Speaker’s Accusers Should Resign - Jagaba

A member of the House of Representatives, Adams Jagaba, dismisses calls by members of the Transparency Group for the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara In interview with JOHN ALECHENU

The Transparency Group is insisting that Speaker Dogara and the four principal officers accused of budget padding by Abdulmumin Jibrin should step down. What is your take?

I ordinarily would not want to join issues with members of the Transparency Group. One, they are very few and they are just a bunch of individuals who lack character. Normally, I find it difficult to join issues with people like them, but the situation has reached a level where some of us have to speak out. The same people told everybody who cared to listen to them during our recess that they had secured over two hundred signatures from members of the House who identified with their cause. When we came to the floor of the House, the world saw what happened. Members of the House showed otherwise that they were with their Speaker; they fully identified themselves with Dogara. Many lawmakers used the scarf with the name of the speaker on it to show solidarity.

If they don’t love the Speaker, they won’t be part of that open display of support. The same thing happened when the Speaker called a voice vote to pass the motion moved by Mr. Emmanuel Orker-Jev. You saw it too that the ‘yes’ vote was unanimous. Where were they on that day? Where are the imaginary signatories to the nominal roll they claimed they have? They are just a bunch of liars and they think Nigerians can be cajoled into believing them. They don’t know that their lies have since expired and Nigerians know better. 

This is not the time for propaganda. For instance, if (Abdulmumin) Jibrin was as popular as he thinks, why didn’t he win when he contested to be Speaker?  He has no single member to support him and the same man was boasting that he made Dogara to be Speaker. If he has the capacity to make somebody a Speaker, why didn’t he make himself one? As far as I am concerned, members of the group are a bunch of confused people who have no bearing and have lost relevance in their constituencies. They have no other thing to do than to make noise in the National Assembly. I’m constrained to join issues with them to set the records straight in the public domain.

They said what occurred on the floor of the House last Wednesday was not a true reflection of the situation in the House. Do you agree with them?

You were there and witnessed it. Speaker Dogara is a man of the people, a man of character. Everybody knows the Speaker doesn’t take bribes. Everybody knows that the Speaker is an upright man. Everybody knows the Speaker as a righteous man. For this bunch of people who lack credibility to say the Speaker doesn’t have credibility, then there are a lot of questions to ask. The Speaker is a man of the people and loved by the people. These people are just hiding under this group to settle personal grudges they may have against the Speaker, but all of them have lost relevance.

Members of the group are saying they do not believe that the ethics committee will do a fair job because its chairman was appointed by Dogara.

The truth of the matter is that as a House, we have rules and regulation that covers our activities. Even in a banana republic, there are rules; even the beer parlour has rules that regulate the conduct of those who patronise such places not to talk of a national parliament like ours that has distinguished men and women who have accomplished feats in various fields of human endeavour. This is a parliament that makes laws for the good governance of this great nation and someone will sit somewhere and say he does not have confidence in a committee set up by such a House.

 Does it make sense? Now, the truth is that the matter at hand can be handled by a committee of the House. (Abdulmumin) Jibrin cannot give conditions on how the legislative hearing is going to be conducted. He has no power to do that. My advice to him is to just go there and face the committee. I believe they will ask him questions and he will answer the questions. Let him go there and answer the committee, which will, in turn, make recommendations to the House to deliberate on and take a decision. But for him to sit somewhere and say he will not appear, it means he has a skeleton in his cupboard. If, for instance, somebody takes you to court and you say you are not going to appear in court, will it stop the judge from passing judgment on the matter? The best thing for him to do is to appear before the committee. If he refuses to go, he will be committing another serious offence against the House. The committee is a creation of the House. 

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives powers to the National Assembly to invite any person within the territory of Nigeria to come and answer questions or appear before it. Failure to do so is an offence. So, as a lawmaker, I expect him to know. If truly he knows the law, then he cannot fail to appear before a committee via a resolution of the House. He must appear for his own good because his refusal to appear will mean disrespect for the House as a body. The House will not take this lightly.

One of the demands of the group is that the Speaker and the three other principal others should step down to allow an independent body to investigate the allegations. What do you make of this suggestion?

Don’t forget that Jibrin accused everybody in the House, including himself. Based on our laws, if a member is to resign or step down as a result of these accusations, it is the Speaker that will first receive the resignation of such a member. The best thing for Jibrin to do is to, first of all, resign. All the members of the Integrity Group should resign and any member who wishes to resign should resign. Then when the Speaker has collected the resignation letters from all of us, then he will add his own and submit it to the President and leave. 

Nobody can cajole us into forcing the Speaker to resign. Resign for what?  Jibrin accused every person. Why not call on all members to resign? You are calling on the Speaker to resign. What they failed to get through the front door they are trying to get through the back door. They cannot get that. It will not happen.

What do you see happening to the House at the end of this agitation?

I look forward to seeing a more focused and robust parliament. This matter is helping the House to separate the wheat from the chaff and the grain will remain and Nigerians will be the chief beneficiaries. Subsequently, Nigerians should elect people of character  to come to the National Assembly. Nigerians should elect people who have good records, not charlatans or people with questionable character.  They should elect people who have the passion, the love and commitment to serve. The kind of leadership Dogara is providing is the one we need to take the House to the next level. Dogara is a detribalised Nigerian whom I will urge to remain focused and not allow himself to be distracted.  I believe the House of Representatives will come out of stronger and better united.