Speaker of Nigeria’s house of representatives, Yakubu Dogara, took to social media in the early hours of Saturday, July 18, 2019 to comment on the allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against three Nigerian lawmakers by the United States government.
A statement issued by his spokesman, Turaki Hassan, said the speaker who responded to questions on the allegations, urged Nigerians to refrain from passing judgment and wait for the outcome of investigation by the House of Representatives.
The Trent had reported that Mr. James Entwistle, the United States ambassador to Nigeria, had written to Nigeria’s speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara alleging that three Nigerian lawmakers, Mohammed Garba Gololo of Bauchi State, Mark Terseer Gbillah, of Benue State, and Samuel Ikon of Akwa Ibom State, have been accused of attempted rape by groping a hotel staff and soliciting prostitutes in the parking lot of the hotel while on official business in the United States.
According to the statement emailed to The Trent, “judgment can only be passed when an allegation is proven”.
He maintained that as ambassadors of the house of representatives and indeed, the entire country, the members in the middle of the scandal would have known not to bring dishonour to the institution they represent.
Dogara vowed that the house of representatives would conduct an investigation into allegations, stating that:”together with the US Embassy in Nigeria, we will get to the bottom of this matter”.
The speaker further explained that apart from the letter, no evidence had been forwarded to his office, and that there can be no conviction without a trial.
He also indicated that the lawmakers have said that they are prepared to defend themselves at their own cost.
Speaking on the attempted rape allegation, the speaker said that it was not alluded to in the letter he received and said: “We await the result of the investigation into the matter.”
The 3 Nigerian Lawmakers Respond
Samuel Ikon, one of the lawmakers mentioned in Ambassador James Entwistle’s letter has denied the allegations saying that they are not true and that in “bad taste” and “a case of mistaken identity”.
“I wish to state unequivocally that this is false and definitely not me,” said Ikon, who is a former speaker of the Akwa Ibom State house of assembly. “This, to me is a case of mistaken identity and I will be vindicated. I have initiated measures both legal and diplomatic to clear my name and the institution I represent.
“There are many questions left unanswered by the actions of the U.S. mission but I believe it will become clearer in the course of time,” Ikon said.
Mark Gbillah, representing Benue Gwer East/Gwer Eest in the Nigerian house of representatives, has equally denied the allegations and demanded that the US government provide video evidence of his alleged sexual misconduct or he would sue the US for ‘tarnishing his name’.
Gbillah has written to the ambassador to protest the allegations. In the letter, made available to the press, the Nigerian lawmaker demanded for the “full video/CCTV footage covering the period of our entire stay at the hotel; this should clearly show the movements and activities of every member of the group throughout the hotel”.
Mr. Gbillah also threatened to institute “legal action in the United States against the Marriot Hotel Brand, the Cleveland Council of World Affairs, and the US State Department requesting for damages, comprehensive investigation of these allegations to exonerate myself and a formal globally publicised apology”.
“I was shocked. I was embarrassed. There is nothing as such that has happened,” the other Nigerian lawmaker mentioned who was specifically accused of groping a hotel staff, Mohammed Gololo said to BBC in reaction to the allegations. He also described the allegations as “false” and “unfounded”.
Gololo threatened to sue the United States government and suggested that he was willinging to return to Cleveland to “clear his name”.
The Envoy’s Letter
A team of ten Nigerian lawmakers visited Cleveland, Ohio for the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance which held between April 7 and 13, 2016.
In a letter to Mr. Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the Nigerian house of representatives, James Entwistle, the United States ambassador to Nigeria reportedly accused two of the lawmakers of soliciting prostitutes during an official visit to the US.
“Mark Terseer Gbillah [Benue] and Samuel Ikon [Akwa Ibom] allegedly requested hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes,” the US ambassador wrote.
In the letter dated June 9, 2016, exclusively obtained by New Telegraph, third lawmaker, Mohammed Garba Gololo of Bauchi State is accused of attempting to rape a staff of the hotel in Cleveland, where he stayed during the trip.
“Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex,” Entwistle wrote. “While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo.”
“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,” the letter said.
