ABUJA - INDICATIONS emerged Sunday that security details of the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara may be withdrawn on the
orders of the Federal Government over the controversy surrounding the
2016 budget.
It was also gathered that a document linking the
Majority leader of the House, Femi Gbajabimila with constituency
projects worth over N4 billion which is domiciled in Osun and Niger
States against the initial N1.8 billion constituency projects allocated
to him was in circulation.
This is just as the secretariat of the
House Appropriation Committee was on Sunday still under the
watch of
about four security operatives.
Security sources hinted that the
withdrawal of security aides to the principal officers allegedly
fingered in the budget brouhaha was ensure that there was no obstruction
on the course of investigations.
Investigations revealed that
the security personnel that were guiding the appropriation committee
secretariat were not the regular operatives from the National Assembly.
Meanwhile
about 27 civil society organisations have raised the alarm of alleged
conspiracy with external forces against the leadership of the House of
Representatives, saying that if nothing was done to apply caution, it
would threaten the democracy in the country.
Addressing
journalists in Abuja, the national coordinator of Human Rights Writers
Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko alongside
other 26 CSOs, said "It is disingenuous for the sacked Appropriation
committee chairman, Abdulmumin Jibrin to make any claims of exposing
massive corruption in the House, accusing speaker Yakubu Dogara of moves
to personally smuggle N30bn into 2016 budget."
He said that the
understanding of the powers of the National Assembly seems to say that
the legislature is constitutionally empowered to vet proposed budget
since these elected officials were not rubber stamps of the president.
Source: Vanguard
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