When 10 members of the House of Representatives arrived the
Renaissance hotel in Cleveland, Ohio as guests of the US government for
the International Visitor Leadership Programme held between April 7 and
13, 2016, the millions of Nigerians they represent were oblivious that
that the privilege would become an ill-fated trip of a sort.
Constituents of these lawmakers went about their lives not knowing that
the luxury hotel managed by the famous Marriott Hotel Group, would be
the scene of an international s*x scandal, that has caused them major
embarrassment and again blighted the country’s reputation.
In most cases, even some of the wealthiest countries, the US
inclusive, when hosting international exchange programmes or summits,
work with a budget, with such events being hosted at affordable hotels.
But probably due to the calibre of those invited for the leadership
programme, the US government chose to host the event at the
sophisticated hotel located in downtown Cleveland. Daily Sun findings
indicate that rooms in the Renaissance’s hotel start at about N92,000
per night. Further research on the hotel by Daily Sun also showed that
it has 33 event rooms one or two of which would have hosted the
conference the Nigerian lawmakers attended. Also not coming cheap is the
usage of the now famous parking lot at the hotel, where two lawmakers
were accused of asking a staff who assists in parking cars, known as
valet in America, to help procure the services of prostitutes.
According to the website of the hotel, parking
there for a day when a guest does that by himself costs about N7,600 and
about N9, 000 when the parking of the car is done by a valet and in
most cases, wealthy clients at such hotels still drop a generous tip for
valets.
It is therefore easy to hazard a guess, that any commercial s*x
worker who agrees to be pimped by valet at such a hotel would not come
cheap.
It was in that luxury hotel that according to the outgoing US
ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, the three lawmakers were engaged
in s*xual misconduct. Entwistle in a letter dated June 9, 2016,
addressed to Speaker Yakubu Dogara, alleged that, Mohammed Garba Gololo
(APC, Bauchi), Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC,
Benue) had during their stay in the hotel been involved in s*xual
misconduct.
The envoy in his letter said Gbillah and Ikon asked a staff of the
hotel to engage prostitutes on their behalf and Gololo made s*xual
overtures to a housekeeper.
When the envoy’s letter became public knowledge, resulting in a
roaring scandal, with members of the public expressing outrage both on
social media and at different forums, Dogara in his first response, said
in a series of tweets that his colleagues are innocent until proven
guilty. On their part, the three lawmakers have held to their plea of
innocence and just before it proceeded on a two- week break for Sallah,
the House mandated its Committees on Foreign Relations, Ethics and
Privileges to investigate the lawmakers.
The mandate given the joint committee was subsequent to the adoption
of a motion raised under matters of privileges at plenary on Tuesday
June 21 by Gbillah, who vehemently denied asking anyone to procure the
services of a prostitute on his behalf.
Gbillah whose motion was presented in an atmosphere of pin-drop
silence, explained that he was demanding on behalf of his colleagues,
that the House conducts a “detailed and public” investigation into the
matter.
He accused Entwistle of a “calculated campaign to tarnish and smear
the image of we the lawmakers and this hallowed institution”.
The lawmaker in an emotion laden voice insisted that he has never
cheated on his wife. He said: “For my colleagues who don’t know me and
Nigerians out there , I want to categorically state here, for any
avoidance of doubt, that no such incidence occurred.
“I want my colleagues and the nation to understand that though we are
in the eye of the storm, we will bear this cross and courageously too. I
want to say that this is calculated to tarnish the image of the three
members and this very hallowed institution. I caution Nigerians who are
quick to conclusion. I want to state categorically for all Nigerians to
know again, that I love my wife without reservation. I have only eyes
for my wife. I have never cheated on her. I wish she was able to come to
this hallowed chambers to testify to this. I went on this trip with my
wife and my baby. I travel everywhere I go with my wife and baby”.
