Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open
\nletter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Dogara Yakubu
\nrequesting him and other principal officers \u201csuspected to be involved in
\nthe alleged budget padding to step aside pending the outcome of
\ninvestigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and
\nother agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter dated 29 July 2016 and signed by SERAP executive director
\nAdetokunbo Mumuni states that, \u201cFollowing confirmation received by SERAP
\nfrom the EFCC that it has taken up and looking into SERAP\u2019s petition to
\nthe body on the allegations that the leadership of the House of
\nRepresentatives padded the 2016 budget to the tune of N481 billion, SERAP
\nis now writing to request you to immediately step aside from your position
\nas Speaker of the House of Representatives pending the out outcome of the
\ninvestigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter reads in part: \u201cWe also urge you to ensure that other principal
\nofficers of the House suspected to be involved in the alleged padding step
\naside from their positions to allow for the investigation by the EFCC and
\nother agencies to go ahead unhindered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP has also reviewed several documents circulating on the internet on
\nthe alleged budget padding and we believe that these documents establish a
\nprima-facie case of corruption, which deserves a thorough, transparent,
\nindependent and effective investigation by the EFCC and other agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the circumstances, SERAP calls on you to demonstrate your
\noften-expressed commitment to transparency, accountability,
\nconstitutionalism, democratic governance and the rule of law in Nigeria by
\nnow stepping aside from your position as Speaker and to ensure that other
\nprincipal officers suspected to be involved in the budget padding do the
\nsame, pending the outcome of the investigation already by the EFCC.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP\u2019s call is entirely consistent with the constitution of Nigeria 1999
\n(as amended). As the supreme law of the land, all organs of government
\nincluding the National Assembly are obliged to perform their functions in
\naccordance with the constitution and other enabling laws.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP agrees with the Constitutional Court of Uganda when it asserted in
\nConstitutional Petition No. 47 of 2011 Twinobusingye Severino vs Attorney
\nGeneral that, \u2018In modern democracies, the term \u2018stepping aside\u2019 is now
\ngenerally taken as part of the responsibility of the holder of a public
\noffice in discharging his or her duty of being accountable to the people.
\nThus a culture has developed in modern democracies, Uganda inclusive,
\nwhereby a Public officer whose conduct in a public office is being
\nquestioned steps aside, on his or her own, to enable investigations to be
\ncarried out without his or her influence.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, SERAP believes that the necessity of being accountable to the
\npeople, by anyone holding a public office in Nigeria is clearly embedded
\nin the constitution as provided under Chapter 2 titled: Fundamental
\nObjectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically, Chapter 2 provides among others that all public offices
\nshall be held in trust for the Nigerian people; that all persons placed in
\npositions of leadership and responsibility shall in their work be
\nanswerable to the people; and that all lawful measures shall be taken to
\nexpose, combat and eradicate corruption and abuse or misuse of power by
\nthose holding political and other public offices.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that the allegations of budget padding by the leadership
\nof the House of Representatives have undermined the status of the National
\nAssembly which is supposed to be the fountain of constitutionalism. The
\nSpeaker, as the head of the House, has a big role to play in guiding
\nparliamentarians to embrace transparency by sending a powerful message
\nthat allegations of corruption will not be condoned, tolerated or covered
\nup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that the House of Representatives cannot function
\neffectively nor enjoy public trust and confidence as long as the
\nallegations of budget padding continue to trail its leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy stepping aside and ensuring that others suspected to be involved in
\nthe budget padding also step aside until such a time as the investigations
\nby the EFCC and other agencies are completed, you will be promoting acts
\nthat would enhance the integrity and respect for the National Assembly, as
\nwell as strict observance of the constitution both in letter and spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr Dogara Yakubu requesting him and other principal officers \u201csuspected to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n