*What many don’t know about him
FROM DESMOND MGBOH, Kano and Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
In the last three weeks, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin’s image as a parliamentarian has assumed the status of a mega star. Unfortunately, that height could only come after he was dropped as the House Committee Chairman on Appropriation and after he had embarked on one-man mission to ensure the fall of Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers of the House of Representatives from their exalted office.
But while his revolution had stirred a nest of trouble for some members of the House and for himself, his battles may not be confined to the hallowed chambers alone. Back home, his crusade has again given a fresh impetus to an old question regarding his background.
Abdulmumin Jibrin, according to his profile, was born in Kano into the family of Alhaji Labaran Mohammed Jibrin and Hajia Amina Gambo and had his early education in Kano before being moved to Kaduna to further his study.
The parliamentarian would easily trace his original home to Kofa town in Kiru Local Government area of the state and would later represent Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. But not a few respondents would lay a doubt to his being from there in the first place. His political opponent in the state would raise a pinch of doubt.
Indeed, like Dr. Junaid Mohammed argued, “nobody would say with absolute certainty the fact about his background . His opponents would further say that he does not speak like a true Kano man” adding that his spoken language tends to show him as a stranger to Kano rather than an indigene. To buttress the debate further, he is relatively unknown within the state and little is known about his other relatives as well.
But a media aide who elected to speak off the record, argued that his origin as an indigene of Kano is not in dispute. According to the aide who is a media person, that the parliamentarian hails from Kofa village is well known.
He argued that early enough in his life, he left the immediate borders of Kano, travelling from station to station and from one barrack to another with his father, who was then a military officer and was moved around in the cause of his service to the nation, resulting that too early in life the family was uprooted from Kano to other places.
As a proof of his background, the aide swore that Hon. Jibrin had driven back home to introduce him to his relatives in Kofa town. He said another evidence of his root in the state was that his father was among the troop Commanders that crushed the Maitasine Sect in the state in the 80s, adding that in the fight against the Sect, only army officers of Kano origin were assigned to lead the troops given their familiarity with the terrain.
He also argued that it is often the trend in the country to mistake generosity for something else adding that sometimes generous politicians are often accused of financial recklessness.
He said that it must not be forgotten that the legislator was investigated by the EFCC and cleared of any wrongdoing, adding that if the legislator was guilty in any form of financial misdeed, it would not be easy for him to visit the anti-graft agencies without fear.
HIS POLITICS
Hon Jibrin Abdulmumin emerged in the politics of Kano around 2011. His politics before then was confined to Nasarawa State and Abuja where he acted well as a trusted confidant of two governors of Nasarawa State, namely Senator Abdullahi Adamu and his successor, Akawe Doma.
On arrival in Kano into the tightly regulated PDP politics of that era, which was controlled by the then leader of the party, Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Jibrin made a stake for the party’s ticket for Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency.
One of the amazing wonders of that era was his ability to get Engineer Kwankwaso to adopt him and give him the ticket for the constituency ahead of party men, whose loyalty and popularity were not in doubt. It is speculated that Hon Jibrin came prepared with the relevant war chest and was rich enough to make huge donations to the party’s ambition to reclaim the state. Another possibility was that he was introduced to Engineer Kwankwaso as a reliable aide by his mentor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu even while some hold the view that he came via the introductory letter of former Vice President Namadi Sambo.
One thing was clear, he was an anointed son from the onset and like his rival put it, he came at the height of the politics of godfatherism in Kano and was a super godson of the man who controlled the party then, hence a ticket was given to him even when he was practically not on ground.
Saturday Sun gathered that in the end, he defeated and dislodged the then incumbent , Alhaji Ubale Jakada Kiru of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), not much for his own brilliance and popularity, but for the fact that he was in the right party at that particular time. With that singular success, his journey to stardom had begun.
In years later, he became a strong loyalist of Kwankwaso and was rewarded in same measure by a governor who rewards his loyalists and punishes his adversaries in equal measures.
