A former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has called on the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to stop further payment of running costs to members of the Lower Legislative Chamber.
Jibrin, who was last week suspended from the House, alleged that rather than use the money for its original purpose, lawmakers divert the funds into “private pockets”.
He also advised Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to shun invitations to appear before the House.
The Kano lawmaker, who took to his twitter handle @AbdulAbmJ, wrote: “I am also demanding that the Minister of Finance, the Accountant General of the Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Clerk to the National Assembly, in exercising my right as a citizen of Nigeria, should stop with immediate effect, further payments of running cost allowances to members of the House of Representatives.
“As an insider, I know that most of such monies have been and are diverted into private pockets.
“There is no law in our country that is intended to protect corruption. So, the continuous payment of such money negates the spirit and genuine intention of establishing such laws in the first place.
“I am also calling on Nigerians, companies, ministries, departments and agencies to shun invitations from the House of Representatives until the House allows for a transparent investigation of individual and systemic corruption allegations in collaboration with ongoing external investigations by the police and anti-graft agencies.”
The lawmaker also disclosed that he has started forwarding the names of members in batches to anti-graft agencies on how they allegedly misused the running costs.
Jibrin stated that he was prepared to serve the “harshest punishment” if his allegations were proven to be wrong.
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