Budget Padding: Police To Comb Appropriation Office For Vital Documents

John Ameh, Adelani Adepegba
and Leke Bayewu
Fresh indications emerged on
Saturday that the police would this
week, liaise with the Department of
State Services to allow the team of
investigating officers led by an
Assistant Inspector General of Police
have access the secretariat of the
Appropriation Committee of the
House of Representatives.
 

The police panel is investigating
allegations levelled against the
leadership of the House of
Representatives by a former
Chairman of the House Committee
on Appriopration, Abdulmumin Jibrin,
that the 2016 budget was
unnecessarily padded.

 
A top police source, who disclosed
this to SUNDAY PUNCH in Abuja, said
this was necessary in order to access
documents and other data stored on
the computers used for the budget
preparation.


The police chief said, “We are
making necessary arrangement
anytime in the new week to request
the Department of State Services to
reopen the secretariat so that we
could have access to data and other
evidence that were being protected
by its operatives.”
 

SUNDAY PUNCH also gathered that
the police investigations into the
budget padding allegations in the
House of Representatives was being
delayed with the non-release of the
draft and final copies of the 2016
budget.
 

Speaking with police source said the panel was
not giving up on the investigations,
as it would write the DSS to enable it
access the House Appriopration
office, which had been sealed.
The panel had about two weeks ago
requested copies of the budget so it
could compare it with the versions
that were submitted to it by Jibrin.
But the National Assembly Clerk, Mr.
Mohammed Sani-Omolori, it was
learnt, had yet to provide the
documents which a source said was
germane to the panel’s
investigation.
 

According to an eye witness said, “The panel needs
the draft copies and the final version
of the budget, but since it
dispatched its request to the
National Assembly clerk, nothing has
been heard about it, and this of
course, has slowed down the
momentum of the probe. But we are
still expecting the officials to send
the documents.
 

“We are giving them time to
respond because we know that NASS
officials are also indirectly on recess
because the lawmakers were on
recess, but next week would be
crucial. There are major steps that
would be taken to move things
forward in the investigation.”
Speakers, others yet to honour
police invitation
 

Although None of the principal officers,
including the Speaker, Yabubu
Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Sulaiman
Lasun, and the Chief Whip, Alhassan
Ado-Doguwa, had honoured the
invitations by the police
investigating team.
Both the Speaker’s office, Lasun, and
Ogor failed to respond to inquiries
on the matter.
 

The Special Adviser to the Speaker
on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki
Hassan, asked for time to speak on
the issue, but as of the time of filing
this report, he had yet to do so. He
also did not reply to a text message
sent to his mobile phone.
 

The Chief Press Secretary to Lasun,
Mr. Wole Oladimeji, also did not react
to inquiries by Sunday PUNCH.
Ogor’s mobile phone rang out.
I‘ll honour police if invited — Ado-
Doguwa
 

But Ado-Doguwa said he had yet to
be invited and would honour the
police invitation.
Ado-Doguwa added that there was
no point “playing to the gallery” by
submitting himself to the police,
which had yet to invite him.
 

He said, “As a true democrat and a
firm believer in the ‘rule of law,’ I
would always respond and honour
any constitutional invitation from
any of our law enforcement or anti-
graft agencies on any matter, if am
invited. I am not above the law
either.”