There are indications that the police have begun probing the allegations of budget padding levelled against the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and other principal officers by a former House Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Adbdulmumin Jibrin.
It was learnt on Monday that the police leadership had directed detectives to probe the allegations by Jibrin that the Speaker colluded with his deputy, Yusuf Lasun, the Chief Whip, Alhassan Doguwa, and the Minority Whip, Leo Ogor, to earmark N40bn to themselves in the 2016 National Assembly budget.
Jibrin, an All Progressives Congress lawmaker from Kano State, who was sacked by the House leadership last week, claimed that he was being victimised by the Speaker because he objected to a request from Dogara that he (Jibrin) should allocate projects worth N40bn to him in the 2016 budget.
Findings indicated on Monday that Jibrin might be summoned before the end of the week to provide evidence on the allegations in his petition to investigators, who it was learnt, would also invite all the people mentioned by the petitioner.
A source said, “The allegations made by the former House committee chairman on appropriations are weighty and cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet because it borders on corruption and an attempt to defraud the nation.
“So, the police have set in motion machinery to investigate the allegations, ascertain the veracity of the allegations, and get to the bottom of the corruption as stated by the petitioner.”
But the Force Public Relations Officer, Donald Awunah, said he had not been briefed about the investigation into the petition.
“I am not aware of the petition or the investigation into it and I have not been briefed about it either. The fact is that when someone writes a petition, it goes to the Force Criminal Investigation Department where it would be investigated, but I have not been briefed about it, but I will find out and let you know,” he said.