James Emejo in Abuja
Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin has carpeted the spokesman of the House, Hon. Abdulrazaq Namdas over the latter’s comments on his date of expected return from his suspension.
Jubrin had been suspended for 180 legislative days amid the budget padding saga which rocked the House last year.
The embattled lawmakers reportedly got angered by Namdas’ comment that he was yet to complete his suspension and that Jibrin would have to apologise to the lower chamber as a condition for his return to the chamber.
However, Jibrin, in a statement issued last night by his media aide, Godwin Onyeacholem, berrated Namdas for making comments which are “insensitive and insult to the people of his constituency, coming on a day Kiru/Bebeji constituents gathered to further deepen their protests and mark a one year of brazen impunity and injustice meted on them and the member representing them (who it is a public knowledge committed no offense).â€
The statement further read:â€For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state that Hon. Jibrin’s position on this issue remains, as always, immutable. He has maintained that denying his constituents representation for one good year is unconstitutional and negates all known democratic principles, just as asking him to apologize for doing no wrong is a negation of all known social norms.
“It is somewhat weird that the official spokesman of the House claims that he does not know the exact date that Hon. Jibrin’s purported suspension would lapse. That in itself speaks volume of the subterfuge and sinister motives around the whole issue.
“Hon. Jibrin is aware of sacrifices required during struggles like this. He is therefore prepared to make whatever sacrifice for the good of the House of Representatives and Nigeria as a whole, so that posterity will remember him on the good side of history.â€
