Lawmaker reveals how Dogara blackmailed Reps not to speak up

The suspended House of Representatives member, Abdulmumin Jibrin is not letting his woes keep him silent.

Jibrin has alleged that the House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara blackmailed lawmakers not to speak up concerning the budget padding scandal.

He said members of the House were not happy about the alleged fraudulent practises of the Speaker, but kept quiet because Dogara used the controversial running cost issue to blackmail them.

Jibrin also said “If you remember during our recess, you had the Transparency Group and the Integrity Group talking; then soon after we resumed, they continued to talk but immediately after my suspension, everybody went quiet.

“There is one issue that unites the House and that is the issue of running costs. I had never thought that the Speaker could go into a meeting and blackmail his colleagues”

Adding that “When the Speaker came into the hall, the first thing he said shocked everybody. He said, ‘Look, the issues that Jibrin is bringing are not only going to bring down Dogara, Lasun, Leo Ogor, and Alhassan Doguwa. They are going to involve the whole House because when they start investigations, it will include the issue of running costs.

“The issue of running cost, which is an entrenched systemic corruption, involves almost every member.”

Abdulmumin Jibrin, former chairman of the House Appropriations committee, was suspended for 180 days by the House, following the recommendation of the ethics and privileges committee.