Your Excellency sir, let me once again commend you for the good work you are executing and the credible leadership you have offered our nation since assumption of office about a year and half ago.
I
write this letter to you as a last resort to seek action on the
allegations of budget fraud, abuse of office and corruption I leveled
against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other Principal Officers of the
House of Representatives and use your good office to ensure that urgent
reforms are implemented in the House to sanitize it from the monumental
individual and systemic corruption that has become the biggest business
in the House of Representatives.
Although
I wrote you a letter few weeks ago, seeking audience to provide you
with comprehensive briefing on the allegations i raised and endemic
corruption in the House, iam yet to get a reply. However, I fully
understand that your busy schedule might have caused the delay. Had I
got that opportunity before I left the country, I am optimistic that you
would have by now been in a clearer picture of how corrupt the Speaker,
our number four citizen is and the three other Principal Officers,
individual and systemic corruption in the House and my crusade to
continue to expose corruption in the House, Nigeria as a whole and push
for urgent reforms in the House.
I
crave the indulgence of your excellency to pardon me for resorting to
an open letter to draw your attention to this matter. The need to deal
with the matter decisively and the urgency involved necessitated opting
for this channel. Besides, I am aware of some powerful forces working
behind the scene in cohort with some members of leadership of the House
to ensure that I never get access to you and the matter never see the
light of the day.
Your
Excellency, i attained a modest educational and career height before
joining the House. I come from a good home with a rich and diversed
background. My middle class parents brought me up in a very descipline
environment and instilled in me the virtures of hard work, honesty and
courage. It is a training that taught me never to respect a corrupt
person no matter how highly placed. I am a responsible young man with no
passion for vengeance or mischief. I know exactly where I am coming
from and where I am heading. I know exactly what Iam doing sir.
Sir,
it is noteworthy to mention that in my 5 years in the House as a two
term member and Chairman House Committee on Finance 2011-2015 and
Chairman House Committee on Appropriation 2015-2016, I have never abused
my office or corruptly enrich myself. My offense was standing against
budget fraud, immunity for Principal Officers of the House and exposing
corruption in a way that has never been done or seen in the history of
the House of Representatives.
I
am a product of the establishment but I have always been uncomfortable
and have always looked for the right opportunity or trigger to rebel
against the ills of the system through exposing fraudulent acts,
corruption and abuse of office in high places for the good of Nigeria
and Nigerians. My case whether people believe me or not is that of a
young man who is frustrated with the deep-rooted system of corruption in
high places. I have decided that enough is enough and I am ready to
take on any corrupt person or institution especially the House of
Representatives. Some people have raised issue that why did I wait until
I left office before opening up. That assertion is not true as I have
always spoken within and outside on issues like this since I joined the
House in 2011. A simple research will confirm this.
Your
Excellency, in the last few months I have raised grievous allegations
of budget fraud, abuse of office and individual and systemic corruption
against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other Principal Officers of the
House. I followed it with a petition to the security and anti graft
agencies including the DSS, EFCC, ICPC and the Police. I have had
several interactions with these agencies and pledged my continuous
cooperation and willingness to stand witness during prosecution.
I
took it for granted that the House on resumption from recess will do
the needful by asking the Speaker to step aside and conduct a
comprehensive investigation in collaboration with the ongoing external
investigation, but what my colleagues did remains a shock to the country
and the world at large. They decided to punish me for exposing
corruption, while celebrating the people I accused of corruption. The
Speaker of course took advantage of the deep-rooted systemic corruption
in the House to blackmail members to support him. I have been suspended
from the House for a year and banned from holding any position for the
rest of the 8th Assembly and I must apologise to the House before I am
allowed back even after the expiration of the 1 year suspension.
Sir,
this is an institution that is supposed to support you in fighting
corruption. You have taken on corruption and corrupt people decisively,
the crusade will be incomplete if corrupt elements are allowed to infest
the Legislative arm especially the House of Representatives. You should
by now know that you will never get the required support to fight
corruption with Dogara as Speaker of the House and most importantly if
reforms are not implemented in the House.
