Dogara demands apology from Jibrin

• Reps seek probe of speaker, others
A Seven-day ultimatum has been given by House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara to Abdulmumin Jibrin to tender an unreserved apology and retract all allegations made against him or face a legal action.

But in a swift reaction, through his twitter handle, Jibrin said: “I will not and will never apologise to a shameless fraud in high office who has glaringly abused public trust.”

Dogara’s demand was contained in a letter written and addressed to Jibrin by his (Dogara’s) counsel, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN) & Co.In the letter, entitled “Request for a retraction and an apology for a libelous press statement issued by you on Monday 25th July, 2016,” Amupitan alleges that the claim of Jibrin that the speaker is corrupt and abuses his office is aimed at tarnishing his image at home and abroad and is a clear case of libel.

Amupitan is the former Appropriations Committee chairman, who was removed for allegedly padding the budget and other actions.Dogara’s lawyer said: “By the said publication and without putting to the public any shred of evidence, our client is portrayed as a criminal, corrupt, dishonest, fraudulent, dishonourable and unfit to hold the position of Speaker of House of Representatives.

“Our client’s reputation has further been brought down in the estimation of right thinking members of the society and he has been thrown into public opprobrium, odium, scorn and ridicule.

“Consequently, we consider your publication on the matter as not only libelous but made in bad faith; an act of vendetta owing to your recent removal as the Chairman of House Committee on Appropriation.“The said publication is also aimed at causing disaffection between Nigerians and members of the House of Representatives.

“Sequel to the above, we have to request you to submit immediately to us a clear and unqualified apology and retraction of the publication in an equally conspicuous position in all the print and electronic media where the publication appeared.

“Take notice that in the event of your failure/refusal to comply with the above mentioned demands within seven (7) days of your receipt of this letter, we have further instructions to institute a suit against you in a court of law.”

Jibrin, in his reaction, said: “Speaker Dogara has threatened legal action on me. Quite predicable.“I know he will rush to court in order to invoke the House rules that a matter in court cannot be heard on the floor.“He failed to realise that the law is not intended to protect corrupt people. It is such a shame.

“I have responded to their allegations, rather than respond to mine, he is rushing to court. I stand by my allegations and will not withdraw them!“I am happy to announce that my lawyers have officially approached the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) towards working out a date for me to personally submit my petition against Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa and Ogor.“I believe once a date is agreed with the anticorruption agencies, we would have begun the process of making these characters pay for abusing their office.”

Meanwhile, as the crisis bedeviling the National Assembly over the 2016 appropriation deepens, a group of lawmakers under the aegis of the ‘Transparency Group,’ yesterday asked the EFCC to immediately launch a thorough investigation of Dogara, Lasun and other principal officers mentioned in the alleged padding.

Addressing a media conference in Abuja yesterday, the lawmakers maintained that Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa and Minority Leader, Ogor and Jibrin must be investigated by relevant “external” government agencies.

“We want everyone involved to be investigated, be it a messenger, a typist in the budget office. Be it a member of the Appropriations Committee, such individuals have to be identified for a holistic investigation, so that we don’t have the same problem with the 2017 Appropriation.”

Jibrin had alleged that Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa and Ogor padded the 2016 budget with N284 billion using 10 of the 96 standing committees in the House.But in a reaction, the Chairman, House Committee on Media Abdulrazak Namdas told newsmen on Tuesday that Jibrin was sacked as chairman of Appropriation Committee because he padded the budget with N250 billion even as he abused his office by regularly blackmailing heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for “pecuniary” reasons among other allegations against him.Doguwa and Ogor have separately also denied illegally inserting projects into the budget.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the group, Musa Sabo (Kaduna-APC) disclosed that already, about 113 signatures had been collected from lawmakers from the six geopolitical zones and across party lines before the Sallah break with a view to compelling the speaker to explain some noticed discrepancies in the budget.

Other lawmakers at the briefing, who identified themselves as the publicity committee of the new group, include Abubakar Chika (Niger-APC), Baballe Bashir (Kano-APC), Bala Ikora (Kaduna-APC) and Lawal Yahaha (Bauchi-APC).

“We call for an external investigation into the matter with a view to finding out if our principal officers are guilty or not. For this group, we say the budget was padded and as such, the budget being a document that belongs to all Nigerians, it is no longer an internal affair,” Sabo said.