The outgoing Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, Thursday failed to attend the sex scandal public investigative hearing involving three members of the House of Representatives.
Also absent at the probe panel was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema who reportedly sent a letter to the Committee on Wednesday, informing that he was attending the executive meeting of the 29th Ordinary Session of the African Union.
This made the Nicholas Ossai-led Committee to adjourn the probe till 20th July when the minister will be around to provide answers to his interface with the Ambassador.
But the Executive Director of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Malachy Ugwumadu stated that the integrity of the country was at stake and that there should not be any more delay on conducting the public hearing.
Members of the Committee also said that the outgoing Ambassador had lost his immunity by writing together to the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara instead of following the formal protocol of routing the letter through the foreign affairs ministry.
The three lawmakers who were accused of sexual misconduct in the United States, Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC-Bauchi); Samuel Ikon (PDP-Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC-Benue) including Gbillah’s wife and child attended the public hearing.
The chairman of House Ethics, Privileges and Foreign Affairs Committee, Nicholas Ossai lamented the US envoy’s absence, saying it was frustrating the panel’s assignment.
He urged the diplomat to honour the committee’s invitation to substantiate his claims.
Ossai said Entwistle’s failure to appear before the committee would make its job difficult, adding that the ambassador should have confidence in the competence of the House to punish offending members.
Entwistle, in a petition he addressed to House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, on June 9, said Mohammed Galolo, Samuel Ikon and Mark Gbillah indulged in sexual misbehavior at a hotel in the U.S. when the three lawmakers travelled there for a leadership program.
The petition immediately became a scandal, with many Nigerians calling for an immediate reprimand of the named lawmakers.
The lawmakers have vehemently denied the allegations and called for a thorough investigation.
On June 16, Dogara commissioned the Ethics, Privileges and Foreign Affairs Committee to carry out a holistic investigation into the “embarrassing” development and appointed Ossai to chair it.
Ossai said his committee spent the ensuing three weeks designing modalities for the investigation and fixed July 14 for the first public hearing into the matter.
“We looked forward to see the Ambassador and the Minister of Foreign Affairs but the minister said he won’t be available until after July 19,” Ossai said.
“That’s why we rescheduled their appearance to July 20.”
Ossai said Mr. Entwistle should bring forth all proofs that were in his possession and trust the House leadership to mete out punishment to any lawmaker found to have breached the House code of ethics.
“You have accused people that they committed a crime, you should substantiate it and trust the Nigerian National Assembly to sanction anybody that breached the code of ethics,” Mr. Ossai said.
Ossai said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is key to the investigation because the House had been communicating with the Ambassador through official diplomatic channels.
“The Ambassador committed an error in writing to the Speaker directly,” Ossai said, “but we’ve been writing to him through the Minister of Foreign Affairs in accordance with diplomatic protocol and that’s why he’s key to this investigation.”
