The budget padding saga in the House of Representatives reached an anti-climax last week as the protagonist and former chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin ate the humble pie. After so much braggadocio, Jibrin tendered an apology to the Green Chamber and was subsequently readmitted into the House, last Tuesday, after 18 months in the cold.
Jibrin, who represents Bebeji/Kiru Federal constituency of Kano was suspended from the House for 180 legislative days on September 28, 2016 for allegedly breaching the collective privilege of members of the House and bringing the Green chamber to public ridicule. The lawmaker stirred the hornets’ nest after his removal as chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation by the Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara in July 2016. Exasperated by that action, Jibrin was to open a can of worms on the alleged financial misconduct of the leadership of the House and by extension the entire House.
First, he launched an onslaught against the House leadership, alleging that the 2016 budget was padded. Jibrin was to later produce documents to back his allegations against the leadership. He did not stop there, the lawmaker also petitioned the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police alleging fraudulent manipulation of the budget by Dogara, his deputy, Yussuff Lasun, Majority Whip, Alhassan Ado -Doguwa; Minority Leader, Leo Ogor and other principal officers of the House.
In one of his many statements, Jibrin said “As it stands today, these corrupt elements have infiltrated the House, making the institution a hub of systemic corruption.
“I repeat, there is massive individual and institutional corruption in the House of Representatives. “And all Nigerians have a responsibility to avail themselves of this rare opportunity to flush out corruption in the House. I have pledged my continuous support and assistance to the security and anti-corruption agencies.”
Rattled, the House leadership spent it’s eight weeks recess in 2016 struggling to defend itself from the allegations of financial impropriety leveled against it by the Kano born lawmaker, who vowed to “end the massive corruption in the House.”
Immediately it resumed from the recess, it adopted a motion calling for Jibrin’s investigation. The Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Emmanuel Orker-Jev, in a motion had called on the House to investigate Jibrin for breaching the collective privilege of members. He was subsequently referred to the Ethics and Privilege Committee, which found him guilty of the charge and recommended heavy sanctions.. On September, 28, the House slammed Jibrin with a 180 legislative day suspension. And barred him from holding any office in the current session of the House. The House said the Kano lawmaker can only be readmitted into the House if he tenders an unreserved apology to it at the end of his suspension.
Jibrin dismissed his suspension as a ruse and headed to the court to challenge it, just as he sustained his campaign against the House leadership. It is worthy to mention that the fate that befell the former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation was not different from that of Senator Arthur Nzeribe and Dino Melaye, who was at various times suspended from the National Assembly for giving the leadership a tough time.
Recall that in 2002, Nzeribe was suspended from the Senate under the leadership of then Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim. He never returned to the Red Chamber until the end of the fourth Senate. Similarly, Melaye was suspended by the sixth House under Dimeji Bankole as speaker. He fought his way through the courts and returned to the House with his head held very high. Therefore, in his battle with the House, two options were open to Jibrin. One was to prosecute his case in the court to a logical conclusion, like Malaye did. Two, to admit that he errred and apologise, as the House demanded. Disappointedly, he chose the easy way out.
Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong in Jibrin apologising to the House. But since he knew he would eventually apologise to the House, why did it take him this long?. Why did he have to leave his constituents with a representative in the Green chamber for 18 months? One had expected that the Kano born lawmaker would pursue his case against the House to a logical conclusion. Win or lose in the court, he would have been the people’s hero. The case would have equally helped to strengthen our democracy one way or the other. But surprisingly, he suddenly threw in the towel.
One had hoped that through Jibrin’s case, the court would have been able to make a pronouncement whether it is within the powers of the National Assembly to deny a constituency a representation in the parliament for a very long time because it has scores to settle with a lawmaker. But that opportunity is lost, albeit momentarily.
The question, however, is now that Jibrin has capitulated, what becomes of all the many allegations he leveled against the principal officers. Are they going to die a natural death. One will not be surprised if everything, including the investigations by anti-graft and security agencies fizzle out or settled as “ a family affair.”
The budget padding saga is perhaps the biggest scandal in the legislature since the inception of the current democratic dispensation. Maybe second only to the forgery scandal that swept away the first Speaker of the House in this dispensation. But with the surrender by the protagonist in the drama, Nigerians may never know the truth. The country may never know whether the House leadership is actually guilty as charged or whether it was the case of a member, who felt shortchanged crying wolf, where none existed.
One thing that is still not clear is why Jibrin threw in the towel, after his people have paid so much for his “anti-corruption crusade.” Would it be taken that the allegations were unfounded in the first instance or that he chickened out because of the spoils of office? Whichever is the case, I believe that the lawmaker owes Nigerians an explanation and an apology too. Jibrin must explain to the country the truth about the budget padding saga, which he raised the alarm on.
However, whether or not he explains or apologises to Nigerians, with his apology to the House, the impression of the average Nigerian is that Jibrin is actually not different from the average Nigerian politician, who is always self-seeking. For me, the inherent lesson in Jibrin’s ordeal is that one should pick his battle very carefully. Never ever start a battle you are not sure of winning.