- No, I stepped aside without blemish, he says
From Kemi Yesufu, ABUJA
SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara yesterday announced the removal of the chairman, House Commitee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC-Kano).
Speaking shortly before the House adjourned sitting, Dogara told his colleagues that the house leadership had taken a decision to replace Jibrin as the committee chairman.
“He (Fibrin) met me and said he does not think he would continue as the committee chairman due to pressure of the work, “ the Speaker said.
He was replaced by Mustapha Dawaki Bala representing Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency of Kano State.
However, Jibrin handed over to his deputy Chris Azubogu (Anambra-PDP) at a brief ceremony which was attended by other members of the Committee. He insisted that he gave his best and was leaving as chairman, “without blemish”.
He argued that he transparently conducted the committee’s work on the 2016 budget, adding that his resignation was a personal decision.
He said: “Of course, we are all aware of a lot of issues that took place during the process of the 2016 budget. I have always maintained one position, that as the Chairman Appropriations, i did my very best . Until date, I have said that if anybody has anything that I have done that amounts to an abuse of my office or amounts to an illegality, that it should be brought forward.
“ I’ve said it severally, that I can be reported to the authorities or the relevant arm of government , or the internal disciplinary measure of the House should take its course. And until date, nobody has raised any issue against me.
“ This has been the case even while I was Chairman Finance . For four years, I was chairman Finance (Committee) and I executed my responsibility diligently and I left an unblemished record.”
He accepted that there were a lot of “ obstacles here and there”during the 2016 budget appropriation.
“Even if I’m not at fault, its only proper that I take the responsibility. I believe that the best thing i should do under the circumstances is to step aside so that the Commitee can move forward.”
Jibrin’s removal did not come as a surprise as an overwhelming majority of lawmakers had called for his sack, blaming him for the scandal that trailed the 2016 budget.
Pressure on Dogara to remove Jibrin who stepped down for him and fully backed his candidature for the office of Speaker peaked last month with an executive session held on Wednesday June 15 turning rowdy with lawmakers openly rejecting the Kano lawmaker’s continued stay as chairman of Appropriations Committee.
Sources at the session informed Daily Sun that lawmakers who were aggrieved over the lopsidedness in the spread of constituency projects, accusing principal officers of cornering projects that should have been across other constituencies in their states, also demanded they man they blamed for all the complaints be removed to salvage the reputation of the House which they insisted had been severally damaged by the controversies that surrounded the 2016 budget.
Chief among allegations made against Jibrin was that he allocated projects worth about N4 billion to his Bebeji/Kiru Federal Constituency even as he and his Senate counterpart, Danjuma Goje were accused of taking funds from the controversial N60 billion Lagos-Calabar rail project and re-allocating to projects in their constituencies.