By The last may not be heard on the travails of the former chairman of Appropriation Committee in the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, since he stirred the hornet’s nest by alleging that the House is infested with corruption and that the 2016 budget was ‘padded’ by his colleagues.
In another new twist to the unfolding political drama, reports of an inaccurate declaration of his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required by the law has been revealed.
Recall, In 2015, Hon. Jibrin had stated on page 3 of annexure 1 of the CCB declaration of assets form that he did not have any foreign account. In reply to the question whether he possessed cash in foreign account, he replied, ‘do not have’.
A document available to LEADERSHIP Friday, shows that contrary to the embattled lawmaker’s claim that he does not have any overseas account, the foregoing revealed that he was economical with the truth to the CCB, thus running foul of the Fifth Schedule, paragraph 3 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which prohibits public officers from operating or maintaining accounts in any country outside Nigeria.
In the asset declaration form he filled at the CCB as declarant no. MHR: 002400, Jibrin indicated that he has no foreign bank account(s). But another document, a copy of which is available to LEADERSHIP courtesy of NGLEAKS (www.ngleaks.worpress.com), reveals that he possesses an account with Barclays Bank of England.
The account, No. SC 204744, caters for his international account (AC 33471268), reserve account (AC 43707164), mortgage account (AC 94030664), Euro currency account(AC 52339433) and USD currency account (74521222).
The address with which he opened the account is: 81Cotsworld Gardens, London, NW 2 1 PE.
It was in respect to this development that the anti-corruption unit of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) wrote a petition to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges on November 30th, 2016.
The House invited him to come and clarify the issue raised in the petition, but Jibrin, who fled the country after his suspension did not respond.
If he is found guilty of any offence with regard to this allegation by the CCT, he could be charged to court by the tribunal, just like the Senate President, Bukola Saraki did, for emasculating the laws prohibiting political office holders from operating bank accounts abroad. He could also be guilty of perjury for lying under oath.
Leadership.
