The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James
Entwistle, has petitioned the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon.
Yakubu Dogara, accusing some members of the lower chamber of improper conduct,
attempted rape and soliciting for prostitutes while on official trip to the US.
But, the affected lawmakers have denied all the allegations and threatened to
sue the ambassador and the US government for “character defamation and a
calculated attempt to ridicule the National Assembly.”
The Ambassador, in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed
to Speaker Dogara, alleged that three members of the House namely: Hon.
Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Hon. Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Hon.
Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to the United States for the
International Visitor Leadership Program, brought disrepute to the parliament
by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing hotel housekeeper in a bid
to rape.
Ten lawmakers were invited by the US government for the
International Visitor Leadership Program held between April 7 and 13, 2016 in
Cleveland, Ohio. They include: Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (PDPNasarawa State),
Danburam Abubakar Nuhu (APC-Kano State), Nkole Uko Ndukwe (PDP-Abia State),
Rita Orji (PDPLagos State), Ayo Huliyat Omidiran (APC-Osun).
Entwistle’s letter reads: “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 U.S.
Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.
“The U.S. Department of State and the Cleveland Council
on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel where
the representatives stayed, alleging 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 hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit
prostitutes.”
“The U.S. Mission took pains to confirm these allegations
and the identities of the individuals with the employees of the hotel in
Cleveland.
The conduct described above left a very negative
impression of Nigeria, casting a shadow on Nigeria’s National Assembly, the
International Visitor Leadership Program, and to the American hosts’ impression
of Nigeria as a whole. “Such conduct could affect some participants’ ability to
travel to the United States in the future.”
“While the
majority of Nigerian visitors to the United States do behave appropriately,
even a few Nigerians demonstrating poor judgement leads to a poor impression of
the Nigerian people generally, though it is far from accurate.Such incidents
jeopardise the ability of future programming and make host institutions and
organisations less likely to welcome similar visits in the future.”
Entwistle also stated that the affected lawmakers did not
show remorse when the issue was brought to them.
“In addition, most of the members of this group reacted
very negatively to my deputy when she brought this matter to their attention,
further calling into question their judgement and commitment to the goals of
the International Visitor Leadership Programme.
This leads us to question whether to include National
Assembly members for other similar programmes in the future. “I request, in the
strongest possible terms, you share this message with members of the National
Assembly so they understand the seriousness of these issues, and the potential
consequences of their actions, not only for themselves as individuals, but also
for the future of such programmes designed to benefit Nigeria,” he said in the
letter.
However, one of the accused members, Gbillah said that there was no iota of truth
in what the ambassador said but a calculated attempt to cause disaffection
between them and their wives, families and constituents as they were not given
any fair hearing before the letter was sent to the speaker.
He said he was on the trip with his wife and baby and
could not, in any way, solicit for sex from a prostitute. He said: “This is an
affront on the National Assembly and Nigeria, it appears they have ulterior
motives. We are not going to take this lightly; we will take legal actions
against the US government. It is a dent on our image.”
Narrating the story of their stay in US, Gbillah said: “I
went on the trip with my wife and baby and insisted that she stayed with me,
but they told me the accommodation was meant for only participants. So, at
Cleveland Renaissance where we were, opposite the Quicken Loan Arena, the
Cleveland Cavalier Basketball team played a match and many people came to lodge
at the same hotel, and they claimed that we spoke with car park attendants.
We didn’t go with cars, so how could we have spoken with
attendants?” He explained that the first time he heard about the allegations
was a month after they returned from the US and went to represent the speaker
at the farewell dinner for the Chinese ambassador. “…
I saw the ambassador (Entwistle) and went to greet him
and he told me how a few of us tarnished the image of the House. I advised him
to make it formal so that we can know who was involved and what actually
happened.
“It was after this encounter that they called us to their
premises and said they were identified by their accusers in a group picture.
This is curious. No video footage. They didn’t accost us while we were in US.
We suspect this is a calculated attempt to rubbish the National Assembly. “Is
this how they would have investigated their congressmen? Do they know that
there were other black people who came to watch the match? How could they have
identified us in a picture without our knowledge?
“We, the concerned members, have written to the speaker
indicating the facts and demanding footage of our stay in the hotel. We also
want them to provide access to our accusers to identify us. But most
importantly, we would be demanding compensation from the US government for
defamation of character.”
Also, in his letter to the speaker, dated June 13,
Gololo, who was accused of grabbing a housekeeper, said: “Let me, from the outset,
express my shock and dismay at the contents of the letter generally and
particularly affects me.
“These are totally false, unfounded and baseless
allegations against me. I categorically deny any such incident happened, I
never grabbed any housekeeper nor did I solicit for sex. I also take this issue
very seriously not only because I am a honourable member representing a
hallowed institution, but because of my integrity as a husband and father.
How would my family and in-laws react to these wild and grave
allegations? “I demand an apology and retraction of these allegations or I
shall not hesitate to engage the services of lawyers and not only to clear my
name, but to seek redress for the damages done to my reputation. I insist that
evidence of the allegations against me be produced.
“It is, therefore, in the interest of both countries to
investigate this matter thoroughly to get to the root of it and I am ready to
go back to Cleveland at my expense to establish my innocence without prejudice
to my rights, press charges against libellous allegations”
NewsTelegraph
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