The suspended member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has vowed not to return to Nigeria unless his safety is guaranteed.
Mr. Jibrin, who left Nigeria for London last week to receive an award and take his anti-corruption campaign to the international community, was suspended by the House after he accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara, some other Principal Officers and a few other members of corruption, abuse of office and monumental fraud in connection with the 2016 budget.
In an exclusive interview with BEN TV in London on Monday, the lawmaker said he recently received threats from some of the lawmakers he had accused.
According to him, the House cabal led by Mr. Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, Whip Alhassan Doguwaand Minority Leader Leo Ogor, are using Hon. Herma Hembe in an effort to either assassinate or kidnap him or members of his family.
The legislator also said that the initial silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter was a blessing in disguise because if the President had spoken much earlier he would have been accused of using him to fight the House leadership.
He expressed the view that the time is now ripe and the crisis mature enough for the President to break his silence.
"The situation currently at hand is different from the initial stage of the crisis,” he stated. “The silence of the presidency is no longer sending the right message to Nigerians and the international community."
Mr. Jibrin revealed that he recently wrote to President Buhari, seeking audience to brief him about monumental fraud in the 2016 budget, individual and systemic corruption in the House and some vital information on how to check corruption in the House and further fraud in budget process, and reform the House for the good of Nigeria.
He stated that over 2,000 fraudulent projects worth over N284 billion were inserted into 2016 budget, affirming that such fraud had never happened in the history of the Nigerian legislature.
Rep. Jibrin exonerated himself of any wrongdoing in the appropriation process, saying that in his five years in the House, he never abused his office or corruptly enrich himself.
While reiterating his resolve to continue with the anti-corruption campaign, he revealed that he would now take the campaign to the international stage by reaching out to foreign governments, parliaments, the media, civil society groups and Nigerians in the Diaspora, among others, to press further for the arrest and prosecution of Speaker Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and other members of the corrupt cabal in the House.
culled from sahara
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