Posted on: 03:00 Sun, 21 Aug 2016



It is trouble and totally battle for Speaker Yakubu Dogara as the Police Special Investigative Panel insists it must come and answer questions over budget padding.

The Police Special Investigative Panel has insisted that Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives and others indicted in the alleged padding of the 2016 budget must answer questions after resumption of the National Assembly from its current recess.

The Nation reports that Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, Chief Whip Ado Doguwa, and Minority Leader Leo Ogor are also expected to appear before the panel.

This is coming after the sacked chairman of the House Committee of Appropriation, Abdulmumini Jibrin, accused Dogara and other principal members of the National Assembly of padding the budget.

The panel has asked the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani Omolori, to submit the draft and final copies of the 2016 Budget to it within one week.

A highly placed source while speaking to The Nation revealed thus: “We are going to interrogate the Speaker and the three principal officers implicated in the main petition of the erstwhile Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

“Once they return from recess, we will ask them to report.

Already, a letter of invitation has been served on them. It is still subsisting.
“The initial argument is that the Speaker is the nation’s number four citizen and the modalities of summoning him ought to be different. But we have checked the statute books, neither Dogara nor any of the principal officers has immunity from investigation and prosecution.

“We have not foreclosed investigation into the alleged budget padding. Whoever is talking of any other solution than this ongoing probe might be referring to another platform.”

The source further added: “Until we have conducted substantial investigation, the office will still be firmly locked by security agencies. That is a strong room of exhibits,”.

Asked of the extent of investigation, the source added: “We have got sufficient documents for preliminary investigation which is already in progress.

“The Clerk of the National Assembly has up till next week to submit the draft and final copies of the 2016 Budget to the panel.

“All we need now is to interact with the four principal officers immediately they return from recess. If they fail to report, the law has a provision for taking card of such.”

The source confirmed that 10 chairmen of committees in the House will take their turn after the four principal officers.”

Dogara had earlier claimed that padding was not an offence as such no one has the right to query what he does as the Speaker in the House of Representatives.