Federal Lawmakers from Gombe State on Thursday swung to the side of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, over the allegation of inserting billions to the 2016 budget for personal gains. The House members including Hon. Ali Isa, the Gombe Caucus Leader, who read the statement, Aishatu Jibrin Dukku, Ustaz Yunusa Ahmad Abubakar, Binta Bello, Ismaila Muazu Hassan and Yaya Bauchi Tongo, described the allegation by former Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin against the leadership of the House of Representatives, as a “campaign of calumny.”
The statement reads in part: “We of the Gombe State caucus of the House of Representatives wish to categorically and publicly declare that we are not part of any evil group trying to cause disaffection and instability in the House of Representatives, and we in like manner dissociate ourselves from any conspiracy and attack against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and the entire leadership of the House. “We are aware that the current impasse is generated and orchestrated by Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin through his wild goose claim that the 2016 federal budget was “padded” by the Leadership of the House, and we are appalled and shocked that Hon. Jibrin only came out with this accusation just after the House has duly sacked him as appropriation Committee Chairman over the offense of unlawfully inflating the budget in his own favour!
“And if we are to talk about this “budget padding” scandal, we want to tell the whole world that shortly after Hon. Jibrin was appointed Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, he sent letters to all members of the House of Representatives requesting them to send details of projects they want captured in the Federal Budget for their constituencies, and Honourable Members complied with his circular accordingly.