Owing to the relevance of her committee to the investigation,
Chairperson House Committee on Foreign Relations, Nnenna Ukeje(
PDP-Abia), the only member allowed to speak after Gbillah, by Dogara,
called for a “de-escalation of the situation”, probably in reaction to
the deluge of negative comments against the lawmakers in the public
domain. She maintained that the investigation of the House must be done
with the understanding that Nigeria and the US share a long history of a
peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship. The Speaker in his
ruling emphasized the importance of the investigation to the House and
the public as according to him, the reputation of the country was at
stake. He said: “Few Nigerians were involved in Advance Fee Fraud. But
it soon became what Nigerians were identified with.
“So if we think that this is about the three members, we will be
wrong. It could become the standard which we and other Nigerians are
judged”.
Dogara repeated his earlier call to uphold the legal mantra that
accused persons be considered innocent until proven guilty. “Let me
reiterate that the standard in the US and it is the same in Nigeria, is
that you are innocent until proven guilty”, he restated. Even with the
commencement of the investigation today, for many it is hard to predict
its outcome as the situation is quite unprecedented. Regardless, a
member of the joint committee, who spoke to this paper on condition of
anonymity, said the House in recognition of the mood of the country over
the scandal, will not only make the investigations transparent but will
make findings public.
The Joint Committee met on Tuesday behind closed doors in preparation
for its first public hearing holding today. Daily Sun learnt that the
meeting was majorly to work out modalities by which this first of a kind
investigation will be conducted. Nevertheless, the basic expectations
are that the Foreign Relations Committee will handle the diplomatic
angle, while the Committee on Ethics and Privileges will deal with the
conduct of the lawmakers.
Of note is the fact that as investigations commence, again, the
lawmakers are saying that the onus of proof lies with the US Envoy who
turned down journalists at the Saturday July 2 cocktail party organised
by the embassy to commemorate the 240th anniversary of America’s
declaration of independence. “I have nothing to say about that” he said,
when asked if the House had replied his letter or made any contact. But
it is quite glaring, that the highly regarded envoy who is expected at
today’s hearing will have to say all he knows about what happened in far
away Cleveland, Ohio. Chairman of the Joint Committee, Ossai Nicholas
Ossai, disclosed on Monday that the Committee decided not to invite the
management of the Renaissance hotel because it believes the ambassador
will come with all the necessary video evidence showing how and when the
members he fingered carried out the actions for which he wrote the
Speaker in protest.
Suffice to say that tensions are high in the House over the content
of the video evidence the ambassador is supposed to present. Apart from
the outgoing US ambassador, the Committee also extended invitations to
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, the House Committee on
Human Rights, the three accused lawmakers, the National Human Rights
Commission, as well as the other seven members that attended the leadership programme.
Most importantly, Nigerians, an overwhelming majority of whom are
demanding for a thorough and transparent investigation will be watching
the Joint Committee closely, more so a lot is expected from the duo of
Ukeje and Ossai as ranking members whose contributions to debates on the
floor are characteristically demanding of a higher standard of service
and accountability from both elected and appointed government officials.
It is safe to say that with this investigation, the House may just be
facing one of its toughest tests as whatever report it comes up with
will be freely critiqued by Nigerians, some of whom are already
sceptical. Speaking to Daily Sun on the scandal, president of the Human
Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA),
Emmanuel Onwubiko, opined that the Speaker shouldn’t have made any comments until investigations have been fully conducted.
In addition to this, Onwubiko is of the view that with the House
conducting the investigation on the matter, the three accused lawmakers
might just be exonerated. For him, a better option would have been,
having the lawmakers investigated by a neutral committee set up by the
Foreign Affairs ministry.
Also speaking on the scandal, lawyer and rights activist Esther Uzoma
said it would be irresponsible to treat the allegations made against
the lawmakers with levity.
Uzoma who is the National Coordinator, of the Proactive Gender
Initiative, however posited that Nigerians have found it easy to believe
the allegations, because of what she described as a “high prevalence of
s*xual excesses” by Nigerian men, especially the highly placed, a
category, lawmakers fall into.
Source: Sun News
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