HOUSE OF REPS APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE'S OFFICE SEALED OFF BY SECURITY AGENTS

The Clerk of the Committee on Appropriation, Dr. Abel Ochigbo, and his staff could not access the secretariat of the committee yesterday as security agents prevented them from doing so.

Yesterday’s development followed the face off between the Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and the erstwhile Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, over allegations of budget padding leveled by the latter against the speaker, key leaders of the House and some committee chairmen.

The denial of access implied that the Secretariat of the committee may have been sealed off as claimed by Abdulmumin through his twitter handle earlier on Saturday.
Abdulmumin had accused Speaker Dogara of ordering the computers in the Committee’s secretariat be moved to his office in a view to tampering with evidence.

The lawmaker had also alleged that there was an attempt to break into his office, Rm 1.05.

In one of his tweets on Saturday, he said: “On the request of my lawyers, the security agencies have promptly provided protection for the appropriation secretariat, my office and house.”

Ochigbo, fielding questions from journalists, said contrary to his claim, no computer or document in the secretariat had been removed. He also said that the secretariat had not been sealed as claimed.

But attempt by him to access the secretariat at about 4.30pm on Saturday so as to prove that it had not been sealed failed as security operatives denied him access.
“Nothing is wrong with the secretariat, everything is intact in the secretariat.

The thinking is that the status quo should be maintained. Of course I can’t instruct them to open the doors by force. So please bear with us because instead of keeping you here I feel I should make this statement. They are safeguarding the office,” he told journalist after he was prevented from accessing the secretariat.

Ochigbo also claimed that no staff had been harassed to intimidated.

In a letter addressed to the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, he further said: “I write to confirm that the committee secretariat is intact and has not been threatened in any way. All records are also intact and safe. Both hardware and software, in addition, our archival set up is properly kept and in order.

Furthermore, no staff in the secretariat of the committee has been subjected to any form of threat, intimidation or harassment from any quarter whatsoever. Any such reports along the lines of the above allegations should therefore be totally disregarded.”
Earlier the Chairman of the Appropriation Commitee, Hon. Mustapha Dawaki, told journalists that all the documents in the secretariat were intact, including computer hardware and software.