Former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has dismissed the threat of possible suspension by the House of Representatives over allegations that he breached privileges of members.

According to the lawmaker, he had some weeks back commenced a case in court to prevent his being suspended by the House and the House is aware of the case.

Rep Jibrin said that any attempt to suspend him will be in contempt of court.

He also dismissed the position of the chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, which was mandated to investigate the allegations of breach of privileges that his failure to appear before the committee would be taken as his defence to the allegations.

The embattled lawmaker, on Monday carried out his earlier threat as he failed to appear before the House Ethics and Privileges Committee, which is investigating his allegations of budget padding.

Jibrin had vowed not to honour the committee’s invitation if the House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, failed to step down to allow for a credible probe.

He insisted that the House had lost the moral ground to discharge its legislative functions as it has failed to address the allegations decisively.

The chairman of the committee, Nicholas Ossai, however, said that Jibrin’s absence is a defense in itself and the committee would complete its work with the evidence it has gathered so far.

•Sourced fromChannels TV.Photo showsAbdulmumin Jibrin.