The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, said budget
padding allegations in the house impacted negatively on the integrity of
the National Assembly.
The speaker said this in his remarks while welcoming members back to
plenary after their eight-week recess.
A member of the house, who was removed as Chairman, Appropriations
Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, made the allegations against Dogora and some
principal officers of the lower chamber.
Dogara said that the scandal orchestrated by the member posed a threat to
the corporate integrity and image of the house as a democratic
institution.
“Shortly after we adjourned for the recess, the erstwhile Chairman,
Appropriations Committee, embarked on strange propaganda clearly aimed not
only at the destruction of the image of some members.
“It was also a systematic destruction of the institution of the House of
Representatives and indeed, the legislature, by portraying it to the
public as an irredeemably corrupt institution.
“The motivation for his actions as he has said severally and repeatedly,
is to have the four principal officers removed from their positions and
not that the truth should be known.
“These wild allegations which were initially directed at four members of
the House leadership progressively engulfed the entire membership of the
House and then, the institution,’’ he said.
According to Dogara, the house leadership chose the part of maturity by
maintaining great restraint, fully conscious of the fact that at the
appropriate time, the truth will prevail.
He said, “I have bad news for those who think they can pull down this
institution of the people.
“If history is any guide, no one, in a democracy has ever succeeded in
destroying a democratic institution such as the House of
Representatives.’’
While assuring that the House was fully conscious of its watchdog role,
the speaker asserted that the lawmakers would not be distracted by
insidious antics to confuse Nigerians.
He described the modus operandi adopted by Jibrin to address his
allegations as inappropriate, saying there were constitutional avenues to
address them considering the criminal nature of some of the allegations.
“It is, however, important to briefly say that nothing warrants the
deliberate attempt at destructive public misinformation aimed at
discrediting the house as an institution”, he added.
The speaker promised that reforms in the budgeting process would be
initiated by the National Assembly to guard against abuses.
He revealed that he had directed the various committees to conduct
fact-finding on the level of implementation of the 2016 budget by various
Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“We must take our oversight responsibilities seriously and report back to
the house.
“It is the report of the committees that will determine the level of
appropriation to any MDA in 2017,’’ he stated.