Dogara has begged for forgiveness, Jibrin declares

The hard fighting former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, Tuesday, revealed that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakybu Dogara, has asked lawmakers from the North East for forgiveness over his alleged role in the padding of the 2016 budget.

According to Jibrin, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, the lawmakers however rejected his plea, insisting that he must step aside for an independent investigation into the allegations.

The Kano State born lawmaker also disclosed that some members of the House are already working on how to have Dogara impeached.

Stating that Dogara’s reguest for an internal investigation is not tenable, Jibrin said: “When a grievous allegation of this nature is raised, there is a laid down rule to investigate such issue and it should not be investigated internally.

“The speaker should step down for proper investigation. Nobody is hunting him, but he should step down for a committee to do its work and investigate the issue.

“The speaker begged us that we should forgive him. He also begged for the principal officers.

“He said that the House should forget what happened in the 2016 budget.”

The defiant Jibrin also said it does not matter to him if he was suspended by the House as he knows the risk he was taking.

“I am prepared for the worst because I know the risk I am taking; I am on the part of history”.

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However, in a swift reaction, the spokesman of the House, Abddulrazak Namdas, accompanied by 15 members of the North-West caucus in the house, said Jibrin’s claims were false.

He said: “The speaker decided to meet with leaders of all caucuses to discuss the way forward on the current recession and the way forward when the House resumes.

“Allegation that the speaker begged for forgiveness and that members of North-West caucus passed a vote of no confidence on the Chief Whip, Rep. Ado Doguwa, is not true.

“That the meeting was done in bad light was not true as well; Jibrin has made these allegations before and has not said anything new.

“This house has its resolutions; we have our process and will commence its work soon.

“None of us is above the rule we have set. If Jibrin has issues, let him put up a motion and if he has the numbers then so be it.”

Another member, Ahmed Mustapha, who attended the meeting, said that 21 out of 24 lawmakers from Kano endorsed a vote of confidence on the leadership of the house.

He said: “In the North-East, Gombe state has passed 100 per cent vote of confidence on the speaker while about 85 per cent of all the members of the House has passed a vote of confidence on the leadership,” he said.

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