One of the very display of loyalty was the fact that he was a leading member of the PDP who decamped with Kwankwaso to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Another show of his immense dedication was that in the battle line drawn by Engineer Kwankwaso and the incumbent governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, he is likely to be found with Kwankwaso than with Ganduje. Such is his nature: strong, bold and dependable as long as his part of the friendship was met.
Political observers in Kano argue that he has also reaped immensely from his devotion to key political characters arguing that apart from his sweeping political elevation early enough, he owed his appointment as the Chairman, House Committee on Finance to former Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.
“It is important at this stage to state that he never supported the emergence of Tambuwal until on the floor of the House when the election was about to start. But quite smartly, when he spotted the direction of the votes, he quickly decamped from opposition to supporters. To so many among us in the House, therefore, it was a surprise that this same guy emerged the chairman of the House Finance Committee”, said a lawmaker.
It was gathered that he deployed a governor –godfather to persuade the Speaker to appoint him to the juicy position of House Committee Chairman on Finance. It was also gathered that Tambuwal had no choice but to concede especially after the fact that he secured a lot of backing from Kano State.
AN AMBITIOUS POLITICIAN
Jibrin was also described as an ambitious politician. “When he was elected in 2011 into the House, he immediately tried to command a space for himself quite early in the life of the administration and one thing he did was to rally round the newly elected members as pressure group. They were later to understand him much better, to understand that the whole gang up was for himself and his ambition and subsequently began to withdraw their support for him.
“Years after, he became the thorn in the flesh of the Tambuawl administration in the House, holding the House to ransom on several occasions, sometimes disappearing with key documents and putting up the same kind of character that caused the present face off between him and Speaker Dogara.
POLITICS IN CONSTITUENCY
Like in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly, there is no doubt that the parliamentarian has a lot of politics to play at home. At the local level, the way and manner he emerged had left some of his rivals in inconsolable posture. His heavy headed disposition had only made the situation move from bad to worse.
But his greatest challenge was in explaining his role in the appropriation of the budget which his rivals had presented to the local people as a plot to fail their much loved President Buhari.
Not long ago, youths in his constituency were to take to the streets to protest the quality of his representation and the fact that he was standing on the way of the President. It took the timely intervention of the police in the state to abort the planned protest in his Constituency, deploying truck loads of Police officers to ensure peace and order in the affected area.
Intelligence sources offered that anytime he is in his constituency, he moves about with security men to protect himself from being undermined by disappointed youths.
A politician in his area also raised the issue of the constituency project, adding that what he had done on the ground in Kiru and Bebeji was in no way a match to the figure that was purported to have been released by the Federal Government .
Some of the projects that he could readily recall include solar street lights , transformers, hand pump boreholes and interlock roads and a couple of donations even as he said that the distribution of the awards tend to be more in Kiru than in Bebeji.
‘Jibrin turns pariah’
Jibrin the pariah
When Jibrin first arrived the National Assembly as a rookie in 2011, he was the darling of many. For dozens of newcomers, he was their rallying point and in his characteristic generous manner, he helped some new members financially. He also displayed his well recognised intellectualism and his ability to network. It therefore, didn’t come as a surprise that he got the juicy Finance Committee, even as a first timer.
But over time, Jibrin lost many friends among his colleagues, with many blaming this on , “his attitude”. Right now in the House, Jibrin is not exactly the most popular lawmaker. The height of his unpopularity showed during the Wednesday June 15 executive session of the House when lawmakers took turns to demand his removal. The next day Jibrin was shouted down by members at plenary during the debate on a motion asking the Executive to fully make open to the House, its execution plan for the N500 billion social intervention fund, as allocated in the 2016 budget.
For a second time, the highflying lawmaker was heckled by colleagues when lawmakers clashed during plenary over the planned amendment of the constitution seeking the inclusion of presiding officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly, the Senate President and the Speaker for protection under the immunity clause. Once, Jibrin stood on his feet to speak on the matter, he was greeted with, shouts of “shut up”, “sit down”. It therefore didn’t come as a surprise that when Dogara announced his removal, it was met with a applause.
