Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has said his suspension for 180 legislative days was flawed and would not stand the test of time.
He said, “It is a non-issue and complete nonsense and it is not going to stand anywhere in the world.
“As you are aware, the matter is a subject of litigation, I have instructed my lawyer, Femi Falana SAN to file charges of contempt against Speaker Dogara and of course the House of Representatives and I’m sure the matter will move over to the judiciary and decision will be taken. I’m pretty sure it will be in my favour”.
The House slammed the suspension on Mr. Jibrin after he was found guilty of violating ethics and privileges of lawmakers.
But the lawmaker remained defiant, saying he had done nothing wrong and, as such, those expecting an apology, will wait for eternity.
“Let me say, I will never ever apologise to anybody in the House of Representatives”, he said, adding that “I did not commit any offence”.
He insisted that he has lived above board since coming to the House even as he pointed out that allegations he raised against Speaker Dogara and other members of the body of Principal officers, were yet to be addressed.
Jibrin said, “What is very important also is that now they have done their worst, they have suspended me, what has it changed? Has it changed the fact that the speaker conspired with other principal officers to divert N40 billion out of N100 billion meant for constituency projects?”
Despite being placed on suspension that will see him barred from the premises of the National Assembly, his office sealed as well as salaries and allowances stopped for 180 days, the lawmaker chose to see the brighter side.
“At this point, I must say they freed me up to concentrate on the matter in court”, Mr. Jibrin said. “I know the suspension is not going to stand, secondly, I’m going into a massive alliance with civil society groups, NGOs and well-meaning Nigerian to continue to press ahead”.
