Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has asked America to provide evidence that the lawmakers indeed committed the crimes.
Three Nigerian lawmakers are accused by the United States Government of sexual misconduct ..
He who alleges must prove. That's the law. https://t.co/UxGC69dSnC
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@SpeakerDogara) June 18, 2016
A lawmaker, Mohammed Gololo (APC-Bauchi State) was accused of grabbing a hotel maid and soliciting sex, while two others, Samuel Ikon (PDP-Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC-Benue State) allegedly requested a car park attendant to help them arrange the services of prostitutes during a visit to Cleveland for the International Visitor Leadership Programme.
The allegations were contained in a June 9 petition to Mr. Dogara by American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle.
The three lawmakers denied the allegations separately describing them as “totally false”, “calculated attempt to rubbish the National Assembly” and “a case of mistaken identity.”
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Mr. Dogara commented on the allegations, as he responded to questions thrown at him by Nigerians.
“He who alleges must prove,” he said via his Twitter handle @speakerdogara. “That’s the law.”
“As we speak no evidence has been put forward other than the letter sent to my office and copied to many others.
“Together with the US Embassy in Nigeria we will get to the bottom of this matter and until then let’s not be judgemental.
“Under our laws an accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty and he enjoys the benefit of any doubt.
I got a letter from US Ambassador but there's no reference to any attempted rape.That's a social media creation. https://t.co/LHcax2NBC9
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@SpeakerDogara) June 18, 2016
I can't agree any less with you. Like they didn't When we ultimately discovered Saddam had no Nuke arsenals. https://t.co/03Ev2JyQRn
— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@SpeakerDogara) June 18, 2016
The Speaker Mr. Yakubu Dogara, had on Thursday, directed the investigation of three members of the House for an alleged sex scandal.
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.
