·Grills officials of 16 ministries
Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja
There are indications that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may invite the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, his deputy, Hon. Yusuf Lasun, Chief Whip, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, over the allegations made against them by the former House Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Dr. Jibrin Abdulmumin.
Abdulmumin, had among other issues, accused the speaker, other principal officers, and some House committee chairman of diverting N40 billion out of N100billion allocated to constituency projects in the 2016 budget.
The former Chairman on Appropriation, who was recently suspended for 180 sittings over his allegations against his colleagues, said that constituency projects worth N40 billion were shared among the principal officers without the approval of the House.
He also claimed that the speaker ignored his complaint that the chairmen of 10 out of the 96 standing committees of the House inserted 2,000 projects worth about N284 billion into the budget, among others.
He further alleged that his refusal to accept a request to insert N30 billion into the 2016 budget caused the rift between him and the leadership of the House.
A senior operative of the EFCC told THISDAY in Abuja yesterday that the anti-graft agency was currently conducting a “discreet but thorough investigation” into the allegations made by Abdulmumin, disclosing that the investigation had reached an advanced stage.
“Our senior operatives involved in the investigation have grilled officials of 16 federal ministries in connection with the on-going probe into the allegations contained in a petition written to the commission by Abdulmumin, the source who spoke with THISDAY in confidence stated.
“Our operatives have gathered some evidence on some of the issues raised in the petition. The commission would soon send invitation letters to some of the members listed in the petition to our commission,” he said.
The source added that the investigation into the petition was “progressing smoothly”, saying that the investigation was being handled on a ministry-by-ministry basis and was going on well.
“Very soon, we will get to a point where those who have any case to answer would be summoned to make clarifications where necessary. In this fight against corruption, we believe nobody is above the law,” the source said.
