A former chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Monday failed to appear before the House Ethics and Privileges Committee, investigating claims of misconduct against the lawmaker.
The House has been rocked by budget fraud scandal triggered by Mr. Jibrin, who accused the speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and three others of “padding” the budget with billions of naira of fictitious projects.
The house has not investigated the claims.
Some members have instead accused Mr. Jibrin of violating their rights, by making the allegation publicly – rather than follow internal procedure.
The ethics panel probing that allegation started sitting on Friday.
The chairman of the committee, Nicholas Ossai, had urged Mr. Jibrin to appear on Monday at 12p.m.
Mr. Jibrin initially promised to do so if the proceedings were opened to the public.
By weekend, he said he had changed his decision. Mr. Jibrin accused the committee of bias and lack of independence.
His lawyer has also written to the speaker, asking him to discontinue the investigation.
The committee members are currently whispering amongst themselves apparently over the next line of action.
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