Budget padding allegtion: Jibrin has violated House rules —Chief whip

The Chief Whip, House of Representatives, Honourable Alhassan Ado Doguwa, on Monday, said that the former chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin, violated the House rule over his allegation of budget padding against him and three other principal officers of the House including the speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogara.

In a statement issued in Abuja, the lawmaker, however, condemned Honourable Jibrin’s plan to approach the court, adding that the move was a ploy to avoid sanction.

To this end, the lawmaker threatened to commence legal action against Honourable Jibrin after the House resumption in September.

On the move by Honourable Jibrin to approach the court, Honourable Doguwa noted that the “legal strategy is to deploy a judicial instrument to protect him (Jibrin) against possible sanctions from the House over his baseless, and fictitious allegations to defame and destroy our integrity in the eyes of the Nigerian public.

The allegation of budget padding raised by Honourable Jibrin, he said has deliberately subjected the institution of the National Assembly to grievous disrepute and institutional damage, which apparently contravened our extant internal standing rules and specifically, Section 24 and 33 of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act.

The statement read: “With this clear violation of our extant internal code of legislative conduct, which must attract legislative sanctions against Honourable Jibrin, Nigerians should know that all sorts of statements and pronouncements made by Honourable Jibrin were mere sham and misrepresentations of facts. He has lost out his campaign of calumny against the House. He has also lost out with the executive arm of government and our great party, the All progressives congress (APC).

“Having realised that he is already consumed, he is now resorting to court options, which I believe, he would lose out as well. Our respected judiciary would never fall victim of his misrepresentations.

“I finally want to categorically state that whichever steps the House may take on Honourable Jibrin on resumption in September, I Honourable Alhassan Ado Doguwa, would in my personal capacity, definitely charge Honourable Jibrin to court for slander.

“He has maligned and defamed my hard-earned reputation and integrity. No matter what the House decides on Jibrin, I will never step on my responsibility to protect my good name and seek redress through our conventional courts”, the statement read.