“EFCC and ICPC must arrest the Speaker, the three others and few others members in my petition immediately. You will be seeing more of this in the near future in order to cement our relationship”.
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The relationship between President Buhari and the Senate deteriorated after the Federal Government made a decision to prosecute Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, for alleged forgery of Senate Rules that brought them to office. “As the supreme law of the land, all organs of government including the National Assembly are obliged to perform their functions in accordance with the constitution and other enabling laws”.
The sources said the SSS also sealed Mr. Jibrin’s office at Room 1.05 in the New House of Representatives building.
The former Appropriations Committee Chairman had last week accused Dogara, his Deputy, Yusuf Lasun, Chief Whip, Ado Doguwa and Minority leader, Leo Ogor of attempting to pad N40bn into the 2016 budget.
Mr. Ndume dismissed the budget padding allegations as a creation of the media.
The CSO, in the statement, signed by Omoluabi Olabode Adeyemi, Executive Director of African Media Roundtable Initiative and convener, Coalition of Analysts and Media and Civil Society Organisations, and Opeyemi Duke, Executive Director, Centre for Legislative Advocacy, said it was the responsibility of the legislature to make appropriation, adding that there was nothing like padding in legislative terms.
“I do not know where the issue of this budget padding we are talking about is coming from”.
He said if federal lawmakers were not empowered by the constitution to tinker with budget, there would not have been any reason for the President to submit the document to the National Assembly. That was what was done.
“This time, the President took his time to ensure that he did not only sign on the budget, but also signed on budget details that he is satisfied with”.
“That is not the way differences should be settled”.
The Speaker has been accused of illegally inserting and allocating projects worth over N20 billion to their constituencies in the 2016 budget by the former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
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“It is really shocking that this kind of despicable character could slip through the political process and become an Honourable member of the House of Representatives, a highly respected institution, where we all passed through”.
