Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that he was quoted out of context when he spoke to journalists on the budget padding allegations made against him by a member of the house, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
The speaker spoke with State House Correspondents shortly after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, August 5, and was quoted to have said that “Padding was not a crime.
Also, at an event organized by a civil society group last Thursday, Dogara was quoted as saying that legislators were “privileged people” and therefore cannot be tried in a law court.
But Turaki Hassan, Dogara’s media aide, issued a statement on Saturday saying his principal never presented himself as being above the law.
“Unfortunately the media reported him as saying that padding was not a crime. This tended to insinuate that the Hon speaker admitted there was budget padding but that this did not constitute a crime,” the statement read.
It went further: “There could be nothing further from the truth. The Hon Speaker’s assertion was and remains that nothing untoward had been done by the house and indeed the national assembly with respect to the 2016 budget.
“In the second instance, while responding to questions at the Civil Society Dialogue at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja on Thursday 12th August, Rt. Hon Dogara made reference to Sections 3, 24 and 30 of the legislative houses (Powers and Privileges ) Act to buttress the point that the legislature while carrying out its constitutional responsibilities is protected by law.
“He did not say or mean that he is above the laws of the land or that he is shielded by the law or has immunity for any infractions of the law.
“Dogara should not be portrayed as insensitive or arrogant as this is contrary to his true nature of humility and humaneness that has endeared him to his colleagues and Nigerians.”
No Kobo Is Missing From The Budget
The speaker insisted that “No kobo” was lost in the budget saga, adding that he felt the need to give some explanations on the matter due to the “damage Jibrin’s misrepresentations and lies” was inflicting on the country.
“Dogara had initially adopted silence as his response, but having observed the grievous damage Hon Jibrin’s extensive misrepresentations and lies was inflicting on the country and distracting our common and urgent resolve to tackle our distressed economy and security challenges, he opted to offer some explanations on the issues as continuous silence may have amounted to insensitivity, admission or arrogance,” the statement read.
“No kobo belonging to Nigeria has been misappropriated, stolen or lost in this budget saga. There was no act of corruption during and after the preparation of the 2016 budget.”
I Hope He Is Arrested Before He Steals Everything
Meanwhile, shortly after Dogara’s statement, Jibrin fired back saying he hopes that the speaker is arrested before he “steals everything”.
“With the massive amount been moved from the House accounts on Dogara’s instruction, I hope he will be arrested before he steals everything!” Jibrin wrote on one of his social media handles.
He said Nigerians “must all thank the corrupt speaker Dogara for finally apologising to Nigerians for the multiple lies he has shamelessly been dishing out.”
Jibrin however added that for the apology to make any sense, Dogara and the three other accused principal officers should step down in order that a detailed investigation would take place.
The aggrieved lawmaker said the heat was getting much on the speaker’s side which could be the reason for his clarification statement.
“Same speaker who few days ago said padding is not an offense and he cannot be investigated. I guess it’s the heat, it will only get worst,” he said.
Jibrin, from Kano State, is accusing Speaker Dogara and three other principal officers of the house of illegally inflating the 2016 budget by billions of naira.
He started making the allegations shortly after he was removed as the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation.
