Suspended lawmaker, Abdulmumin
Jibrin, has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, pleading with
him to break his silence about the budget padding allegations he leveled against
the Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy speaker Yusuf Lasun, Chief whip, Alhassan Ado
Doguwa, and Minority leader, Leo Ogor. Jibrin who reportedly left the country on exile saying he will not
come back until his safety is guaranteed.
See the letter below:
“Your Excellency sir, let me once
again commend you for the good work you are executing and the credible
leadership you have offered our nation since assumption of office about a year
and half ago.”
“ I write this letter to you as a last resort
to seek action on the allegations of budget fraud, abuse of office and
corruption I leveled against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other Principal
Officers of the House of Representatives and use your good office to ensure
that urgent reforms are implemented in the House to sanitize it from the
monumental individual and systemic corruption that has become the biggest
business in the House of Representatives.
“Although I wrote you a letter few weeks ago,
seeking audience to provide you with comprehensive briefing on the allegations
i raised and endemic corruption in the House, I am yet to get a reply. However,
I fully understand that your busy schedule might have caused the delay. Had I
got that opportunity before I left the country, I am optimistic that you would
have by now been in a clearer picture of how corrupt the Speaker, our number
four citizen is and the three other Principal Officers, individual and systemic
corruption in the House and my crusade to continue to expose corruption in the
House, Nigeria as a whole and push for urgent reforms in the House.”
“I crave the indulgence of your excellency to
pardon me for resorting to an open letter to draw your attention to this
matter. The need to deal with the matter decisively and the urgency involved
necessitated opting for this channel. Besides, I am aware of some powerful
forces working behind the scene in cohort with some members of leadership of
the House to ensure that I never get access to you and the matter never see the
light of the day.”
“Your Excellency, i attained a modest
educational and career height before joining the House. I come from a good home
with a rich and diversed background. My middle class parents brought me up in a
very descipline environment and instilled in me the virtures of hard work,
honesty and courage. It is a training that taught me never to respect a corrupt
person no matter how highly placed. I am a responsible young man with no
passion for vengeance or mischief. I know exactly where I am coming from and where
I am heading. I know exactly what Iam doing sir.”
“Sir, it is noteworthy to mention that in my 5
years in the House as a two term member and Chairman House Committee on Finance
2011-2015 and Chairman House Committee on Appropriation 2015-2016, I have never
abused my office or corruptly enrich myself. My offense was standing against
budget fraud, immunity for Principal Officers of the House and exposing
corruption in a way that has never been done or seen in the history of the
House of Representatives.”
“I am a product of the establishment but I
have always been uncomfortable and have always looked for the right opportunity
or trigger to rebel against the ills of the system through exposing fraudulent
acts, corruption and abuse of office in high places for the good of Nigeria and
Nigerians. My case whether people believe me or not is that of a young man who
is frustrated with the deep-rooted system of corruption in high places. I have
decided that enough is enough and I am ready to take on any corrupt person or
institution especially the House of Representatives. Some people have raised
issue that why did I wait until I left office before opening up. That assertion
is not true as I have always spoken within and outside on issues like this
since I joined the House in 2011. A simple research will confirm this.”
“Your Excellency, in the last few months I
have raised grievous allegations of budget fraud, abuse of office and
individual and systemic corruption against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three
other Principal Officers of the House. I followed it with a petition to the
security and anti graft agencies including the DSS, EFCC, ICPC and the Police.
I have had several interactions with these agencies and pledged my continuous
cooperation and willingness to stand witness during prosecution.”
“I took it for granted that the House on
resumption from recess will do the needful by asking the Speaker to step aside
and conduct a comprehensive investigation in collaboration with the ongoing
external investigation, but what my colleagues did remains a shock to the
country and the world at large. They decided to punish me for exposing
corruption, while celebrating the people I accused of corruption. The Speaker
of course took advantage of the deep-rooted systemic corruption in the House to
blackmail members to support him. I have been suspended from the House for a
year and banned from holding any position for the rest of the 8th Assembly and
I must apologise to the House before I am allowed back even after the
expiration of the 1 year suspension.”
