The House of Representatives requires proof of evidence from the American government in deciding the fate of the three members of the House accused of sexual promiscuity in Cleveland, Ohio, Speaker Yakubu Dogara said yesterday.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, had in a June 9, 2016 petition to the House alleged that Mohammed Garba Gololo (Gamawa, Bauchi State) “grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex”; while Mark Terseer Gbillah (Gwer East/Gwer West, Benue) and Samuel Ikon (Etinam/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium, Cross River) “requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.”
Spokesman for the Green Chamber, Abdulrazak Namdas, told reporters on Thursday that the House had commenced a probe of the allegations.
The three Reps have separately dismissed the allegations as untrue.
But the Speaker, responding to questions on the issue on Twitter, said: “He who alleges must prove. That’s the law.”
In subsequent tweets he said: “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.”
Dogara at one point said he was “awfully embarrassed” because “Social media trial and conviction of members alleged to have committed the offence is taking up arms against our laws.”
He said the concerned lawmakers have expressed their readiness to face trial in the US if necessary. “They are ready to do that at their own cost.”