Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an<\/p>\n
urgent appeal to Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme
\nPoverty and Human Rights urging him to \u201cuse your good offices and position
\nto urgently request the leadership of the House of Representatives of
\nNigeria to explain the alleged deliberate padding of the 2016 budget with
\nN481 billion (Nigerian Naira), removal of critical projects and
\nreplacement of such projects with constituency projects, which have not
\nonly undermined the fight against corruption in the country but also
\nexacerbated extreme poverty and violations of internationally recognized
\nhuman rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition dated 27 July 2016 and signed by SERAP executive director
\nAdetokunbo Mumuni states that, \u201cSERAP considers the alleged budget
\npadding, diversion of public funds and abuse of office by the leadership
\nof the House of Representatives as amounting to a deliberate retrogressive
\naction, which cannot be justified by reference to the totality of
\ninternationally recognized human rights, and in the context of the
\nobligation to fully use the maximum available resources to fulfil and
\nensure the enjoyment of those rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition copied to Mr Zeid Ra\u2019ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for
\nHuman Rights; the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention
\nagainst Corruption and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, also states that,
\n\u201cWe are concerned that the alleged corrupt budget process in the House of
\nRepresentatives in the context of an economy already weakened by years of
\nlarge scale corruption will jeopardise sustainable development and hurt
\nordinary Nigerians who rely on the government to provide basic necessities
\nof life such as water, good roads and electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition reads in part: \u201cSERAP is seriously concerned about the lack
\nof transparency and accountability of the National Assembly, which is not
\nconsistent with the behaviour of an institution that is constitutionally
\nmandated to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria.
\nThis lack of accountability partly explains why ordinary Nigerians do not
\ntrust the National Assembly, and its ability to make laws for the peace,
\norder and good governance of Nigeria, and to curb corruption within its
\nsystems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is concerned that the longstanding practice of constituency
\nprojects by the National Assembly of Nigeria and the corresponding alleged
\ndiversion of public funds have continued to systematically drain the
\ncountry\u2019s \u201cmaximum available resources\u201d, precipitating poverty, and
\neconomic crisis which inevitably magnify dispossession, hunger, disease,
\nilliteracy, and insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlleged budget padding and abuse of office by the leadership of the House
\nof Representatives in particular and the National Assembly in general also
\nhave uneven consequences against the vulnerable groups of the society,
\nincluding the poor, women and children, perpetrating and
\ninstitutionalizing discrimination. By allegedly exploiting public funds
\nfor the personal gain of leaders rather than socio-economic development of
\nthe country, constituency projects jeopardize the needs and well-being of
\nfuture generations as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that the Nigerian constitution 1999 (as amended) grants
\nlegislative power to the National Assembly to \u201cmake laws for the peace,
\norder and good government\u201d. SERAP believes that this power implies that
\nthe National Assembly including the House of Representatives will serve as
\na crucial bastion of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law
\nthat are necessary to reduce poverty, establish a corruption-free society,
\nand effective enjoyment of human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is seriously concerned that in the process of alleged budget
\npadding the leadership of the House of Representatives removed key
\nprojects such as on roads, electricity and\/or drastically reduced their
\ncosts. These projects ordinarily would have contributed to reducing the
\neffects and consequences of poverty in the country while also enhancing
\nrespect for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that the allegations that the leadership of the House of
\nRepresentatives worked to abuse the budget process to benefit themselves
\nat the expense of the majority of Nigerians is a fundamental breach of
\nconstitutional oath and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
\nCultural Rights to which Nigeria is a state party, which requires states
\nto use their maximum available resources to promote and secure the
\nenjoyment of basic economic and social rights such as the rights to food,
\nto healthcare, to access to quality education and adequate standards of
\nliving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArticle 2(1) of the Covenant provides that each State party to the
\npresent Covenant undertakes to take steps to the maximum of its available
\nresources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of
\nthe rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means,
\nincluding particularly the adoption of legislative measures.”<\/p>\n
“This implies that government at all levels including the National
\nAssembly has a duty to ensure that public funds are used to benefit
\nNigerians and not for personal use. Human rights cannot be achieved
\nwithout significant expenditure in critical areas of governance.”<\/p>\n
SERAP therefore urged the Special Rapporteur to:<\/p>\n
1. Publicly express concerns about the allegations of budget padding
\nand diversion of public funds and abuse of office by the leadership of the
\nHouse of Representatives, thereby exacerbating extreme poverty and
\nviolations of human rights;<\/p>\n
2. Put pressure on the leadership of the House of Representatives to
\nallow for independent and transparent investigation of the allegations of
\nbudget padding, diversion of public funds and abuse of office, and not to
\nvictimize Mr Jubrin for blowing the whistle on the allegations of
\ncorruption in the House;<\/p>\n
3. Make sure that alleged corruption in the House of Representatives
\nis not allowed to undermine the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to
\nadvance human rights and address extreme poverty;<\/p>\n
4. Urge the National Assembly, in particular the House of
\nRepresentatives to promote in its legislative duties transparency and
\naccountability and observe human rights principles, and that the exercise
\nof its legislative power complies with Nigeria\u2019s international human
\nrights obligations and commitments<\/p>\n
The petition reads further: \u201cThis request is based on allegations by the
\nimmediate past Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations,
\nAbdulmunin Jibrin, and available documents that Speaker Yakubu Dogara and
\nthree other principal officers of the House of the Representatives padded
\nthe 2016 budget to the tune of N481 billion and included N100 billion on
\nconstituency projects, contrary to the provisions of the 1999
\nConstitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Jubrin also accused Mr Dogara and Deputy Speaker, Yussuff Lasun, Chief
\nWhip, Hassan Ado Doguwa and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor of perpetrating
\nfinancial fraud; that Mr Dogara is running the finances of the House like
\nhis personal estate; that Mr Dogara and the other principal officers
\ndiverted millions of naira in the name of paying for guest houses and
\nofficial residence; that Mr Dogara abuses his office by soliciting for
\ninappropriate favours from agencies and multinational companies; and that
\nMr Dogara forced an agency to grant loans and a construction company was
\nblackmailed to do some work at his Asokoro plot. Other allegations by Mr
\nJubrin and supported by documents now circulating on the internet are that
\nDogara has consistently refused members access to the financial dealings
\nand internal budget of the House; that Mr Dogara runs the financial
\nmanagement of the House like a cult.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an urgent appeal to Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights urging him to \u201cuse your good…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n