BUDGET PADDING SCANDAL: JIBRIN GIVES LAWMAKERS 3 DAYS TO RETURN ILLEGAL ALLOWANCES

Suspended lawmaker, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Thursday gave his colleagues in the House of Representatives three days to return all questionable allowances they paid themselves.

Mr. Jibrin said any lawmaker who fails to heed his call should be prepared for the backlash that would follow when he publishes details of how such official perpetrated the fraud.
Mr. Jibrin’s statement came a day after he was suspended by the House for 180 legislative days —approximately a full calendar year as the House sits three times a week— after being found guilty of violating House ethics and lawmakers’ privileges.
It also came a month after Mr. Jibrin accused his colleagues of raking in millions in illegal allowances, and after he indicted himself as having received N650 million illegally.
To return their loot, Mr. Jibrin advised his colleagues to individually approach the appropriate authority and make arrangement on how to pay everything back into the federal purse.
“I have written to the Clerk of the National Assembly to stand by in anticipation,” Mr. Jibrin said.  “In the face of the revenue challenges and biting hardship the country is currently facing, there is no better time the country needs such money than now.”
Mr. Jibrin said he resolved to take this action after receiving numerous enquiries from different corners on the need for him to back his allegations against the House leadership and other lawmakers with evidence.
“I have come under intense public scrutiny and pressure to prove that there exists systemic corruption in the House,” Mr. Jibrin said.

Mr. Jibrin said he was specifically demanding the return of a N10 million illegal allowances his colleagues allocated to themselves while the poor were struggling to make ends meet.
House spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ request for comment Thursday night.
Mr. Jibrin had frequently threatened to release “shocking” details about fraud in the House since he first accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara of budget fraud over two months ago.
On August 27, Mr. Jibrin said he had identified two governors working to shield Mr. Dogara from prosecution and vowed to reveal their identities. He has yet to do so.
Similarly, Mr. Jibrin said on September 19 that he was releasing some revelations “that will send shock down the spines of Nigerians”. He hasn’t done that, either.
Mr. Jibrin said the process that led to his suspension was flawed and vowed to reverse it in the court of law.