Chief Whip says budget padding not party case, wants APC to hands-off

House of Representative Chief Whip, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has reportedly said that the budget padding allegation, is an issue beyond the All Progressives Congress’ (APC), intervention.

According to him, any political solution APC may come up with may end up contravening the institutional legislative codes.

“Of course, we would have always loved to respect any intervention by our great party, APC. But, the problem we have at hand is unfortunately not a political party’s case. It is not about Speaker Yakubu Dogara; it is not also about Honourable Yusuf Lasun or my humble self as the Chief Whip of the House, either.

“This matter is critically fundamental as it relates to the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives and National Assembly at large. You must therefore, understand that it is not purely an APC business.

“We would certainly have our hands tied in the event where the APC comes up with any so-called ‘political solutions’ that may contravene our institutional legislative codes.”

Read also: Padding is criminal insertion, you must resign, Reps tells Dogara

The Speaker recently absolved himself of any wrong doing, declaring that there was nothing like budget padding in the National Assembly. A stand, he has been criticised heavily for.

But the Chief Whip, who is among the principal officers of the House whom Abdulmumin Jibrin, former Chairman of its Appropriation Committee, alleged conspired with Speaker Dogara, to criminally make insertions into the 2016 budget, says the case is beyond party.

While the party is making efforts to proffer political solution into the matter, the Chief Whip feels there is little or nothing the party can do internally to solve the problem, since the matter has become public and has to do with the integrity of the National Assembly.

Already, Jibrin had submitted petitions against the House’s leadership to anti-graft agencies.

By Ebere Ndukwu …

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