A member of the House Committee on Appropriation, Daniel Reyenieju, has warned against sanctioning the sacked chairman of the committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, over the ongoing crisis on budget padding.
Reyenieju, representing Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State in the House, said that taking any punitive measure against Jibrin may worsen the current crisis rocking the House.
The lawmaker expressed disappointment over the matter, stating that it was disheartening that the Nigerian legislature had turned certain illegal acts into norms, which, in several ways, had affected the running of government.
He said, “This issue is a big disappointment to all Nigerians, who elected the members in the house, because this is not what they were elected for. When we were all elected to represent our constituencies, we were all entrusted with several responsibilities among which are accessibility, representatives, accountability, and others. But disappointedly, look at what is happening, which I believe is quite disappointing to Nigerians at large.”
The lawmaker, who also spoke on the allegation that the speaker offered $US20,000 as bribe to each of the members of the House over the budgetpadding issue, maintained that though he heard the rumour, he would have collected the money without doing anything, if he was involved in the case.
“I heard the rumour, and I can’t really say anything on it. But if I may tell you, if I were involved in such a thing, I will just collect the money, even if it is one billion for fun without doing anything,” he said on a television programme monitored in Lagos.
Reyenieju further said, “I am embarrassed but not really surprised with the whole thing because they will always tell you that this is the tradition in the house. I am saying that we should not see it as the right thing because the act is breaching the trust entrusted in you by millions of Nigerians.”
He, however, appealed to the stakeholders to find a quick solution to the raging controversy over the budget-padding allegations, adding that if the matter was not resolved in time, it may result in the unexpected.
“Instead of finding a way to end the crisis, some people are making moves to fuel it; which I believe is not good for this democratic government. But, for me, I will not add my voice to the case, because the speaker has said he will not step down.
“But let me say this, this parliament does not belong to anyone but the Nigerian people who elected us. So, whatever is done, we are accountable to them,” the lawmaker said.
