Suspended House of Representatives member, Abdulmumin Jubril, was on the news, weeks back, after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, even as many wonder if the lawmaker would ever be recalled to the lower Chambers.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting at the State House in Abuja, Jibrin said he had not come to seek the President’s intervention on his political crisis, rather the meeting was a father and son encounter.
“Well, I cannot comment on that. The most important thing is that I saw him and he is a very high spirit. I greeted like a son and he spoke to me like a father.”
On move to get him recalled, Jubrin, stated that Nigerians love justice, hence it is only normal that people will talk and ask questions as his constituency has been suspended for 16 months.
“Why are we not back on the aspect of court case that has been lingering for the past 16 months. I think these are some of the reasons people are raising issues in the public glare.”
He also noted that the suspension has been like every situation, a learning curve for him.
The lawmaker also expressed hope on his recall, citing Senator Ali Ndume, who also faced the same disciplinary actions as a reference.
How he was suspended.
In July 2016, Abdulmumin Jubrin, representing Kiru/Babeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, raised dusts, when he accused Speaker of the House of Representative, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and three other Principal officers; Deputy Speaker; Yussuff Lasun; the Chief Whip; Alhassan Ado-Doguwa; and the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, of padding the 2016 Budget.
Jubrin, who was then the Chairman of the House Appropriation Committee, wrote petitions to law enforcement agencies; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), State Security Services, SSS, and the Police headquarters.
At first, Dogara kept silent but later denied the allegations while stating that the law enforcement cannot probe lawmakers because of some level of immunity. A statement he later retrieved.
Despite Dogara denying the claims and the Presidency insisting the budget was not padded, Jibrin insisted on his allegations.
Jubrin faced isolation when his colleagues including 10 Principal Officers started criticizing and accusing him of defacing the House.
In September, upon resumption from recess, the House moved a motion to probe Jubrin for breaching the privileges of the House members and tough sanctions were proposed.
Following investigations by the Ethics and Privileges Committee and an invitation to appear before the House to which he refused, Jubrin was suspended for 180 legislative days.
He was also instructed to tender a written apology to the House before his resuming in September this year, he opposed this, saying he never offended anyone.
Since the House sits three days in a week for it session, his suspension would last for a year.
At the end of September, he sought legal redress from the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge his suspension and filed a suit of $1billion for damages.
He urged the Court to declare his suspension as a violation of his fundamental human right to freedom of expression.
He had earlier approached the Court to challenge the plans to stop his suspension but later withdrew.
An appeal was also lodged by two members of the House of Reps, Hon. Nicholas Ossai and Hon. Orker-Jev Emmanuel, who moved the motion which led to Jubrin’s suspension.
The two members are asking the court to put the hearing of the substantive matter on hold, pending the determination of their interlocutory appeal before the Court of Appeal.
Counsel to the lawmakers, Mr. Akeem Kareem, told the court that they had already filed a notice of appeal against the ruling of the court delivered on April 13, which prevented them from joining the suit as interested parties.
By May, Jubrin’s case was adjourned indefinitely, pending the decision of the Appellate Court.
On December 12, the Court dismissed the House of Reps suit against delaying Jibrin’s case at the High Court.
This means the High Court is expected to resume his case soon.
Jubrin’s attempt at being a Twitter sensation has not been too successful as he is hardly spoken of despite being perceived as a victim.
