Politics

Police vow to interrogate Dogara, others over alleged budget fraud

Published

8 years ago

August 21, 2016

ONDO GUBER: Police to deploy 26,000 personnel, 3 helicopters, 12 APCs, others

There are indications that the Nigeria Police may go tough on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers of the House oi they fail to appear before its Special Investigation Panel, SIP.

The SIP was put together by the Acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, after the sacked Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, petitioned the police over allegations of budget padding by Dogara, Deputy Speaker, Lasun Yusuf, Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa and Minority leader, Leo Ogor.

The SIP extended invitations to the the Speaker and the three others but they have failed to appear before it.

Confirming the development, a highly placed source in the police disclosed that the Speaker and others will be interrogated once the House return from its recess.

“We are going to interrogate the Speaker and the three principal officers implicated in the main petition of the erstwhile Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

“Once they return from recess, we will ask them to report. Already, a letter of invitation has been served on them. It is still subsisting.

According to the source, the argument that as the number four citizen, the speaker has to be treated differently does not hold water.

“The initial argument is that the Speaker is the nation’s number four citizen and the modalities of summoning him ought to be different. But we have checked the statute books, neither Dogara nor any of the principal officers has immunity from investigation and prosecution.

“We have not foreclosed investigation into the alleged budget padding. Whoever is talking of any other solution than this ongoing probe might be referring to another platform.”

“All we need now is to interact with the four principal officers immediately they return from recess. If they fail to report, the law has a provision for taking care of such.”

The source further disclosed that the Clerk of the National Assembly has been given one week to submit the draft and final copies of the 2016 budget.

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