Suspended former chairman of the
Committee on Appropriation,
Abdulmumin Jibrin, yesterday, made
fresh disclosures on alleged corruption in
the House of Representatives.
Jibrin explained why members who had
earlier supported his anti-corruption
push suddenly became quiet, and how
representatives allegedly help themselves
to billions of naira under the guise of
‘running costs’.
The lawmaker, who confessed, “I took
running cost,” said: “Members collect
about N10 million every month. In the
past, since I came into the National
Assembly, till date, there has been a
situation where N10 million has been
collected. Sometimes it’s between N10 to
about N20 million monthly.
“To make matters worse, there is a kind
of arrangement, that ensures that the
cumulative of that amount is paid to you
upfront. That is why you see someone
comes into the National Assembly with
nothing, but after swearing-in, he is
already buying a car of N20 million.
“There is a fraudulent arrangement. For
instance, if what you take is N20 million
per month, that brings it to about N900
billion in four years. There is an
arrangement that ensures you could get
even up to half of that money
instantly. It is such a mess.”
According to Jibrin, the leadership of the
House, at a meeting, had warned
members that many heads could roll if
the issue of running costs is revealed.He
said: “So, he (Speaker) just said it
straight. ‘I won’t go down alone. If you
allow these issues to be investigated, of
course, we have to open up the running
cost issue’. From that meeting, people
started backtracking. That was why you
even had a peaceful session on the
first day of sitting after resumption.
“Everybody was ready for a
showdown. But that night, he struck. He
put the fear of running cost in the hearts
of lawmakers because the running cost
issue will send hundreds of members to
jail directly. You don’t need to investigate
it. It’s a fraud. It’s a huge and massive
fraud and I have never pretended or
avoided saying it.”
But asked if he would still have
challenged the Speaker had he not been
removed as chairman of the House
Committee on Appropriation, Jibrin
answered: “The issue is that my removal
was just a trigger. It was just an
immediate cause. There had been a
remote crisis. I have reported in the
media that I protested when I saw 2000
projects worth N284 billion in the budget.
I confronted the Speaker on it and I said,
‘I cannot allow this to happen’.
“We fought internally when he wanted
me to put projects worth N30 billion in
the budget. I said this is ridiculous. It has
never happened, and I am not going to do
it. There has been lots of issues, and that
is why I keep explaining to people that I
have fought this battle
extensively, internally, and they’ve not
come out to say no, because I have given
out documents to anti-graft agencies and
to the Nigeria Police Force, to show that
these are the battles I have been fighting
internally before now.” source guardian
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