book. “However, I have never been comfortable with the money! Thank God the wasteful allowances regime has reached its Waterloo! The country and House will be better off,” he said. However, Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, in his reaction dismissed Jibrin’s allegations as baseless. “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. They are baseless and false claims from a man, who up till now, has not come out of the shock of his removal as chairman of the committee on appropriations. “Jibrin has lost credibility in the face of the law and in the eyes of every reasonable Nigerian. He has no regards whatsoever for truth or falsehood. I therefore urge Nigerians to disregard every statement from Jibrin because they are malicious and unfounded. “The fact is that we now have a case of a man who is confused and demoralized and could therefore say all kinds of rubbish thinking that Nigerians would believe him. For me, Jibrin is now a complete replica of the American politician, ‘Donald Trump,’ who would say whatever he wants to say without minding its political and legal consequences. “A typical example of his inconsistencies is the way he now named all the 10 principal officers and not the only 4 he had earlier allegedly indicted. Jibrin is a sheer disappointment and an embarrassment to the National Assembly as an institution,” he said. With Jibrin’s determination and zeal, it appears the budget padding allegations may not die any time soon. Culled from DailyTrust