A former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation Abdulmumin Jibrin on Friday released staggering figures collected by the ten principal officers of the House as “running cost” from the time they joined the House.
In a series of tweets via his official Twitter account @AbdulAbmJ the lawmaker said the ten leaders of the House alone had cost the nation a whooping N10 billion, with Speaker Yakubu Dogara alone amassing N1.5 billion.
See tweets below:
COMMENCEMENT OF DISCLOSURE OF THE CONTROVERSIAL ALLOWANCE OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1-39
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
1-In line with my resolve to continue to expose individual&systemic corruption in House, I will today commence the disclosure of what many
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
2-Nigerians believe is almost impossible to reveal or are not even aware of – the allowances of Members of the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
3-My resolve to open up the controversial allowances should be instructive to those who think I am only out to get Dogara out of his seat
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
4-If that is my mission, I will definitely not go into the issue of allowances, which is the only aspect that unites the entire House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
5-But if members&Nigerians feel at home with Dogara, a corrupt no4 citizen, despite overwhelming allegations against him&his gang,so be it!
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
6-If my colleagues chose to support theSpeaker, I wish them safe journey. But on this struggle, I shall continue even if Iam alone!
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
7-I will continue this crusade to wipe out corruption in the House&trigger internal reforms so that Nigns can have the ideal representative
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
8-The imperative of having a corrupt-free House of Representatives cannot be over-emphasized
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
9-It is only when the House comes with purity that effective oversight can be done&investigative hearing to expose fraud can be undertaken
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
10-When the House is corrupt, it affects the whole country because the House of Representatives is the largest representation of Nigerians
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
11-This must be the focus of the fight against corruption. The root of our economic,political&social problems as a country lies in the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
12-No amount of economic strategy will succeed in this country if we do not put hands together&decisively deal with corruption in the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
13-Now we come to the crux of the matter. It should be noted, however, that money is voted as "running cost" to members apart from salaries
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
14-You don't need a professor or a committee of technocrats to tell you what is reasonable as running cost for member of the House Reps
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
15-and also how the money should be administered and who should be the recipient of the money
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
16-The way the allowances of members is currently structured can not pass the integrity test of any of the aforesaid
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
17-The allowances is systemic corruption that should be dealt with in phases since you can not afford the systemic shock of a oneoff attack
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
18-Today, I will start with the 10 Principal Officers of the House. If just these 10 are named and shamed it will force reform in the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
19-I will therefore provide what each one of them had collected as "office running cost" in their entire stay in the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
20-If any one of them disputes my figure,They should not make drama out of it,just simply tell the country how much he or she has collected
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
21-Running cost is a money collected by many members (with a few exception) and used as personal funds. No more, no less – case closed!
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
22-Most of these members use it to acquire properties, cars and live a life of luxury they never had before coming to the House
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
23-Though there exist systems for retirement but a simple investigation by a primary school pupil will reveal the massive fraud therein
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
24-From computation of various sub heads of allowances of the House, the 10 Principal Officers received various amounts as follows
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
25-Speaker Yakubu Dogara has been in the House from 2007 to date. He has received about 1.5billion naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
26-Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun has been in the house from 2011 to date. He has received about 800million naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
27-House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila has been in the House from 2003 to date. He has received about 1.2billion naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
28-Deputy House Leader Buba has been in the House from 2007 to date. He received about 1.2billion naira.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
29-Whip Alhassan Doguwa has been in the House from 2003 to date. He has received about 1.2 billion naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
30-Deputy Whip Pally Iriase has been in the house from 2011 to date. He has received 700 million naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
31-Minority Leader Leo Ogor has been in the House from 2007 to date. He has received 1.2 billion naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
32-Deputy Minority Leader Barde has been in the House from 2011 to date. He has received 700 million naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
33-Minority Whip Chuma has been in the House from 2007 to date. He had received 800 million naira
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
34-And finally, Deputy Minority Whip Binta has been in the House from 2011 to date. She has received 700 million naira.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
35-So in between these 10 Principal Officers, the country has pumped about 10 billion naira – and still counting!
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
36-As I have mentioned earlier, in most cases with few exceptions, these funds are diverted for personal use
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
37-I will provide break down of these figures&names of more members with worst cases of diversion of such funds in due course to shame them
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
38-As we continue this struggle to wipe out corruption and restore sanity in the House of Representatives
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
39-I urge Nigerians to remain vigilant as these corrupt elements can go to any length to change the narrative and evade justice. God bless.
— Abdulmumin Jibrin (@AbdulAbmJ) August 26, 2016
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
he may be correct