2016 budget padding and Speaker Dogara

In a system where integrity and credibility count, the National Assembly serves as a gathering of sane, patriotic, intelligent and educated minds who represent the interest of their constituents with passion. Unfortunately, recent events from Nigeria’s National Assembly indicate that our lawmakers are no longer patriotic. Reacting to the war of words between Speaker Yakubu […]

In a system where integrity and credibility count, the National Assembly serves as a gathering of sane, patriotic, intelligent and educated minds who represent the interest of their constituents with passion.
Unfortunately, recent events from Nigeria’s National Assembly indicate that our lawmakers are no longer patriotic. Reacting to the war of words between Speaker Yakubu Dogara and other House leaders on one hand, and Rep Abdulmumini Jibrin on the other, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described the lawmakers as the most corrupt leaders in Nigeria.
A pressure group in the House of Representatives, known as the Transparency Group, had added its voice to the scandal rocking the leadership of the House.
“The general public should note that Speaker Yakubu Dogara made questionable insertions to the tune of over N3billion to his constituency alone.
“If the above breach and infringement of the Nigerian laws are not illegal acts, the insertion of bogus dubious projects like the vague ‘youth empowerment’ to the tune of N450million and ‘strategic youth empowerment’ to the tune of N500million should be,” the transparency group said, among other things.
There is the need to investigate the above allegations. The people of Bauchi State believe that the revelation is timely and should not be swept under the carpet. The people of Bauchi cannot afford to be shortchanged. When Dogara was perfecting his plans as alleged, where were his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives who have mastered the art of showering abuses and spurious allegations on the Bauchi State government? Probably, they were busy running errands for Dogara while he padded the budget, using his constituents as a bait. Unfortunately, Bauchi State has become an orphan in the National Assembly.
Also speaking on the budget crisis, Rep Yusuf Bala Ikara, who represents Ikara/Kubau federal constituency said, “We brought the issue of budget padding to the attention of the leadership of the House, and they were forced to call an executive closed-door session on the matter. We raised our concerns vociferously but they said we should give them some time.
“They said they would get back to us when we returned from Sallah break. But when we did, nobody said anything to us. We waited up to the time we were embarking on recess, yet nobody said anything, so we felt that the time had come for us to go public.
 “We want a thorough investigation by independent bodies so that those found guilty can be punished. Dogara and the rest of them knew our stand months ago.”
It is believed that Rep Jibrin went public because the leadership of the House wanted to sweep the matter under the carpet. Why didn’t Dogara and his men expose Jibrin’s misdeeds before he spilled the milk? It is said that he shouted for attention so that he won’t sink alone, having travelled in the same boat with the speaker and other leaders. 
Again, why was an executive session held behind closed doors and not debated at the plenary to expose the scandals, including the non-execution of several constituency projects? And why did it take that long to remove Rep Jibrin from his position as committee chairman despite the whistle from the Transparency Group? Let the House leaders stop insulting our intelligence over a scandal they are all involved in. There is more to the scandal than what we are hearing if carefully investigated.
If the minor reshuffle that removed Jibrin from his lucrative position did not take place, the fact is that nobody would have heard anything about the budget padding and the money would have been shared among the concerned lawmakers. Now, even if they end up shortchanging Nigerians as usual, at least we have heard.
Curiously, it is not in doubt that the lawmakers have defrauded Nigerians in the 2016 budget, what is in dispute is the mastermind of the heinous act.
Disturbed by the allegations, Dogara cleverly avoided a debate on the floor of the House but opted to drag Jibrin to court for defaming his character and holding secret meetings to nail him. The public is not deceived as it waits to see who blinks first between the two gladiators.
To most Nigerians, Dogara’s court option is diversionary. In the circumstance, he has more at stake than Jibrin because he is the speaker who was once seen by his admirers as one of the most upright in the National Assembly.
The more preferred option is for the speaker to step aside for an independent investigation if he does not have a selfish agenda.
From the Senate to the House of Representatives, Nigerians are watching how these sordid acts of corruption would end. Can the change mantra of the All Progressives Congress (APC) change the system for good? The truth is that if nothing is done to sanitise the National Assembly, the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari will amount to nothing. Funny enough, it appears that the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) may give a clean bill of health to Dogara. It is time for Nigerians to act.
Konkiyel is an Abuja-based public affairs commentator. He sent this piece from Maitama, Abuja.  [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>