Your
Excellency, let me use this opportunity to inform you that I have
challenged my suspension in court because it is unconstitutional and the
seat belongs to my constituents who are proud of my anti-corruption
crusade in the House. My constituents have also filed a case in court to
challenge the suspension. I have also stated clearly that I will never
apologise to any member in the House or the House itself as I did not
commit any offense and I will continue to stand by all the allegations I
raised.
Sir,
I should also bring to your notice that the Speaker is making frantic
efforts to ensure that this matter is suppressed. They will do all they
can, including blackmailing you to ensure that the matter is not
investigated and culprits prosecuted. In your case, since they cannot
find issues of corruption associated with you, they will resort to
frustrating any request you forward to the House for approval with a
view to arm twisting you or trying to weaken you in the eyes of the
public and international community. This is how they operate. You should
watch out and be vigilant.
On
issue of reforms, your excellency may wish to use your good office to
decisively get the House TO END THE FRAUDULENT ALLOWANCES REGIME and
publish all entitlements of members, stop budget fraud, disclose
internal budget of the House, open up finances of the House for external
audit, implement e-parliament, activate electronic voting and
attendance system, introduce individual member's and standing
committees' performance template, revert to old house rules to avoid
contempt of court and draconian powers Speaker Dogara accorded himself,
drop immunity for Principal Officers, pass the anti corruption bills
sent about a year ago by your good self, make Speaker Dogara and others
refund hundred of millions collected for rents, return 40 billion stolen
from 100 billion zonal intervention funds, return projects diverted to
his farm and other fraudulent projects worth billions, compel Speaker
Dogara and other occused Principal Officers to step down for prosecution
and make the House apologise to Nigerians for the individual and
systemic fraud and corruption and gross abuse of office that has become
the hallmark of the House over the years.
Your
Excellency, the House of Representatives stinks of corruption and
something urgent must be done to salvage the situation. I pray that you
direct the various agencies that I submitted petitions to expedite
action on the matter as Nigerians and the world are watching to see how
we will deal with this issue of incontrovertible corruption by Speaker
Dogara and others and systemic corruption in the House. We have a golden
opportunity to show the world that there is zero tolerance for
corruption under your leadership. Even more, is the willingness of a
serving member in my person who understands these issues and who has
offered to stand as witness and provide every support towards
prosecution. There is no better way of demonstrating our commitment to
the fight against corruption than to use Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy
Speaker Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority Leader Ogor as example.
I
strongly believe that if the security and anti-graft agencies expedite
action on the allegations and the recommended reforms are implemented,
it will go a long way in resolving the crisis and provide the
ventilation for the House to commence the process of self-cleansing to
repair its battered image and restore the trust of Nigerians in the
House. It is a reform that Speaker Dogara has completely lost the moral
ground to superintend.
Your
Excellency, let me draw your attention to a major constraint which has
always been the threat to my life since the beginning of the budget
fraud saga. I have raised alarm severally that the House cabal led by
Speaker Yakubu Dogara are using Hon. Herma Hembe to either assassinate
or kidnap me or members of my family. Hon. Hembe has been stalking me. I
have been worried and written to the security agencies but none of
these people have been questioned. In fact at some point, they tried to
use some elements in one of the security agencies to abduct me. All
these were reported by my lawyers.
It
is against this background that I took the decision to stay away from
the country until my safety is guaranteed. However, I will be available
once my attention is required in respect of my petition against the
Speaker and others or any petition that may come against me. I am
therefore pleading with you sir to look at this issue with your usual
dispassionate approach. For whatever my limitations are as a person, how
I am treated will determine if in future people especially those within
a system can defy personal risk and speak out against corruption.
I
pray that God Almighty continue to bless you with long life, good
health and more wisdom as you steer the ship of our great country.
Thank you.
Your son,
Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, PhD MBA
APC Kano
Kiru-Bebeji Federal Constituency
Kano
APC Kano
Kiru-Bebeji Federal Constituency
Kano
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