EFCC TO PROBE PETITION AGAINST DOGARA, OTHERS

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that it would open an investigation into a petition against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and other principal officers of the House over allegations of padding the 2016 budget.

A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has filed a petition at the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), demanding the prosecution of the speaker, his deputy, Yussuf Lasun, Minority Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, over allegations of budget fraud.

Confirming the receipt of the petition, EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the commission would give it the utmost attention that all petitions against alleged financial crimes are getting.

“I understand that a petition has been submitted. Like any other petition, we will look into it,” the spokesperson said.

Posting on his twitter handle after submitting petitions to the EFCC and the ICPC, Jibrin said, “We recorded a huge success in our mission to getting the corrupt speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara and his cohorts to face prosecution. Our petition to the EFCC and the ICPC against Speaker Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and eight other members, has been dispatched.

“The case against them includes corrupt enrichment, abuse of office and public trust, living above means, massive movement of funds in budget. The members are Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor.

“Others include the chairman of the Committee on FCT, Herma Hembe, chairman, Committee on Higher Education, Zakari Mohammed, chairman, House Committee on Health, Chike Okafor, chairman, Power, Dan Asuquo, chairman, Marine Transport, Mohammed Bago, chairman Police, Haliru Jika, chairman, Interior, Jagaba Adams Jagaba and chairman, House Services, Babanle Ila.

Jibrin said he was also at the office of the Department of State Services (DSS) to call for the arrest of Speaker Dogara and the others he accused of corruption.

According to him, “This is a defining moment in the struggle to cleanse the House. This is the first time a member will drag 12 of his colleagues to the antigraft agencies. This has opened a rare opportunity for the anti corruption agencies to decisively use this as a case study to send a powerful signal.

“I also responded to another show of shame by 9 out of the 40-member Appropriation Committee that addressed the press. They shamelessly allowed themselves to be used after collecting $20,000 each, disbursed by the deputy chief of staff to the speaker, Hon CID Maduabum. I am confident that the EFCC and the ICPC will effect the arrest of Speaker Dogara and 11 others to commence prosecution in earnest.”

In a new twist to the saga, the office of the former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, and the secretariat of the committee, were under the guard by men of the sergeant-at-arms office after it was reported that operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) had sealed the offices, Daily Trust on Sunday observed.

The sergeant-at-arms is the official security outfit of the National Assembly, saddled with the responsibility of guarding the entry and exit of people and materials in and out of the complex.

But Jibrin claimed in a statement yesterday that based on his request, the appropriation secretariat, his office and the whole House were under the protection of security agencies. But when journalists visited the place, it was men of the sergeantat-arms that were standing guard.

The new chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Mustapha Bala Dawaki (APC, Kano) had, while addressing a press conference yesterday, also denied that the committee’s secretariat was seized by men of the DSS.

Reading a letter by the clerk of the committee, Abel Ochigbo, addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Omolori and the acting clerk of the House, Dawaki said: “I write to confirm that the office is intact and has not been threatened in any way. All records are also intact and safe - both hardware and software. In addition, our archival setup is properly kept and in order.

“Furthermore, no staff in the secretariat of the committee has been subjected to any form of threat, intimidation or harassment from any quarter whatsoever. Any such reports along the lines of the above allegation should therefore be totally disregarded.”

However, when journalists requested to see the secretariat, Dawaki obliged and directed Mr. Ochigbo to take them there. But on their arrival, the clerk said the key was with the men of the sergeant-at-arms.

It was observed that an official of the sergeant-at-arms was at the entrance of the secretariat when journalists arrived, but when he heard what brought them, he quickly left the place.

Similarly, when journalists went to check Jibrin’s office at Room 1.05, another sergeant-atarms official was seen stationed at the entrance.

Jibrin had confirmed through his twitter handle on Friday that he submitted petitions to anti-graft agencies, seeking investigation into the alleged padding of the 2016 budget by leaders of the House.

The House has been thrown into crisis since Dogara announced change of leadership in the Appropriation Committee. Jibrin has come out with several allegations of misconduct against the speaker and other leaders of the House.

In counter allegations, the speaker, through the spokesperson of the House, Abdulrazaq Namdas and his media aide, Turaki Hassan, also accused Jibrin of overreaching himself during the consideration of the 2016 budget. ‘How EFCC’ll Treat Petition’ Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the petition would first be handled by a petition vetting committee which does not involve investigators.

An EFCC source said the committee comprising mostly lawyers would consider if the petition had criminal elements and worth investigating before transferring it to an investigation team.

The source said because this involved politically exposed persons, ý once the vetting team established elements of criminality, ýan investigation team would take over.

The investigation team would then look for evidence, the petitioner would most likely be invited to shed more light on the allegations or provide more evidence.

The source also said ýthe investigation team would look into the allegations and further pursue evidence because the investigation must be evidencebased.

This, sources said, must be done before the accused persons are invited to explain discoveries and corrupt practices they may be alleged to have committed.

It was also learnt that if investigators find the petition to be false, the petitioner would be arrested and charged for false allegation.