Suspended
member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has accused the
Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, of collecting $600,000 from James Ibori.
Jibrin,
a former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, claimed on Saturday that
Ibori donated the money to Dogara’s campaign from prison in 2015 to support his
bid to become the speaker.
The
suspended lawmaker claimed in a statement that he chose to be silent lately to
strategise on his crusade in the new year.
The
statement read in part, “The propaganda and lies spread around lately by the
axis of evil in the House of Representatives to water down my popularity shows
how desperate Dogara has become. It is such a shame that Dogara denied that
former governor James Ibori provided huge support to his emergence as speaker
by mobilising members from Delta State and others from the South-South and
South-East zones to support him.
“Since
he has disowned Ibori, he should at least have the honour to return the
$600,000 Ibori donated to his speakership campaign. I am sure he cannot deny
the fact that he collected that money in cash.”
However,
when contacted, the Special Adviser to Dogara on Media and Public Affairs,
Turaki Hassan, referred our correspondent to an earlier statement that denied
such allegation.
Findings indicated that
Jibrin might have returned to the trenches after a reported move to broker
peace between him and Dogara collapsed.
Jibrin
was reported to have engaged some lawmakers to broker the peace.
As
part of the efforts, he was reportedly advised to send a congratulatory message
to Dogara who turned 49 recently.
In
the message, Jibrin wished Dogara “Many prosperous years ahead; God’s guidance
and abundant blessings.”
It
was gathered that the Kano lawmaker did not receive any positive reaction from
the Speaker’s camp after the message.
Source:Punch
Tags
Politics