250 Out of 360 Reps Members Sign Petition to Sack Dogara - Jibrin Makes More Revelations

Speaking during a programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT), titled ‘Focus Nigeria’ on Thursday, the embattled former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, is not slowing down on his bid to expose the culprits involved in the widely reported budget padding at the National Assembly.

According to Punch Newspaper, in a new interview, the lawmaker disclosed that at least 250 out of the 360 members of the House have signed a petition calling for the probe and removal of the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, adding that the Department of State Services had beefed up security around him due to threats he had been receiving.

Jibrin who claimed that some of his colleagues even demanded that they marched down to the secretariat of the appropriations committee, but he told them that it was not yet time to do so, added that the intention of Dogara was to ensure that the House remained on recess until September when the tension would have been doused.

He said part of the demands of the lawmakers was that Dogara should immediately reconvene the House, which is on holiday, and then step down and allow a thorough probe of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, adding that Dogara had become jittery and had refused to give in to their demands.

“I am not alone, I am with many members. Yesterday (Wednesday), a lot of them said they wanted to go to the secretariat with me, but I said no. I didn’t want us to make the thing to look like a movie. “We have the transparency group and it did not just start now; so no one can say Jibrin initiated it. It was formed even before we went on holiday.

Anyone that says we are lying must be a joker because there were about 200 signatures before we left for holiday. “Now, they have increased to about 250.
Another group has emerged aside the integrity group and these groups have come together and all they are asking Mr. Speaker to do is to reconvene the House immediately and step down, but the body language of Mr. Speaker and a few corrupt people around him is that the issue would have died down when we resume in September and Nigerians would have forgotten.

“You are corrupt and you are talking about September. What we are asking for is that Mr. Speaker should reconvene the House immediately and step down so that internal and external investigations can go on concurrently.”

Jibrin said apart from the Speaker, the culprits in the budget padding allegations were the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor; and the Chief Whip, Alhassan Doguwa.

He said the Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, was not part of the alleged budget padding because Gbajabiamila had been marginalised by Dogara and was not in the chamber’s inner caucus, adding that he used to be friends with Gbajabiamila, but they had not been on talking terms since last year when he supported Dogara for the post of the Speaker.

“People keep asking why I didn’t mention Femi (Gbajabiamila). I tried to explain that it is these four principal officers – the Speaker, the deputy, the whip and the minority leader – that are involved.

Everyone who knows the House will tell you that these four people have hijacked it.
“The meeting where they decided to divert N40bn was at the office of the Speaker and it was the four of them that insisted. Even though I am not on good terms with Femi, he has not been involved in the decisions of the House even as the Leader. He has been excluded from key decisions in the House.”

Jibrin said he made 25 allegations against the Speaker and his cohorts, adding that he had concrete evidence, which he was willing to present.