By Ndubuisi Orji
Since the inception of the current democratic dispensation, the two chambers of the National Assembly have figuratively been mired in controversies. The 8th Assembly like the ones before it has been threatened by the proverbial banana peels that had truncated the leadership of the legislature at various times, sending speakers and Senate presidents alike to political obscurity.
At a time, the scandals seemed to have abated. But with the budget padding stench oozing out of the House of Representatives, the banana peels seem to have returned.
The peace and tranquillity in the lower chamber of the National Assembly was unsettled last week when the speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara in a surprise move removed his friend, now turned foe, Abdulmumin Jibrin as the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation.
The speaker by that act stirred the hornet’s nest. Since then, Abdulmumin Jubrin has been firing from all cylinder. What ordinarily would have passed for a routine administrative exercise soon degenerated into a war of words between Dogara and the former Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, with allegation and counter allegation of padding the budget. The development is gradually turning into what could be termed the biggest scandal in National Assembly in the fourth republic.
The decision to remove Jubrin as Appropriation committee chair was reportedly as a result of protests by members of the House of Representatives over alleged lopsidedness in the spread of constituency projects in the 2016 budget.
According to the chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, his removal was based on sundry acts of misconduct, incompetence, immaturity, total disregard for his colleagues and abuse of the budgetary process, among others.
“One of the fundamental reasons why the House leadership removed him is that, he was found not to be fit and proper person to hold such a sensitive office which exposes him to high officials of government at all levels.
“He was in the habit of collating, warehousing and manipulating sensitive information to blackmail people sometimes apparently for pecuniary purposes. And by virtue of his position as Appropriations Chairman, he usually met with very high and senior public officers at all levels,” Namda’s said.
But Jibrin demures. He said he was sacked for resisting attempt by the speaker, deputy speaker, Yusuf Lasun; the majority whip Alhassan Ado-Dogowa and the minority leader, Leo Ogor to pad 2016 budget to confer some financial advantage on themselves. He accused the quartet of attempting to pad the budget to the tune of N30billion.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, he said: “Between when the committees brought in the reports and when the first version of the budget went to the president, so much happened. My colleagues were asking me, but I could not tell them that the Speaker tried to insert project worth N30 billion and that he was conspiring with the deputy speaker, Leo Ogor and the rest to hijack the entire process and allocate to themselves projects worth over N20 billion.”
The former Appropriation Committee chairman on the day he was removed said he did nothing wrong. “I have always maintained one position, that as the Chairman Appropriations, I did my very best. Until date, I have said that if anybody has anything that I have done that amounts to an abuse of my office or amounts to an illegality, that it should be brought forward.
“I have said it severally, that I can be reported to the authorities or the relevant arm of government, or the internal disciplinary measure of the House should take its course. And until date, nobody has raised any issue against me.”
Although outwardly, the speaker appears nonplussed, analysts say there is every need for the speaker to be worried. This is because allegations like this have truncated the leadership of some of his colleagues in the past, forcing them out of power with ignominy.
How former leaders of the National Assembly bit the dust
All the former Senate presidents and Speakers of the House of Representatives who were impeached since 1999 owe their sack to one scandal or the other.
It started with the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari. Buhari was removed for falsifying his age and lying on oath over his educational qualification. He was later convicted for forgery and perjury.
Late Evan Enwerem did not fare any better. He was sacked Senate president over the controversy surrounding his name. Enwerem’s successors, Senator Chuba Okadigbo and Adolpus Wabara were disgraced out of office over financial scandal.
All was going well for Okadigbo, until he ran into troubled waters over a street light project in the Apo legislative quarters.
In the case of Wabara, he was forced to resign as Senate president over allegations that he received N55million naira bribe from then Education Minister, Professor Fabian Osuji to increase the budgetary allocation of his ministry.
In the lower chamber, the reign of the first woman speaker, Hon Patricia Etteh as the Speaker of the House was brought to an abrupt end also in 2007 over a financial scandal. Etteh and her deputy, Babangida Nguroje were forced to resign the exalted office over N628m contract scandal less than six months after she emerged as the first female speaker in the country.
Before she threw in the towel, Etteh had made spirited effort to save her seat, but quickly resigned when she relaxed that she was going to be impeached.
Some of these allegations may hold no water, but those who throw them up keep fouling the air with them until their targets resign.
The gathering cloud
Like in past scenarios, it is expected that those who are not favourably disposed to Dogara’s leadership of the lower chamber, may capitalise on the present scandal to seek to oust him. The speaker’s case is even worse, against the backdrop of the manner he emerged and the current anti-corruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Dogara, supported by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislators had floored his party, the All Progressives Congress( APC), preferred candidate for the position to emerge speaker to the consternation of the party. The party’s choice was the current majority leader, Femi Gbajabiamela.
Pundits say the current scandal may be an opportunity for the party to even up with the speaker.
Besides, the Federal Government may equally move against him to prove that its anti-graft war which has been severally criticised, is after all not a ruse. Jubrin on his own has taken the issue to security and anti-corruption agencies. On Monday, former Appropriation Committee chairman submitted petitions on the budget scandal to the Department of State Security, police and EFCC with glee. He wanted the relevant agencies to quickly address the issue and commit the speaker and his men to prison if they are found guilty.
Already, tension is beginning to mount in the lower chamber of the National Assembly over the issue. There are also calls from both within and outside the House for external bodies to probe the budget scandal.
Akin to what happened during the Etteh scandal, when a group within the House that styled itself as the Integrity Group, led the onslaught against the former speaker, a pressure group within the House of Representatives, Transparency Group, is already calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) to investigate all involved in the scandal.
The group, which is said to consist of about 100 members of the House of Representatives said Dogara and all those involved must answer the allegations made against them. Musa Soba, who spoke on behalf of the group in a press conference in Abuja said about 113 signatures had been collected from lawmakers from the six geo-political zones and across party lines. He said the aim is to compel Dogara to explain the discrepancies in the budget. “We call for an external investigation into the matter, to enable us know if our principal officers are guilty or not.
“Let those at the centre of the controversy answer to all the allegations made against them individually and collectively in line with legal practice and our criminal justice system,” he said
A Non Governmental Organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) wants Dogara and other principal officers named in the budget saga to step aside pending the outcome of investigation by the EFCC and other related agencies.
In a letter to the speaker, dated July 29 2016 and signed by SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, he said: “following confirmation received by SERAP from the EFCC that it has taken up and looking into SERAP’s petition to the body on the allegations that the leadership of the House of Representives padded the 2016 budget to the tune of N481 billion, SERAP is now writing to request you to immediately step aside from your position as Speaker of the House of Representatives pending the outcome of the investigation.”
The fall of the former leaders of the National Assembly has always followed almost the same pattern. First, allegations are made and it snowballs into a big scandal and assumes a life of its own. Those who ignited the fire keep stoking it until it consumes the target. But in most, if not all the cases, the allegations are never pursued to its logical conclusion. Once the objectives are achieved, the issues fade away.
There is no doubt that Dogara would now be making frantic efforts to save his seat and his reputation just as those opposed to him will be working round the clock to ensure they pull the rug off his feet.
Will Dogara survive the banana peels or will he fall like others before him? These and many more questions will be answered when the House reconvenes on September 13.