“Sir, this is an institution that is supposed
to support you in fighting corruption. You have taken on corruption and corrupt
people decisively, the crusade will be incomplete if corrupt elements are
allowed to infest the Legislative arm especially the House of Representatives.
You should by now know that you will never get the required support to fight
corruption with Dogara as Speaker of the House and most importantly if reforms
are not implemented in the House.”
Your Excellency, let me use this opportunity
to inform you that I have challenged my suspension in court because it is
unconstitutional and the seat belongs to my constituents who are proud of my
anti-corruption crusade in the House. My constituents have also filed a case in
court to challenge the suspension. I have also stated clearly that I will never
apologise to any member in the House or the House itself as I did not commit
any offense and I will continue to stand by all the allegations I raised.
Sir, I should also bring to your notice that
the Speaker is making frantic efforts to ensure that this matter is suppressed.
They will do all they can, including blackmailing you to ensure that the matter
is not investigated and culprits prosecuted. In your case, since they cannot
find issues of corruption associated with you, they will resort to frustrating
any request you forward to the House for approval with a view to arm twisting
you or trying to weaken you in the eyes of the public and international
community. This is how they operate. You should watch out and be vigilant.”
“On issue of reforms, your excellency may wish
to use your good office to decisively get the House TO END THE FRAUDULENT
ALLOWANCES REGIME and publish all entitlements of members, stop budget fraud,
disclose internal budget of the House, open up finances of the House for
external audit, implement e-parliament, activate electronic voting and
attendance system, introduce individual member's and standing committees'
performance template, revert to old house rules to avoid contempt of court and
draconian powers Speaker Dogara accorded himself, drop immunity for Principal
Officers, pass the anti corruption bills sent about a year ago by your good
self, make Speaker Dogara and others refund hundred of millions collected for rents,
return 40 billion stolen from 100 billion zonal intervention funds, return
projects diverted to his farm and other fraudulent projects worth billions,
compel Speaker Dogara and other occused Principal Officers to step down for
prosecution and make the House apologise to Nigerians for the individual and
systemic fraud and corruption and gross abuse of office that has become the
hallmark of the House over the years.”
“Your Excellency, the House of Representatives
stinks of corruption and something urgent must be done to salvage the
situation. I pray that you direct the various agencies that I submitted
petitions to expedite action on the matter as Nigerians and the world are
watching to see how we will deal with this issue of incontrovertible corruption
by Speaker Dogara and others and systemic corruption in the House. We have a
golden opportunity to show the world that there is zero tolerance for
corruption under your leadership. Even more, is the willingness of a serving
member in my person who understands these issues and who has offered to stand
as witness and provide every support towards prosecution. There is no better
way of demonstrating our commitment to the fight against corruption than to use
Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority Leader
Ogor as example.”
“I strongly believe that if the security and
anti-graft agencies expedite action on the allegations and the recommended
reforms are implemented, it will go a long way in resolving the crisis and
provide the ventilation for the House to commence the process of self-cleansing
to repair its battered image and restore the trust of Nigerians in the House.
It is a reform that Speaker Dogara has completely lost the moral ground to
superintend.”
“Your Excellency, let me draw your attention
to a major constraint which has always been the threat to my life since the
beginning of the budget fraud saga. I have raised alarm severally that the
House cabal led by Speaker Yakubu Dogara are using Hon. Herma Hembe to either
assassinate or kidnap me or members of my family. Hon. Hembe has been stalking
me. I have been worried and written to the security agencies but none of these
people have been questioned. In fact at some point, they tried to use some
elements in one of the security agencies to abduct me. All these were reported
by my lawyers.”
“It is against this background that I took the
decision to stay away from the country until my safety is guaranteed. However,
I will be available once my attention is required in respect of my petition against
the Speaker and others or any petition that may come against me. I am therefore
pleading with you sir to look at this issue with your usual dispassionate
approach. For whatever my limitations are as a person, how I am treated will
determine if in future people especially those within a system can defy
personal risk and speak out against corruption.”
I pray that God Almighty continue to bless you
with long life, good health and more wisdom as you steer the ship of our great
country.
Thank you.
Your son,
Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, PhD MBA
APC Kano
Kiru-Bebeji Federal Constituency
APC Kano
Kiru-Bebeji Federal Constituency
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