Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara has finally broken his silence on the budget padding allegations leveled against him by a former chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin.
The speaker made this known in a thread of tweets on Saturday via his Twitter account, @SpeakerDogara.
Dogara said his statements on the issue have been misconstrued by sections of the media.
See thread below:
I had initially chosen to remain silent, but as an elected representative who values you all, I will speak because communication is key.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
The first was at the State House when I asserted that nothing undertaken by the legislature in the course of the budget process could be…
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
In the second instance, while responding to questions at the Civil Society Dialogue on Thursday, I made reference to sections 3, 24 and 30..
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
….responsibilities, is protected by law.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
I am not above the law, and I would never imply that I cannot be investigated by security agencies or tried by our courts.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
I swore an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and would defend this with all of my heart.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
I wish to state clearly that there was no act of corruption by me during and/or after the preparation of the 2016 budget.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
I further wish to deny any and all other allegations of a personal nature against me. They are fictional and scandalous untruths.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
I also wish to thank you all for the messages of support and encouragement, and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) August 13, 2016
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
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