Budget Padding: Come Home to Explain Your Role, Bauchi Group Tells Dogara

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

A group, Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Concerned Citizens, has called on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Hon Yakubu Dogara, to as a matter of urgency come back home to explain his roles in the budget padding saga currently rocking the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

A former chairman of the House Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumini Jibrin, had alleged that Dogara and three other principal officers of the House had padded the 2016 budget and had even written petitions against them.

Addressing newsmen at the end of a town hall meeting of concerned groups from Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Federal Constituency at Dass, the headquarters of Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State yesterday, the interim chairman of the group, Dr. Isah Dot, as their representative in the House, the group wanted Dogara to urgently said this to come back home and address the entire members of his constituency on this unfortunate development.

“It is clear that recent development at the House of Representatives has been a cause of great concern to every patriotic citizen of this country as a whole, Bauchi State and indeed this constituency in particular,” Dot, who doubles as the chairman APC Elders Committee in Dass LGA, stated.

He noted that in view of the allegation and counter-allegations coming out of the House of Representatives, both Dogara and Jibrin should step aside to allow for proper investigation into the matter with a view to clearing their names in the saga.

Dot stated that the concerned citizens in the federal constituency were moved to take the possible considering the fact that the involvement of their representative in the National Assembly if substantiated the good image of Bauchi State and the constituency would be tarnished.

“We say no to Dogara’s poor representation and that if the outcome of the on-going investigation of the budget padding allegation being leveled against our representative is substantiated, the good political image of Bauchi State as a whole and the Nigeria’s first Prime Minister’s constituency will be greatly tarnished,” he said.

While affirming its support for the anti-corruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the group advised legislators at both state and national levels to concentrate on their legislative duties as stipulated in the constitution to allow for full democratic governance to thrive and flourish in Nigeria.
“We the concerned citizens of the area wish to reaffirm our unalloyed support to President Buhari anti-corruption crusade,” Dot declared.

Also speaking, the chairman of Bogoro Youths for Good Governance, who is the interim secretary Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Concerned Citizens, Comrade Saddam Muhammad Shanka, noted that no government can succeed without collaboration between the executive and legislative arms.

According to him, “it is an undeniable fact that no democratic government can succeed if the legislative arm does not work in close collaboration with the executive arm.”
He further stated following the allegation and counter allegations over the budget padding issue, it is obvious that the eighth House of Representatives under Dogara does not mean well for this country, adding that, “hence our resolve to pass a vote of no confidence in Dogara’s both leadership and membership of the House.

“We cannot fold our arms and allow things to continue this way. He is in the House to represent his constituency, to protect our interest and bring development to our constituency in particular and our dear state by extension not to pursue his selfish political interest. Enough is enough.” END