Issues surrounding the padding controversy over the 2016 Appropriation Bill, were yesterday resurrected in the House of Representatives, as Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, became the first victim, following his sack by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara. But the sacked lawmaker insisted he only offered to step aside in the interest of the House and the country at large for peace to reign. Announcing the development yesterday, shortly before the adjournment of plenary, Dogara informed his colleagues that the House leadership had taken a decision to replace him as the committee chairman.
The speaker said: “He (Jibrin) met me and said he does not think he would continue as the committee chairman due to pressure of the work”, adding that the leadership has, however, decided to replace him, and subsequently named Dawaki as the chairman of the committee. Our correspondent gathered that his sack might not be unconnected with the controversies that trailed the 2016 budget palaver, soon after it was passed by the National Assembly, and transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. Buhari, however, declined his assent due to the absence of sectoral details of allocations to MDAs, with same reviewed after the discrepancies were corrected. Jibrin, an APC lawmaker representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano state, was very central to the controversies which greeted deliberation and passage of the Bill. Though a very close ally of the speaker who was also key to Dogara’s emergence, Jibrin, it was gathered “had to be sacrificed because, we as fellow lawmakers could no longer trust him with such a huge responsibility as appropriation.” Specifically, his colleagues accused him of diverting N4billion worth of projects to his constituency at the expense of others, and also personalising the budget process, an accusation that continually haunt him and cast a lot of doubt on his personality by majority of fellow lawmakers.
In his place, Dogara announced Hon. Mustapha Bala Dawaki, who, like Jibrin, also hails from Kano state, as his replacement. Dawaki was before now, the chairman of the House Committee on Housing. But Jibrin denied being sacked, saying he offered to resign and that issues would be put in their right perspective in due course. Denying the claim, the lawmaker, at a media briefing just after the announcement, said: “I resigned by my own volition. If you were told I am forced to resign, then the person is in a better position to tell you why he forced me to resign. “I love the job but this is circumstantial, so I have to step aside so that the committee can move forward.” While pledging to continue to maintain a cordial relationship with the House leadership, even as a floor member, Jibrin vowed to, however, address the issues involved in due course.
“We are all aware of the issues of the budget, but as a person, I did my best as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. Ifanybody sees anything done that amounted to illegality, he should say so but until today, nobody raised any issue against me. “I have chaired the Finance Committee of this House and left without blemish. I thank the Speaker for giving me the opportunity to chair the Appropriations Committee. We have obstacles here and there in the budget, and some of these, I will address with you (media) in due course. “There are lots of issues in the House, and I believe in this circumstance, it is better for me to step aside so the committee can move on. I approached the Speaker and made it known to him, after consultation with my family”, Jibrin further explained, stressing that he had no regrets taking the decision. Fielding questions, the lawmaker admitted that the alleged padding of the budget with personal projects to the tune of four billion naira is “part of the issues I am going to be addressing.” He also clarified that the Appropriation Committee only coordinates the budgeting process, and reports to the larger House
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