Budget Padding: APC Summons Jibrin To Appear Before Disciplinary Panel

The All Progressives Congress on Monday fired a letter to Abdulmumuni Jibrin, a former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation and member of the party, summoning him to appear before

a disciplinary committee at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja not later than Tuesday afternoon.In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Premium Times, the ruling party said all attempts to reach Mr. Jibrin (who has remained underground for almost two weeks) by telephone
calls and text messages were unsuccessful, leaving the party with no choice than to write to him.In the letter, dated August 1, 2016, and signed by the party’s Deputy National Chairman for the Northern Zone, Lawal Shuaibu, the APC expressed cautioned Mr. Jibrin’s over his media campaign against the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, and other principal officers over allegation of budget fraud.“To say the least, it is absolutely unacceptable to resort to media war as a means of settling scores without recourse to and/or exhausting the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism,” the party said.Mr. Jibrin was removed as chairman of the Appropriation Committee in controversial circumstances on July 20 on allegations of betrayal of trust. The lawmaker fought back, embarking on a vicious media campaign to have Mr. Dogara; his deputy, Yusuf Lasun; House Whip, Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, removed from office. (Mr. Ogor is the only PDP member of the four.)In the APC’s letter to Mr. Jibrin, the party said the Kano lawmaker’s action underscored a blatant disregard for party supremacy and its existing dispute resolution mechanism, adding that it would work to ensure that it instilled discipline on all members.The APC, therefore, reiterated its notice for Mr. Jibrin to appear before the party tomorrow, “urging” him to “be guided accordingly” as he digested the content of the letter.