The sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, said yesterday that Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, lacks the moral ground to remain in office.
He was reacting to the statement issued by 10 Principal Officers of the House after their meeting on Thursday, in which they described allegations of budget padding leveled against Dogara and other lawmakers as wild, baseless and unfounded.
“While the leadership is determined to ensure that absolute diligence, maturity and due process are employed in dealing with the allegations, instead of joining the accuser in a press war, it is important to state, in the interest of the agitated public, that the allegations are wild, baseless and unfounded”, read part of the statement issued by the Principal Officers.
But Jibrin via a statement on Friday, said they (Principal Officers) have failed in their attempt to hide the truth of what transpired during the budget process to Nigerians.
“It is clear Speaker Dogara is not in any way prepared to respond to the allegations I raised, but one can clearly see from his pronouncements, actions and body language that he is more interested in running helter-skelter to hold on to power.
“Those familiar with the House politics know that Dogara’s antics were last kicks of a dying horse. Looking beyond the corrupt regime of Yakubu Dogara, the first duty of the new speaker is to implement a wide range of internal reforms. Speaker Dogara does not have the credibility to superintend over the reforms”, he stated.