Chidi Samuel
The three lawmakers in the lower house of the national assembly accused of sexual misconduct while on official assignment in the United States were today cleared of any misconduct by the joint committee of ethics and privileges and foreign affairs that investigated their case. The house of representative in a voice vote chaired by the deputy speaker, Yusuf Lasun, adopted the recommendations of the committee.
The committees recommendations are stated below;
“That Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo, Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah and Hon. Samuel Ikon are cleared of and exonerated from the allegations levelled against them by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria in his June 9, 2016 letter to the Rt. Hon. Speaker, for want of evidence.
“That in the light of the foregoing, the Hon Minister of Foreign Affairs does engage with the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, with a view to finding a seamless resolution of the domestic fallout of this unfortunate incident as it relates to Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo, Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah and Hon. Samuel Ikon;
“That the Ministry of Foreign affairs does write to remind the United States Embassy of the need to always adopt the official channel of communications in its dealings with any organ or institution of government.”
It will be recalled that the former US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle had written to the Leadership of the national assembly accusing the law makers of sexual misconduct while they were attending a leadership programme in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US.
All three lawmakers denied the allegation when they appeared before panel to probe the matter while Mr Entwistle, who made the claim failed to appear on two different occasions.