The House Committee Chairman on Appropriations, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin has bowed out of his appointment due to pressure from some of his colleagues in the House.
Jibrin, according to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who announced his replacement asked to be relieved of the position. Dogara said, ”He (Jibrin) came to me and said he cannot do it any more and that the pressure was on him.”
The former Chair of Appropriations, a position believed to have been gifted to him by the speaker for his support of his bid to lead the house vehemently opposed a bill currently before the House of Representatives seeking to alter the 1999 Constitution to provide immunity for the presiding officers of the National Assembly.
“No one needs immunity except you have something to hide. Let us focus on serving the Nigerian people without emperor-esque privileges.We openly opposed it and insist it should not even go further than this stage.I still maintain it will portray the legislature in bad light and even worst will be inimical to the fight against corruption.
“At a time when Nigerians are pushing for the removal of immunity for Governors, it will be wrong for the House to push for immunity; with what I have seen in Nass in the last five years, I I know the independence or effectiveness of the legislature doesn’t rest on immunity.” Jibrin remarked concerning the bill.
The House during the debate was into a rowdy session that lasted for about 20 minutes with reports that a certain Hon Herma Hembe walked to the seat of Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin saying to him “you are gone!”.
His stance has since pitched his colleagues against him as frivolous accusations of him diverting many projects worth over N4 billion to his constituency in the 2016 budget.
He has been replaced with the House Chairman on Housing, Mustapha Bala Dawaki who also hails from Kano State and a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
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