Budget Padding: EFCC Grills Jibrin Thoroughly for Seven Hours

Abdulmumin Jibrin

 

Former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin has been reportedly questioned over a period of 7 hours over the 2016 budget padding saga that has indicted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and other principal officers in the green chamber.

The EFCC moves, corresponding with a financial audit of the accounts of the National Assembly, came as the Presidency affirmed that it was not implementing a padded budget.

 

The Presidency also reassured Nigerians that there was no cause for alarm over the controversy, given the decision of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to handle the matter as a “domestic issue.”

 

Exonerating itself from allegations of padding the 2016 national budget, the Presidency further affirmed that the budget signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari was the copy passed and sent to him by the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, supporters of Speaker Yakubu Dogara were, yesterday, basking in the assurance of having collected more than 200 signatures in the 360-member House to drum support for the speaker. Jibrin, who raised the allegations of padding of the budget against Speaker Dogara and four other principal officers of the House, was the first to be quizzed in what EFCC officials claimed would be a thorough investigation to get to the root of the matter.

 

EFCC operatives reportedly asked him to authenticate his claims about the alleged improprieties and also questioned a petition written against him by some aggrieved youths that he (Jibrin) used his position to loot N418 million through fake contracts from the National Refugees Commission.

 

Jibrin, who arrived the EFCC premises around 10 a.m., did not leave until 5 p.m. yesterday. Before leaving, Jibrin reportedly filed more allegations against Dogara and his principal officers, accusing them of maintaining guest houses at the expense of government. He also alleged that Dogara and others were collecting rents from their homes and pretended to be staying in rented quarters in breach of extant financial rules.

A top Vanguard source in EFCC confirmed the probe, saying they were ready to get to the root of the alleged padding and bring culprits to book.