Dogara, Jubrin et al

Former House of Representatives Appropriation Committee Chairman, Jubrin Abdulmumuni, has been singing like a parrot since he was removed from that exalted position last week.
He believes some key principal officers of the House – except Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila; Deputy Whip, Chukwuka Onyema; and Deputy Minority Leader, Alimi Asekhame – are corrupt and need to be shoved aside.
He alleges they “padded” the 2016 budget to accommodate monies he was blackmailed into inserting in the Appropriation Bill before assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jubrin alleges that Speaker Yakubu Dogara influenced the tinkering of the budget to accommodate his personal interest and those of allies.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) are going through the documents Jubrin submitted to them last week to have full knowledge of what Dogara allegedly did in secret.
After a meeting with President Buhari in the Villa on Monday, July 25, former President Olusegun Obasanjo reiterated to journalists that the National Assembly (NASS) is a cesspool of corruption.
He said: “What has come out confirms what I said in the past, then you can say what I said in the past is what I will say now.”
In his view, the nation needs to “get men and women of integrity in the place” and Buhari should be vigilant and ensure “whatever should not pass should not pass.”
But Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, objected to Obasanjo’s tantrums, telling him that he could not make sweeping statements about lawmakers because he (Na’Allah) rejected the N50 million bribe Obasanjo gave senators to work for his failed third term bid in 2007.
Na’Allah described Obasanjo’s general corruption tag as lacking in commonsense, “reckless and terrifying.”
“For the record,” he added, “I was the only member from Kebbi State who did not find it worthy at that time of collecting N50 million as an inducement to subvert the Constitution and provide a constitutional framework for the third term ambition of Obasanjo.”
Jibrin alleged that 10 standing committees secretly injected constituency projects worth N284 billion into the 2016 budget without the knowledge of the whole House, claiming that Dogara and some cabals persuaded him to add over N20 billion through Service Wide Vote.
He named the beneficiaries of the scam as Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa; and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor.
His words: “I am compelled again for the purpose of emphasis to state categorically that my allegations are against the quartet of Speaker Yakubu Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; House Whip, Alhassan Doguwa; and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor; not the Honourable House as an institution nor other members of the body of principal officers.
“I have to state this very clearly because this quartet has resorted to desperate moves to drag the entire House of Representatives into the case of gross abuse of office I have leveled against them as individual presiding and principal officers of the House.
“This is a mischievous move to set me on a collision with the entire House ….
“During the budget period, when they discovered that I was not the kind of person they could use to perpetrate their illegality, [Dogara] and the three other principal officers took away the entire Appropriation Committee secretariat to a secret location where all sorts of insertions were made into the budget ….
“I said over my dead body! It was a massive crisis behind the scene until … Mr president assented to the budget. It was Senator Danjuma Goje that brokered a compromise that since [Lasun] led the Harmonisation Committee he should also sign such that the Harmonisation Committee will share responsibility with us.
“Goje pleaded with me so hard all night and later shouted heavily at me reminding me that he was not talking to me as a senator but as a father. I cried heavily all night.
“When the budget Harmonisation Committee, headed by … Lasun, gave out 80 per cent concession across the board to the executive demands during the harmonisation negotiation, it was agreed that the remaining 20 per cent should go to the entire NASS.
[Lasun] excused himself that he wanted to go and consult with [Dogara].
“He came back after a few hours, and in an unprecedented display of greed, presented to me a hand written note distributing the remaining 20 per cent to only principal officers.
“Seventy per cent of the 20 per cent was reserved for [Dogara] and himself, while the remaining 30 per cent of the 20 per cent went to other principal officers. I am sure he will recognise the handwriting when he sees it.
“[Dogara] also directed me to create what I advised him will be a controversial line item under Service Wide Vote to introduce about N20 billion projects using the name of the NASS.
“He directed me to see a highly placed PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) politician, which I did, and collected the documents. I advised him repeatedly against it but he kept pressuring me until I bluntly told him I will not!
“When the Appropriation Committee received all the budget reports from standing committees, an analysis was conducted.
“We discovered that about 10 of the 96 standing committees of the House introduced about 2,000 projects without the knowledge of their committee members, amounting to about N284 billion.’
“I was alarmed. But I was cautious because at our pre-budget meeting with the committee chairmen, I was clearly warned not to touch their budgets.
“I reported the matter to [Dogara]. He did nothing about it, obviously because he was working behind the scene with the committee chairmen.
“That was the beginning of the whole budget problem from the side of the House and the whole exercise had to go through several versions before it was passed ….
“Dogara has completely derailed, remains clueless, keeps on with an unmatched ego and surely leading the House to the biggest scandal it may ever experience.”
Diverse narratives have trailed Jubrin’s alarm, some for and some against him. Even in the House, lawmakers are divided, an indication of the bigger picture of what will play out when the anti-corruption agencies act on his petition.
There is no smoke without fire.
That Jubrin isolated some colleagues, chief of whom is Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, and gave them a clean bill of health makes his whistle blowing curious and a further sign he is not acting unilaterally.
I see a link between his allegation, Obasanjo’s visit to Buhari, and isolation of some lawmakers as a choreographed political gymnastics to change the leadership of the House, an agenda that has been in the pipeline.
It is ironic that Obasanjo, the arrowhead of corrupt practices in the NASS, is the one speaking out and advising Buhari on the way forward. It is shameful when the pot calls the kettle black. Is takes a rouge to catch a rouge.
I am for a probe of the allegations Jubrin levelled against Dogara and his colleagues. They should clear their names if they are innocent.
I also see Jubrin hurting himself in the end because he cannot exonerate himself from the drama he wants Nigerians to believe after being a major actor for months in the rehearsal that attended the budget preparation and passage.
Those who appropriate our common patrimony for themselves know how to protect the bond between them and their business interests until something goes amiss, especially about how to share what is stolen.
This has gone on for years. Now is the time to stop it, if we can.