Beyond plenary, lawmakers often deal with Jibrin with much caution, though it may seem that Chairman, House Committee on Media, Abudrazak Namdas was simply defending Dogara by saying, the former chairman has a history of keeping documents which he uses against colleagues at will, there are few lawmakers who would describe Jibrin differently. Namdas had explained Jibrin’s removal to include, “his tendency and proclivity to blackmail colleagues and high government officials and misuse and mishandle sensitive government information”.
“He was in the habit of collating, warehousing and manipulating sensitive information to blackmail people sometimes apparently for pecuniary purposes. And by virtue of his position as Appropriations Committee Chairman, he usually met with very high and senior public officers at all levels”, Namdas added.
Not even those backing Jibrin’s call for anti-graft agencies to investigate his allegations of budget padding fail to hide their no-love-lost disposition to him. One such persons who has been open about not admiring Jibrin’s style is Muhammad Farouk (APC-Niger). Though he called for full investigations into how the budget was handled, he said of the ex-chairman, that he only turned a whistleblower, when he lost out in the power play. “Yes, it is Jibrin’s sack that has brought about this (controversy), and that was why I said that they are all birds of the same feather. But this revelation is very good for Nigeria. So today Abdulmumin doesn’t want to sink alone. Even in the Senate, they are all part of this padding mess we are talking about”, he said.
Another group of lawmakers who are not happy with Jibrin are those who think he is dragging down the House as an institution, with his allegations. Some of the lawmakers, who spoke with Saturday Sun on condition of anonymity, expressed fears that the reputation of the House has almost been destroyed by the former chairman. These lawmakers are highly embarrassed with Jibrin for first accusing his former Committee members led by the Deputy Chairman, Chris Azubogu (PDP-Anambra) of collecting $20,000 to disown him. Again, he accused his colleagues who are signing up to indicate support for the Speaker of receiving $25,000 from him. An aggrieved lawmaker told Saturday Sun: “Jibrin has seriously damaged the reputation of the House as an institution. If he doesn’t want to destroy the House, he should stop talking. He has made his point already and any additional statement, would ensure that the House has little or no chance of rebuilding itself. Some of us hardly can make an appearance publicly because of this scandal, everywhere you show your face, people start asking you if you joined in padding the budget”.
Worse still, many believe that Jibrin is a lone ranger in his fight. They argue that though it is most unlikely, should the House reconvene or when it resumes on September 13 and there is a call for impeachment, the Speaker has many more friends to fight for him. According to them, Dogara, potentially has 192 votes that would come from chairmen and vice-chairmen of Standing Committees. 240 votes are needed to remove the Speaker and Saturday Sun gathered that pro-Dogara lawmakers have decided to leave the talking to Jibrin , while they gather signatures for a vote of confidence to be given the Speaker.
His first brush with fraud case
Jibrin is not new to fraud case controversy. He was in the thick of an alleged N18billion fraud case in 2011. The only difference is that, then, he was the accused standing trial in the dock of a federal high court sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa state along with a former governor of the state, Aliyu Akawe Doma and seven other accused arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a 17-count money laundering charges, while in the current budget padding scandal, he is the accuser.
The court presided over by Justice Marcel Awokulehin had after taking the pleas of Jibrin and the other accused on Tuesday October 18, 2011 ordered them remanded in EFCC cell in Abuja after the lead prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN opposed their bail bid.
While ruling on their bail application the following day, Wednesday October 19, 2011 Justice Awokulehin granted the ex-governor bail in the sum of N300 million and two sureties in like sum. The eight others including Jibrin were granted bail in the sum of N200 million each and two sureties in like sum. He was also restricted from travelling abroad as all the accused persons were ordered to deposit their international passports with the court.
Jibrin was accused then of laundering about N2billion of the total sum through his company. He had denied the charges, stating that his company only did a consultancy job for the state government under Governor Doma.
With a change of leadership in EFCC at the end of 2011, Jibrin’s name was subsequently dropped from the charge.