Buhari Didn’t Sign A Padded Budget – Presidency

The Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon. Ismail Kawu, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari did not sign a padded budget.

This was disclosed after an over three-hour meeting with the APC leadership, insisting that the budget signed by the President was not a padded budget.

The SSA said: “I am here on the invitation of the leadership of the APC with my colleague to bring answers to issues raised by the party on the 2016 Appropriation and we have been with the party for a little over three hours. We have given explanations to them on every issue and told them that there was nothing, to our knowledge, like padding of the budget.

“The budget as assented to by Mr. President is the budget as passed by the National Assembly and that is the budget being executed.

“But as of now, the party is handling it as a domestic issue, and all of us are enjoined not to make public comment on the details because the matter is still under consideration.

“So, that is what we will want to say for now, we will not want to go into the details of it so that we will not breach the ethics of the party, the directives of the party or pre-empt anything or any outcome of the party investigation.”

He added that “we came here as persons who works as liaison officers on the budget because the party had questions for us and we came to make clarifications on the issues raised.

“We have made those clarifications and would not want to draw any conclusion. Please let us not go too far by mentioning any office. Let it be that the two of us appeared before the party.

“In all our years of legislative engagement, we are yet to find in the legislative lexicon the word ‘padding’. When the budget is presented before the legislature, the legislature is to consider the budget and pass as they deem fit.

“So what the legislature pass becomes the appropriation upon accent. Therefore, any word which is yet to crystallize in legislative lexicon, you cannot hear us mention it.”

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BUDGET PADDING: Nigerians In Diaspora Urge Lawmakers To Protect Nigeria’s Economy

The United Kingdom chapter of Nigerians in the Diaspora Monitoring Group in an electronic message to daily post in Abuja, has stated that it was a global trend, especially under a democratic system for lawmakers to protect their country’s economy rather than padding budget to serve their personal interest.

The group noted that it was unfortunate that leadership of the country’s lower chamber was engaged in accusations and counter accusations of budget padding, stressing that the economy needs strong policy that will attract foreign investments now that corruption index is going down.

“As Nigerians in Diaspora, we like to state unequivocally that former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin’s media war with the speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara would rubbish the integrity of the entire Institution, ” the statement said.

It said, ”if Dogara sacked the former chairman of House Committee on Appropriations, for any unwholesome practices, it may be in consonance with the anti corruption war of the current administration, hence, it was something personal to the extent of dragging the institution into the mud.”

They further cautioned on the implication of instability in the House of Representatives, while calling on members to guard against taking steps that will give Nigeria a bad name abroad.

The statement further urged NASS to use the opportunity of the proposed constitutional amendment to make sure the process of recalling non performing lawmakers was made simple majority so as to make lawmakers accountable to their constituents.

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Budget Padding: Speaker Dogara Hailed Over Jibrin’s Sack

The UK chapter of the Nigerians In the Diaspora Monitoring Group have accused Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, of engaging in a media war with Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the speaker of the House of Representatives, as a ploy to gain sympathy of Nigerians after he was sacked for his role in the manipulation of the budget.

In an electronic message to journalists, the UK Representative of the group, Adeka Onyila said Speaker Dogara deserves commendation for sacking the former chairman, saying that singular action is in line with the anti corruption war of the current administration.

He accused Jibrin of attacking the leadership of the House as a form of defence, but warned that such antics has failed as Nigerians are now wiser.

Onyila said, "Instead of showing remorse as one would expect in 2016 Nigeria, he (Jibrin) went on denial – first he claimed he resigned and not sacked only for him to turn around and start making spurious accusations against others.

"We hereby call on Members of the House of Representatives, the disgruntled ones, to stop giving Nigeria a bad name abroad. We say this because we have observed with alarm that some of them are lining up behind Jibrin to back him against the house leadership when he should be censured. Such ridiculous support could only be driven by a desire to make political gains out of the lies cooked up by Jibrin to save his hide.

"We rather demand that the Speaker of the House, Honorable Yakubu Dogara should be commended for triggering the anti-corruption fight in the National Assembly and having the political will to challenge the status quo by relieving the former Appropriation Chairman of his post. Hon. Dogara deserves an award for sacking Jibrin since it is now clear that the action he took against his colleague saved the parliament and the ailing Nigerian economy from total collapse that would have been caused by global reaction to a country that would appear not to be interested in tackling graft."

He said, "All his gimmick of claiming he resigned as opposed to being sacked, his inglorious petitions to anticorruption agencies and the barrage of media propaganda are merely his own idea of acting fast to gain the sympathy of constituents and to avoid possible arrest with the consequent prosecution."

The group wondered why Jibrin will be the one petitioning the anti corruption agencies.

He said Jibrin must withdraw his so called petitions to the EFCC and the DSS so that neutral NGOs or lawmakers without vested interests should be the one to initiate the demand for investigation.

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Breaking News: APC Quizzes Jibrin Over Budget Padding Allegations

Dr Abdulmumuni Jibrin, sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress APC are currently meeting over his claims that Speaker Yakubu Dogara padded the 2016 national budget to the tune of N40 billion.

Decked in a white flowing African robe (Kaftan), Jibrin arrived the secretariat around 2:09pm in a black land cruiser numbered, Abuja, BWA 768 AM.

He went straight into the office of Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, the Deputy National Chairman, North.

Recall that the party had earlier (Monday) written Mr Jibrin to appear before it by 2pm today. Journalists are for now barred from the meeting.

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N40bn 2016 Budget Padding: Arrest Dogara, Others – Jibrin Urges EFCC, ICPC

Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, a former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, speaking through his Twitter handle called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to arrest the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers of the Green Chambers for attempting to pad the 2016 Budget.

The former Appropriations Committee Chairman urged the anti-graft agencies to arrest and prosecute all principal officers of the House and other members of the House.

He said: “This is 24 hours after my lawyers requested the EFCC and ICPC to grant me a date and time to personally deliver my petition on Mr. Speaker and three others.

“EFCC and ICPC are yet to revert to me. I decided to go personally so that in addition to the petition I can provide some further insight to them.

“EFCC and ICPC must arrest the Speaker, the three others and few others members in my petition immediately.

“They are running to high places, looking for cover.”

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Dogara Denies Sharing $20,000 Each To Appropriations C’ttee Members

Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, have denied the allegation by Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former Chairman of Appropriation Committee, that he (Dogara) gave out $20,000 each to members of the appropriation committee where they accused Jibrin of single-handedly doctoring the 2016 budget.

Speaking through his Deputy Chief of Staff, CID Maduabum, the Speaker said he did not at any time meet or hand over any money of any sort to any member of the appropriation committee.

He said, "my attention has been drawn to a statement issued by the disgraced and sacked former chairman of appropriation committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin wherein he falsely, recklessly and maliciously claimed that I distributed $20,000 to each member of the committee to address the media where they stated their grouse against him.

"I wish to state that I did not at any time meet or hand over any money of any sort to any member of the House Appropriation Committee. This accusation is not only a lie but pure fiction, a figment of his imagination which can only come from a man whose soul is deeply corrupted.

"It is really shocking that this kind of despicable character could slip through the political process and become an honourable member of the House of Representatives, a highly respected institution where we all passed through.

"This has confirmed that Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin is a serial blackmailer, a man with the basest of motives whose sanity has become questionable."

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