A house divided against itself… 7 things that happened during reps’ 7-week recess

The house of representatives, just like the senate, embarked on its annual recess beginning from July 21.

During the seven-week break, which comes to an end on Tuesday, various events related to the lower chamber have headlined the news, seven of which are:

BUDGET PADDING ALLEGATIONS

On the first day of the recess, Abdulmumin Jibrin, former chairman of the house committee on appropriations, levelled weighty allegations of padding the 2016 budget (by N40bn out of N100 billion allocated to the national assembly) against Yakubu Dogara, the speaker; Yusuff Lasun, deputy speaker; Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, whip; and Leo Ogor, minority leader.

Jibrin said he was relieved from his duty as appropriations chairman because he was independent and wanted to expose corruption in the house.

He said based on these allegations, the four principal officers must resign.

HOUSE BREAKS INTO GROUPS

Jibrin’s allegations broke the house into groups, each claiming a course and choosing its own best way of dealing with the issue.

The Transparency Group (TG) said Dogara and the other legislators accused of padding the budget must step down to pave the way for an independent investigation. They warned their colleagues against passing a vote of confidence on Dogara upon resumption. While insisting that the matter be raised on the floor of the house, they warned against any plan to suspend Jibrin.

Meanwhile, another group known as the Integrity Group, boasting of about 106 members, called for a probe of all 10 principal officers, saying there must be no exemption. They claimed that there was no justification for some lawmakers to appropriate huge funds to their constituencies in the name of projects, while others got meagre amounts.

The speaker, though, is said to have some lawmakers on his side. They may not be a defined group, but several caucuses in the house such as the Gombe and Bauchi have risen up in his defence.

ULTIMATUM, PETITIONS AND SUITS

On July 27, Dogara gave Jibrin a seven-day ultimatum to apologise and retract all his allegations against him or face legal action. Through his lawyers, the speaker described Jibrin’s statement as “libellous”. Jibrin swiftly replied the speaker, saying he was a “shameless fraud” who was not going to resign.

On August 1, Jibrin petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Department of State Services (DSS) against Dogara and the three other principal officers accused of padding the budget.

“If these corrupt set of Nigerians can be prosecuted in earnest and if found guilty sent to jail immediately, it will send a very powerful signal of the anti-corruption fight of this government,” he said after submitting his patenting at the ICPC.

The former appropriations chairman further instituted a suit against the speaker at the Abuja federal high court over an alleged plan by Dogara to suspend him upon resumption. He also petitioned the presidential advisory commission against corruption, chaired by Itse Sagay.

MEDIA WAR

The feud over the budget padding allegation heightened in the media as there were allegations and counter allegations between the outspoken Jibrin and Dogara.

Legislators such as Danlami Kurfi came to defence of Dogara saying that if they were not in recess they would have suspended. Also coming to defence of the speaker, the appropriations committee in a series of briefings denied Jibrin’s claims.

Jibrin responded to every allegation or statement by the speaker’s loyalists. Apart from issuing press statements and appearing on television programmes, he used social media to relay his allegations to the public. Though the speaker did not respond to the allegations directly, his aides at one point or the other tried to discredit Jibrin’s claims.

STRUGGLE FOR ALLIES

At this point where allegations and counter allegations were rife, it was observed that both Jibrin and Dogara wanted members on their side ahead of house resumption.

The Transparency Group claimed that the “Dogara group” wooed them over by promising to give them committees, which they said they declined.

Jibrin alleged that lawmakers were given $25,000 each just to get them on the speaker’s side. He also wrote a 17-page letter to all members of the house on the need to call for the resignation of the speaker.

ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES COME IN

On September 2, TheCable exclusively reported that the EFCC had already begun probing Dogara on the budget padding allegations.

It was gathered that the commission invited finance directors of federal ministries and agencies to come with the details of their draft budgets and what was finally approved by the national assembly.

TENSION IN HOUSE

The call for the speaker’s resignation has led to tension within the house. It was gathered that some legislators saw Jibrin’s allegations as an opportunity to reopen the “Femi Gbajabiamila and Dogara feud.”

A text message was said to have been circulating among lawmakers that he wanted to seize the opportunity to get the position back from Dogara.

But Gbajabiamila, the current house leader who had lost the speakership contest to Dogara in June 2015, urged the lawmakers to retain faith in Dogara. Despite his appeal, legislators have been careful with their utterances and have been refraining from commenting on the budget padding allegations.

When the house finally reconvenes, it will be interesting to see how the aforementioned issues are handled.