Principal Officers of the House of Representatives, yesterday said the House would follow due process in dealing with allegations of budget padding by the sacked chairman of its committee on appropriations, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin.
The leadership of the House noted that it took collective action, in conjunction with the Senate and a team from the executive arm of government to clean-up the 2016 budget which was compromised by Jibrin in his capacity as the committee chair.
The principal officers in a statement jointly signed insisted that allegations of budget padding levied against the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun and eight others was unfounded, adding that details of the 2016 budget can be verified by the general public.
Part of the statement reads; “It took collective action, in conjunction with the Senate and a team from the Executive, to rescue the 2016 Budget when it became obvious that the former appropriation Chairman had placed both the document and the process in jeopardy resulting in a spate of agitations from Ministries, Departments and Agencies.”
“The decision to relieve the erstwhile Appropriation Chairman of his position was a collective decision of the leadership in response to unrelenting pressures from the overwhelming majority of Honorable Members who were irked by the former Chairman’s gross abuse of the budget process. Both actions were taken in the best interest of the institution and the nation for which we take full responsibility.”
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