TheCable

At least 80 lawmakers on the platform of Transparency Group (TG) have vowed to resist any plans to pass a vote of confidence on Yakubu Dogara, the speaker, and the other principal officers accused of padding the budget, when the house of representatives reconvenes on Tuesday.

After a meeting which lasted well into the night on Monday, the group insisted that Dogara must step aside to allow an investigation into the budget padding allegations levelled against him by Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former appropriations chairman.

“We will resist any plan to pass vote of confidence at the plenary, we would wait for the matter to be raised during plenary,” a source privy to the meeting quoted one of the lawmakers as saying.

“But if they refuse, we will raise it. We had a meeting with over 80 people in attendance, while over 30 lawmakers sent their apologies for not being able to attend.

“We also have in attendance some PDP lawmakers. What we want is for the Speaker Yakubu Dogara to step aside. We are not witch-hunting anybody; all we need is the truth. We decided to summon Jibrin n order hear his own side of the story.

“We will resist any attempt to suspend anybody. Our demands are simple: the matter must be investigated; anything short of that will not be accepted by us.”

The group also said they would not accept the house’s ethics and privileges committee to investigate the matter.

The lower chamber resumes sitting on Tuesday after a seven-week recess.