 |
Speaker
House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara
|
The Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on Thursday, directed the investigation
of three members of the House for alleged improprieties while in the US on
training.
The
Punch report continues:
The
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas,
confirmed this in Abuja just as investigations had shown that the United States
Embassy had cancelled the visas of the affected members.
Namdas
explained that the leadership of the House decided to investigate the alleged
sex scandal following a formal complaint made by the US Ambassador to Nigeria,
Mr. James Entwistle.
He
said, “We are in receipt of a letter from the US Ambassador, alleging
misconduct by some members of the National Assembly, who attended training in
the United States of America.
“The
leadership of the House has commenced its own part of the investigation. When
it is concluded, we will brief Nigerians further on this issue.”
Namdas,
however, declined questions on how the investigation would be conducted.
“When
we say we will conduct an investigation, we will conduct it and there will be a
report,” Namdas stated.
The
development came as the US formally cancelled its visas from the three
lawmakers, an indication that they had been barred from future trips to the
United States.
However,
investigations by The Punch showed that the speaker came under
pressure from many lawmakers, who felt that the matter could tarnish the image
of the National Assembly if it was not attended to.
The
affected members – Mr. Mohammed Garba-Gololo (Bauchi State); Mr. Terse Gbillah
(Benue State), and Mr. Samuel Ikon (Cross River State) – allegedly committed
the act during a recent trip to the US to participate in the International
Visitor Leadership Programme on Good Governance organized by the US Government.
The
three legislators were members of a team of 10 lawmakers nominated to attend
the leadership programme, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, between April 7
and 13 this year.
Entwistle,
in his June 9 letter to Dogara, stated, “It is with regret that I must bring to
your attention the following situation.
“Ten
members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland,
Ohio, as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good
governance.
“We
received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the
delegation to the US Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.
“The
US Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received
reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel, where the representatives
stayed, alleging that the representatives engaged in the following behaviour:
“Mohammed
Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited
her for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this
incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal
consequences for Representative Gololo.
“Mark
Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested that hotel parking
attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.”
Finding
showed that the lawmakers dismissed the allegation as “baseless and untrue”
when Dogara first sought their explanations.
However,
he was said to have come under pressure from members, who insisted on a
thorough investigation, considering the fact that the Ambassador committed it to
writing.
A
National Assembly source stated, “The speaker came under pressure because many
members are not satisfied with the responses of the affected persons.
Another
source stated, “Of course, the members have threatened legal actions and have
requested video evidence from the US Ambassador since the housekeeper was said
to have identified Garba-Gololo in a group photograph.
“Members
felt that the House should thoroughly investigate the allegation to establish
the correct position. The 8th Assembly passed a Code of Conduct to members of
the House in 2015.
“This
is one of the test cases and it is important that we clear this issue.”
Some
of the members, who participated in the programme were Chairman, House
Committee on the Diaspora Affairs, Mrs. Rita Orji; Deputy Chairman, House
Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Gaza Jonathan; Mrs. Ayo Omidiran;
Mr. Danburam Abubakar; and Mr. Nkole Ndukwe.
US
cancels Reps’ visa
The
US embassy, it was learnt, had written the three members cancelling their visas
to the US.
One
of the lawmakers, Gbillah, wrote Entwistle on Thursday (yesterday), accusing
the US of not giving the three members fair hearing.
Gbillah
also expressed surprise in his letter that within hours of bringing the matter
to the attention of the House, the US Government had gone ahead to cancel the
visas of the lawmakers.
He
threatened to immediately institute legal actions against the US Government,
the Ambassador and the Marriot Hotel Brand, among others for damages.
Part
of Gbillah’s letter, which was dated June 16, read, “Without conclusive
evidence of any sort or contact with any of the accused individuals, the US
State Department and US Embassy in Nigeria have less than six days after your
letter to the Speaker, gone ahead to revoke the US visas of the accused
individuals based on hearsay from the employees of the hotel in Cleveland.
“Affected
individuals received correspondence from the US Embassy on Wednesday, June 15,
2016, indicating the denial of their US visas and requesting that they bring
their passports with the current US visa to the Embassy.”
The
letter was copied to Dogara, the US Secretary of State, Nigeria’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs, the Cleveland Council of World Affairs, and the President and
Chief Executive Officer, Marriott International.
On
his part, Ikon claimed that the allegation levelled against him was not only
untrue but also a case of mistaken identity.
He
stated, “My attention has been drawn to the publication, alleging an act of
impropriety against me by the US Mission in Nigeria.
“I
wish to state unequivocally that this is false and definitely not me.
“This,
to me, is a case of mistaken identity and I have already instituted measures
both legally and diplomatically to clear my name and the institution I
represent.
The
US Mission in Nigeria refused to comment on Entwistle’s letter on Thursday.
“We do not comment on private diplomatic correspondence. Thank you very much for your inquiry,” the Mission’s Press Attaché, Sean McIntosh, said in an email.
(Edited)
No comments:
Post a Comment