BUDGET PADDING: Jibrin Abdulmumin Seeks Court Protection to Avoid Arrest but What Happened Will Shock You

The embattled Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, Jibrin Abdulmumin, who made the budget-padding allegation, has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking an order to restrain the Nigerian Police from arresting him.

The respondents in the suit are the Nigeria Police, the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (FCT), Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Hon. Yusuf Lasun, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Hon. Leo Ogor and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

The lawmaker, in his tweets and statements had given the impression that he was enjoying the cooperation of the police, over the allegations against Dogara and others.

But Abdulmumin, in the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja with No: FHC/ABJ/CS/595, said there was a police siege on his home and that up till the time of filing the suit on August 9, 2016, the siege was still in force.

The affidavit deposed on his behalf by his legislative aide, Mr. Bashir Bello said this was “in a bid to arrest him unlawfully and achieve their pre-determined aim of tampering with his fundamental human rights.”

Abdulmumin, in the suit, accused the police of plotting to “nab him and also put him out of circulation and so as to lay their hands on the said documents and destroy the evidence therein, and avoid a leakage of their roles in the budget issue.”

The embattled lawmaker, in a separate suit, also sued Dogara, the Clerk of the House and others, to restrain the lower chamber from suspending him.

Others listed in the suit filed at the Federal High Court Abuja on August 9, 2016, include the Lasun, Doguwa, Ogor and the eight chairmen of standing committees. House is set to resume from its summer recess on September 13, 2016.

Abdulmumini in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/595, said Dogara and others had perfected plans to ensure his indefinite suspension from the House, after his petition to the EFCC, ICPC and the police.

“That if the reliefs of the Plaintiff are not granted, the Plaintiff would be suspended as a member of the House of Representatives and this would greatly prejudice him and thousands of his constituents who rely on him to afford them their due representation in the Federal legislature,” his affidavit read.

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