House of Representatives over alleged padding of the 2016 budget.
The APC was said to have made the move to prevent the party from being
“brought to dishonour.”
The APC National Working Committee, at the party’s headquarters in Abuja
on Tuesday, separately met with the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara; and a former
Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jubrin.
It was gathered that the meetings were aimed at addressing the crisis and
preventing the removal of Dogara.
A leader of the party, who confided in The PUNCH, said, “We are making
moves to resolve the crisis. Dogara is a loyal party man.”
The national executive of the APC had, through a letter, summoned Jubrin
to appear before leaders of the party at 2pm on Tuesday.
The party leadership had earlier on Tuesday met with Dogara.
In the letter by its Deputy National Chairman (North), Lawal Shuaibu, the
party decried the media war between the two APC lawmakers without
consulting the party for resolution.
The letter read in part, “As a disciplined party, the constitution of our party
has made adequate provisions on ways of resolving any issue among
members. It behoves the party to take all necessary steps to ensure that
no member of our family brings dishonour on the party.
“You are, therefore, by this invitation, expected to appear before the
undersigned at the APC national secretariat on Tuesday, August 2, at 2pm.
“Kindly note that failure to and/or refusal to honour this invitation will
amount to a decision you have made not to submit to the party.”
Jibrin arrived at the APC headquarters in Abuja in a Toyota Land Cruiser
with number plate, BWR 768 AM, around 2.10pm and immediately went
into a closed-door meeting with Shuaibu.
It was observed that the meeting was attended by the northern caucus in
the party’s executive.
Other officers who attended the meeting are the National Secretary, Mai
Bala Buni; and the National Vice Chairman (North-West), Inuwa Abdulkadir.
Both Jibrin and Dogara, who are at the centre of the budget-padding
scandal, are from the North.
The Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Segun Oni, who was sighted
around the party’s headquarters, did not attend the meeting.
The meeting, which was held in Shuaibu’s office, lasted till around 5pm.
Shuaibu, who later addressed journalists, said the meeting was a
consultation among party members.
He said, “This is strictly a consultation between a very great member of the
party and party officials in respect of what is going on in the House of
Representatives.
“There is nothing like passing any judgment against any member of the
party; we will play our role as an umpire in this matter to see how we can
restore peace and unity among our members.”
Shuaibu said there was no truth in the information that the meeting was
called to discipline Jibrin.
“But when certain things go off course, the party needs to call its members
to know how best to reunite them. That is exactly what we did. We heard
his side of the story. We earlier heard from the Speaker,” he added.
The APC chieftain further said the meeting with Jibrin was to get “a better
briefing” because the party had to be carried along as the Speaker and
Jibrin were members of the APC.
“We should know directly from them what is really going on,” he added.
When he was asked if the crisis had been resolved at the meeting, Shuaibu
said, “I said we are discussing with them and the discussions are not
concluded.
“We will continue to consult. We are not done with them. We sat with the
Speaker earlier. We just finished talking with Jibrin. If the need arises, we
will have a round-table discussion with both of them.’’
Jibrin also told journalists that he and the party leaders discussed
“extensively” at the meeting on the crisis in the House.
He said, “We will continue to discuss. I will continue to honour the
invitation of the party, respect the party, and I am sure that whatever it is,
you will know in due course.”
When our correspondent asked Jibrin why it took him so long before
coming out on the alleged padding of the 2016 budget, he said, “I want to
restrict my discussion to the party’s invitation.”
Jibrin, from Kano State, had on Monday submitted a petition to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other related offences Commission and the Nigeria Police
Force against Dogara and some leaders of the House.
A party source, who spoke to our correspondent after the meeting,
lamented that the crisis in the House was embarrassing the party.
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