The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, on Sunday came under intense pressure with calls from civil society groups for him to step aside amidst criminal investigation into the unfolding budget padding scandal.
In an open letter written to Dogara, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, a transparency and accountability think-tank, called on Dogara and other House principal officers named in the scandal to excuse themselves from office pending the outcome of investigation.
Dogara, his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, House Whip, Alhassan Doguwa, and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, have faced criticism for allegedly padding the 2016 Appropriation Bill with up to N40 billion earmarked for themselves.
Details and documents relating to the alleged fraud were thrown into the public space by Abdulmumin Jibrin, a lawmaker from Kano State who ceased being the chairman of House Committee amidst disputed circumstances on allegations that he committed serial betrayal of trust against the House leadership and members.
Dogara and other lawmakers accused of engineering “pervasive corruption” in the House denied all charges against them, saying Jibrin was acting out of vindictiveness.
Jibrin’s has, however, remained resolute in his quest to force Mr. Dogara out, visiting law enforcement agencies with documents to compel them to act.
By Friday, the EFCC, ICPC as well as the State Security Service had reportedly commenced broad investigation into the scandal.
SERAP said in the statement that “Following confirmation received by SERAP from the EFCC that it has taken up and looking into SERAP’s petition to the body on the allegations that the leadership of the House of Representatives padded the 2016 budget to the tune of N481 billion, SERAP is now writing to request you to immediately step aside from your position as Speaker of the House of Representatives pending the out outcome of the investigation.”
The letter, dated July 29, 2016, and signed by its executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, SERAP also implored Dogara to ensure that other officers named in the scandal “step aside from their positions to allow for the investigation by the EFCC and other agencies to go ahead unhindered.”
The group further stated that it had carefully reviewed the documents dumped in the public domain by Jibrin and concluded that a strong case had been established against the top lawmakers that warranted law enforcement agencies’ investigation.
“SERAP has also reviewed several documents circulating on the internet on the alleged budget padding and we believe that these documents establish a prima-facie case of corruption, which deserves a thorough, transparent, independent and effective investigation by the EFCC and other agencies.”
The group, therefore, reiterated its position that Mr. Dogara and others named in the scandal must stand aside because “the House of Representatives cannot function effectively nor enjoy public trust and confidence as long as the allegations of budget padding continue to trail its leadership.”
The Transition Monitoring Group, a democracy and civic values watchdog, said the calls for Dogara was appropriate, adding that authorities should not even stop there but ensure that they “investigate and put him on trial” like the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.
Meanwhile, Jibrin has released more documents about the unfolding budget padding scandal in the House, which he claimed confirmed his claims that some lawmakers manipulated line items in the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
In one of the documents, Chris Azubago, Appropriation Committee’s deputy chairman, allegedly canvassed up to N109 million worth of ‘constituency’ projects for his Nnewi North Federal Constituency in Anambra State.
A list of several other lawmakers and how they allegedly sponsored projects scattered across several ministries, departments and agencies were also captured by the leaked documents.
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