The House of Representatives Committee investigating the alleged sexual misdemeanour involving three Nigerian legislators will receive a video evidence of the alleged acts.
Investigative public hearing on the scandal begins on Thursday and the outgoing ambassador of the United States of America to Nigeria, James Entwistle, is expected to provide video clips of the incident.
Three lawmakers — Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi); Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) — had been accused of sexual misconduct by Entwistle in a petition to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
The incident allegedly occurred during the International Visitor Leadership Programme in Cleveland, Ohio, US held between April 7 and 13, attended by 10 members of the lower chamber.
The Chairman of House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Rep. Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta), told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the committee did not invite the management of the hotel where the alleged misconduct occurred.
According to Ossai: “We decided not to extend invitation to the hotel management since the Ambassador who broke the information through a letter to the speaker has documentary evidence against the three lawmakers.”
He added that the Committee did not carry out any secret investigation because the members involved in the allegation had demanded public investigative hearing for Nigerians to see determine if they were guilty or not.
The three lawmakers involved in the allegation are Mohammed Gololo (APC-Bauchi), Samuel Ikon (PDP-Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (APC-Benue).
They allegedly solicited sex from prostitutes and grabbed a hotel housekeeper in a bid to rape her.
The ambassador had alleged that the actions of the three lawmakers during their visit brought disrepute to the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing hotel housekeeper in a bid to rape.
It was gathered that the Committee had been unable to sit because some of the members of the committee had travelled to perform their religious obligation in Mecca during the Ramadan fast.
Apart from the outgoing US Ambassador that is expected at the open public hearing, the Committee also extended invitation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, the three accused lawmakers, the National Human Rights Commission, as well as the other seven members that attended the leadership programme.
While inaugurating the Ossai-led Ethics Committee alongside the Foreign Affairs after the House resolution at plenary on Tuesday, 21st June, Dogara had described the assignment as a very serious one where many people had already made their conclusion that the three accused lawmakers were wrong.
However he stated that, the committee should assume the accused are innocent until they are proven guilty by evidence.
