Suspended member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin on Saturday said members of the lower chamber have been silenced by threats from Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara.

Jibrin said this during a chat with Punch while commemorating 100 days after he made the budget padding allegations.

The Kano lawmaker said his colleagues are silent because Dogara blackmailed them with the issue of running cost.

He said, “If you remember during our recess, you had the Transparency Group and the Integrity Group talking; then soon after we resumed, they continued to talk but immediately after my suspension, everybody went quiet.

“There is one issue that unites the House and that is the issue of running costs. I had never thought that the Speaker could go into a meeting and blackmail his colleagues”

Jibrin alleged that Dogara organised a caucus meeting a day before resumption of the House and blackmailed his colleagues.

Jibrin said, “When the Speaker came into the hall, the first thing he said shocked everybody. He said, ‘Look, the issues that Jibrin is bringing are not only going to bring down Dogara, Lasun, Leo Ogor, and Alhassan Doguwa. They are going to involve the whole House because when they start investigations, it will include the issue of running costs.

“The issue of running cost, which is an entrenched systemic corruption, involves almost every member.”

Azeez