Budget Padding: Group Passes Vote Of Confidence On Ethics Committee
A non-governmental organization, the Media Network Against Corruption has passed a vote of confidence on the Hon Ossai N. Ossai-led Ethics and Privileges committee, which is investigating the former Chairman of the house committee on appropriation, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin’s allegations of budget padding levelled against the leaders of the house.
The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Comrade James Okoronkwo said the committee was fair and impartial in its current assignment by giving Hon Jibrin the opportunity of defending himself.
The group reprimanded Jibrin for his blatant refusal to appear before the committee after he was duly summoned to defend himself against the allegations of insubordination and blackmail he levelled against speaker Yakubu Dogara, his deputy Yusuf Lasun, chief whip Ado Doguwa and minority leader Leo Ogor.
The group lamented that “the former chairman of the Appropriation Committee and member representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State has done indescribable damage to the image of the house of representatives by his wild allegation of budget paddling and abuse of office against speaker Dogara and the house leadership.
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“Hon Jibrin’s failure to exhaust the internal mechanisms of resolving dispute in the House of Representatives speaks volumes of his ignoble character after his unsuccessful attempt to retain the juicy position of the leadership of the appropriations committee.”
It wondered why Hon Jibrin resorted to maligning the integrity of the house leadership in the media instead of doing the needful of subjecting himself for probe by the house Ethics and Privileges Committee on the baseless premise that the Chairman of the chairman, Hon Ossai N Ossai was biased against him.
It further urged the anti-graft agencies and the general public “to jettison the wild allegations of Hon Jibrin as it lacks merit capable of truncating our nascent democracy.”
The group also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the police “to prosecute Hon Jibrin whose activities while serving as the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance during the last dispensation was characterized by graft and abuse of office”, noting that Hon Jibrin has “brought disrepute to hallowed chambers by resorting to media propaganda against the house leadership.”
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While throwing its weight behind the war against corruption, the pressure group appealed to the powers that be to call Hon Jibrin to order as his vile propaganda have dragged the name of Nigeria to the mud in the comity of democratic nations saying that “it has further worsened Nigeria’s ranking as a corrupt nation”.
