The House of Representatives, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to name and prosecute the member of the National Assembly allegedly sponsoring the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
President Buhari in his Independence Day broadcast to Nigerians, announced that his government was in possession of information to the effect that a member of the apex legislature was financing the activities of IPOB.
Reacting to the allegation on Tuesday, a member of the House, Ben Igbakpa, who raised a point of order on matter of privileges however prayed the leadership of the House to persuade the president to come out clear on the allegation, recalling how he was humiliated by Ghanaian security in the aftermath of the broadcast.
“IPOB by what it’s to the face of the law today is a terrorist organization, even when we have our reservations, because the laws of the land and courts have spoken. Mr Speaker that means that 469 members of this National Assembly are crime suspects.
“On that fateful day I went to Akure, to be part of the burial ceremony of our fellow colleague, Hon. Expensive. On Saturday, I had to honor an invitation to Ghana for a wedding, Mr Speaker it will amaze you what I faced in the hands of Ghanaian officials. They detained me for about four hours, that they are trying to confirm something, I stayed at the airport for four hours, missed the wedding I went for, and at the end of the day, one of them walked up to me saying sorry sir,there’s an announcement in Nigeria that a member of parliament is sponsoring terrorism and we are put on red alert to ensure that no member of parliament comes here to hide or cause trouble.
“I had to come back home dejected. They have been calling me all over the world, my friends have been telling me, who among you is that person sponsoring terrorism. The right thing for a father to do is to name and shame any child that’s bringing about division. But Mr President didn’t shame that person or name them instead he named 469 members.
“Because of the fact that we’ve always cooperated and the fact that Nigeria has a lot to deal with, so I’m appealing, if not the right thing to do is to invoke section 28 of the constitution they can tell us who among us is sponsoring terrorism. All of us here are prime suspects. I appeal that the leadership of the House should liaise with their counterparts in the Senate to try and see the President so that he can tell us who’s sponsoring terrorism amongst us.
“The President should also go ahead and prosecute and convict that person”, he submitted.
Ruling on the lawmaker’s submissions, Gbajabiamila said, “Hon. Ben, your privilege is noted and we will get back to you on that”.
