The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has asked the sacked Chairman, Appropriation
Committee of the House, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, to retract alleged
defamatory publications against his person and tender an unreserved
apology within seven days.
Dogara, who made this demand through his
lawyers, Prof. Joash Ojo (SAN) and Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), said
Jibrin should be ready for a legal battle if he refused to publish the
retraction and the apology in prominent print and electronic media
within the seven-day ultimatum.
Part of Dogara’s letter to Jibrin
reads, “The attention of our client has been drawn to a libellous press
statement you issued on Monday, July 25, 2016, which was made available
to members of the press (print and electronic media) titled,
‘THE
CORRUPT SPEAKER YAKUBU DOGARA AND HIS 3-MAN CABAL.’
- “In the said publication, you published words to the following effect concerning our client and three other principal members of the House of Representatives:
‘Honourable colleagues and fellow Nigerians, I wish to make further revelations.
‘Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his senior
cabal, namely Deputy Speaker, Lasun; Whip, Doguwa; and Minority Leader,
Ogor; has (sic) promoted corruption so badly in the House that if
President Muhammadu Buhari with his disdain for corruption and corrupt
people has the slightest idea, he will ban the QUARTET permanently from
the Villa before they eventually allow for proper and unbiased
investigation by the House.
‘Mr. Speaker and Deputy Speaker Yussuff
Lasun diverted millions of naira, all in the name of paying for guest
houses and official residences. The issue became so messy that the
deputy speaker openly accused Hon. Herman Hembe of short-changing them
of millions of naira in the deal to the shock of many honourable
members.’’
The lengthy letter also quoted Jibrin’s budget padding allegations of N40bn; N30bn and N20bn.
It added, “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 the House of
Representatives.
“Consequently, we consider your
publication on the matter as not only libellous but made in bad faith;
an act of vendetta, owing to your recent removal as the Chairman of
House Committee on Appropriation.
“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.”
Jibrin, however, dismissed Dogara’s threat, saying he was not surprised that the speaker rushed to court, hoping to get a cover.
He added that he had formally contacted
the EFCC and the ICPC on the allegations through his lawyers to get a
date to submit a petition against the four principal officers.
Jibrin stated, “He (Dogara) fails to
realise that the law is not intended to protect corrupt people. It is
such a shame. I have responded to their allegations. Rather than respond
to mine, he is rushing to court. I stand by my allegations and will not
withdraw them!
“I am happy to announce that my lawyers
have officially approached the EFCC and the ICPC towards working out a
date for me to personally submit my petition against Speaker Yakubu
Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun; Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority
Leader, Leo Ogor.”
Meanwhile, Jibrin also reacted to Tuesday’s briefing by Namdas, where the latter defended Jibrin’s sacking.
He claimed that the text of the briefing was full of “lies” formulated by the four principal officers.
Jibrin denied that he ever increased the
budget size by N250bn, neither did he provide N4.1bn projects for his
constituency in Kano State.
He explained, “There has never been any
version of the 2016 budget that was produced with an increased size of
N250bn. It is an extension of the wicked propaganda and and desperate
search for lies and blackmail by Speaker Dogara and the three others. If
at all there is, let them bring it out.
“One single allegation that I may
probably carry on with it and keep explaining for the rest of my life is
the N4.1bn worth of projects I allocated to my constituency.
“When this allegation came out, I was
already under instruction by Speaker Dogara to stop talking to the
press. I could not respond. By the time it became convenient for me to
speak, the tempo had died down.
“I decided to simply include it in my 40th birthday memoir to be released in September.”
“There was nothing like projects worth
N4.1bn in my constituency in any version of the budget. It was a huge
blackmail, which I only later realised was instigated by Speaker Dogara
and the three others.”Meanwhile, some members of the House on Wednesday
demanded an investigation into the budget padding allegations levelled
against the Speaker, Dogara, and three other principal officers.
The others three principal officers are
the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun; the Chief Whip, Mr. Alhassan
Ado-Doguwa; and the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor.
Jibrin had alleged that the four requested the inclusion of N40bn projects in the 2016 budget.
He claimed that his refusal to oblige
the four principal officers and his opposition to several alleged
financial infractions were responsible for his removal by Dogara on
Wednesday last week.
Also, on Wednesday, some members,
operating under the name, Transparency Group, said Jibrin’s allegations
must be investigated rather than being dismissed by the principal
officers.
The group claimed to have about “100 members”, but only five lawmakers addressed journalists at the National Assembly.
They were Mr. Musa Soba; Mr. Baballe Bashir; Mr. Yahaya Gumel; Mr. Yusuf Bala-Ikara; and Mr. Abubakar Chika.
The TG advised the Chairman, House
Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, to stop
holding brief for the four principal officers as Jibrin’s allegations
were not against the entire House, but against the four in their
individual capacity.
The Transparency Group, which denied working for Jibrin, explained that the investigation would clean the image of the House.
It added that “external bodies” like the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other related offences Commission should conduct the
investigations and not the internal machinery of the House.
The spokesman for the group, Soba,
argued that an internal organ like the House Committee on
Ethics/Privileges, would not be able to do an unfettered job without
interference by the speaker.
“The principal officers must come out clean to defend themselves. They have no immunity against investigations,” Soba added.
The group clarified that Jibrin too, who
was alleged to have inserted N4.1bn projects into the budget for
himself, should be investigated.
One member of the group, Bashir, stated, “Mr. Speaker and the principal officers must come clean. Even Jibrin is not left out.
“There are principal officers, who were not mentioned; they are not left out.
“On the side of the executive, any head
of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, who padded the budget, must be
investigated too. So, we are not leaving anybody out.”
“We condemn the 2016 budget padding and
consider it an abuse of the 1999 Constitution as it relates to Chapter
II under the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state
policy.”
