5 more reasons Jibrin may have fled into exile

Latter day anti-corruption crusader, Abdulmumin Jibrin, who was suspended for 180 days by the Yakubu Dogara-led House of Representatives, on Monday announced, through a series of tweets, that he had fled into exile.

He spoke from far away London where earlier reports said he had gone to receive an award from African Voice, a London-based newspaper. Additional reports quoted Jibrin as saying, via a statement released on Sunday, that the award was in recognition of his “efforts in helping to eradicate corruption.

“The award is a huge morale booster because it is coming at a very difficult and challenging period.
“It’s a period I had to leave my post as Appropriation chairman of the House of Representatives, suspended through subterranean means by Speaker Yakubu Dogara and received several threats to my life by the highly placed public officials I accused of corruption,” Mr. Jibrin said.

He added, “Despite the difficulties I am going through, I will never be cowed to silence. I assure you I will never retreat from this worthy line of action. I shall remain committed to the fight against corruption in the House of Representatives and Nigeria as a whole.”

Jibrin’s rapid rise to national visibility began sometime in July when he, soon after he was sacked as Chairman, Appropriation Committee of the House, accused Speaker Dogara and a few others of perpetrating massive fraud running into billions of naira under the guise of vetting the national budget.

The crisis reached a head in September when the House, in apparent move to stem further embarrassments, suspended him without pay for 180 legislative working days, effectively barring him from accessing his office at the National Assembly complex.

Read also: Justice Ngwuta charged for illegal possession of $319,000, multiple passports, others

Jibrin says the reason he has fled into exile and would never return, except his safety is guaranteed, is because Speaker Dogara and his lieutenants namely Yussuf Lasun, Alhassan Doguwa and Leo Ogor allegedly want him and his family members dead or kidnapped.This is yet unconfirmed.

However, here are 5 more reasons Jibrin may have claimed he is now on exile:
1, From all indications, the presidency, being perceptive, is unwilling to lend its weight to what apparently is largely an ego war between two former allies who seem to have fallen out over how to share the stupendous free funds at the disposal of the House leadership.

It should surprise no one, therefore, that President Muhammadu Buhari has activated a sidon-look mood, given his long held belief that the House as presently constituted is a richly corrupt institution.

Furthermore, it has been argued that honouring Jibrin with a collaborative effort will amount to indirectly admitting incompetence on the part of the presidency, having endorsed the 2016 budget with all its shortcomings.

2, There are very strong speculations that the exile story is largely a veiled report on Jibrin’s frustrations with the various agencies of state who have left his petitions unattended to several weeks after he lodged them. It is instructive that, after the initial media glitz, the Nigerian Police, EFCC, ICPC, and Itse-Sagay’s anti-corruption coordination committee have all chosen to mope at Jibrin’s heap of petitions rather than treat them. Any wonder then that the embattled lawmaker is seeking ‘international’ intervention in his anti-corruption crusade.

3, Jibrin may have jumped on the exile train, as claimed, to stave off investigations, having admitted himself that he had also been a beneficiary of the massive looting of the nation’s treasury via several padded budgets. Not many are convinced that he truly wants to cool his feet behind bars in the name of anti-corruption crusade.

4, There are also stories making the round that Jibrin took to his heels to avoid further embarrassment as his suspension was only one of the actions planned by the House to humiliate him as a whistle blower, and rubbish his crusade.

Jibrin had also said that his security detail had been drastically scaled down as part of Mr. Dogara’s alleged plans to silence him.

5, Jibrin simply wants a vacation! A man not used to the hassles of the sort that he has experienced would want some time out. This is the argument of those who believe that Jibrin is simply courting public sentiments and that, indeed, no one may be after him.

 

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