Embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has subtly admitted that he inserted suspicious figures into the 2016 budget, declaring that budget padding is not an offence.
He said he would not resign, because of the allegations leveled against him by the sacked Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumini Jibrin.
Dogara, who visited President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, August 5, first feigned ignorance of the term, ‘budget padding’, but he later said it constituted no offence under the law.
Jibrin, had alleged that Dogara unilaterally inserted a whooping sum of N40 billion worth of constituency projects into the 2016 budget, with the help of three other principal officers of the House.
The Speaker, who has come under pressure in some quarters to resign since the allegations were made, was at the Presidential Villa apparently, to explain his own side of the story to President Buhari. Their meeting reportedly lasted for about 30 minutes.
As he stepped out of the meeting, State House Correspondents asked him of his mission at the Villa.
He said: “Can’t I come and see my President? Do I need any reason to come and see my President? It’s a private visit”.
When asked to speak on the alleged budget padding, Dogara said, “What is budget padding? “I don’t know, educate me”.
Admitting that he did nothing wrong, despite the allegations, Dogara said: “I am a Lawyer and Speaker, and I have never heard of the word padding. What does padding mean?
When told that Jibrin said he padded the budget, Dogara responded: “Ask him, he who alleges, must prove. That’s the law in Nigeria”.When asked if he would reconvene the House before September, Dogara said: “We have rules and regulations. This is not a mock institution, we operate by the rules and we will follow the rules”.Asked if he would resign, he said: “Resign for what? What are the allegations? What is padding? You haven’t told me. Ask Jibrin what is padding. I studied law and I have been in the legislature, and all this period I have never heard of the word padding, being an offence under any law. If I don’t know, you are the media, research the law and let me know”.
Meanwhile, prominent groups and individuals, have berated Dogara, for claiming that budget padding is not an offence.
Condemning the Speaker, a Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, (SAN), who spoke to Punch, insisted that the alleged padding of the 2016 budget, by some members of the National Assembly, constituted a criminal offence.
He explained, that the offence of padding the budget was not a “once-and-for-all”, like murder.
The Senior Lawyer, said it started as a conspiracy, while planning it, and concluded, when it was used to draw money fraudulently after the budget had been passed.
Falana, had also said that it was logical for those implicated in the scam to step down, because Jibrin had done the same.
“The act violates Fiscal Responsibility Act. Section 13 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, prescribes that relevant agencies, including the National Assembly, make input into the budget. Relevant government agencies are required to do the costing for the projects to be included in the budget.“So it is conspiracy when they increase the amount, or insert projects into the budget. The criminal act is concluded when they now draw from the funds they have inserted”.
Another Senior Lawyer, Robert Clarke, said the appropriate thing for the Speaker to do, is to resign first and face investigation.
He said, “As for Dogara, morality beckons on him to resign and face investigation. When there are allegations of such against a public officer, that is the appropriate thing to do. But that only happens in civilised societies. Nigeria too is a civilised society, but it is unfortunate we have never seen something like that happening.“Some of us concerned citizens, are pleading with Dogara to step down and face investigation. But if he does not want to do that, we will wait and let the course of events take its turn.”
Also, the spokesman of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said, “Budget padding is the intent to commit an offence no doubt, but the Speaker should shelve impunity by showing some remorse.
Odumakin stated, “He should appreciate the level of angst in the society. If people have not been paid for several months and cannot afford to eat, you can not be telling them that ‘padding’ with billions of naira is not an offence”.
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