Following allegations of 2016 budget padding leveled against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), on Sunday in a press statement, passed a vote of confidence on the Speaker.
Jibrin, in his petition to security agencies, including the police, had accused the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, and 12 others of padding the budget and diverting Federal projects to his personal farm in Nasarawa State…
NANS, in the statement signed by its chairman, Coordinator’s Forum, Habib Salau and signed by its blocks- Zone A, Zone B, and Zone C, Coordinators, defended the speaker, saying that the speaker has placed high premium on masses-oriented legislations and inclusive governance.
Former chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, had alleged that Dogara and three other principal officers of the House padded the budget submitted by the executive to the National Assembly for consideration.
The statement read in part: “In the light of current happenings regarding the office of the Honourable Speaker and other Principal Officers of the House of Representatives on the issue of 2016 budget process, Nigerian students herein state that we have x-rayed the leadership style, charisma and character of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and found him worthy as well as well trained and roundly groomed leader best fit to steer the affairs of the House of Representatives in the best interest of our rapidly advancing democracy.
The students association noted that Dogara is well- placed to begin a holistic reform of Nigerian budget process which is already stated in the legislative agenda of the House.
“As we critically examine the kernel of the matter, it recurs in very lucid terms that Honourable Speaker Yakubu Dogara has remained in the forefront of the anti-corruption war being waged by the President Muhammadu Buhari led rescue government.
“It still remains fresh in our collective memories that the Speaker Dogara came out in clear and unmistakable terms to condemn acts of corruption, going a step further in exposing the antics and tactics of corrupt individuals.
“Yakubu Dogara deserves an excellent rating to the extent that the anti-corruption crusade is concerned and only the prejudiced or ill-intentioned will turn around to accuse him of corruption where no evidence of such exists.”
