Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja on
Senate spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze, on Thursday said the Senate President, Senator David Mark, may have stopped the public exposure of some alleged fraudulent senators to prevent public embarrassment of their innocent colleagues.
Senate spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze, on Thursday said the Senate President, Senator David Mark, may have stopped the public exposure of some alleged fraudulent senators to prevent public embarrassment of their innocent colleagues.
Ayogu was, however, quick to add that the senate would not hesitate to make public the report of its committee by exposing whoever was named by the senator in the course of investigation.
Addressing journalists, Ayogu said: 'You will notice that the Senate is getting more interesting by the day and it is a measure of our resolve to run the floor as transparently as possible. I want to emphasize to you this afternoon the seriousness the Senate and its leadership attached to our reservation about the comment of one of our colleagues yesterday about some people that are alleged to have some shady records.
'It was a tribute to the Senate president's experience and his maturity that we didn't allow our colleague to call names on the floor. For the simple reason that if he did so, there is every possibility that he could call somebody who is innocent and you and I know that when you tap somebody with the brush of criminality or malfeasance, it will stick in the eyes and the minds of the people.
So, it is better we take the matter to the Ethics and Privileges committee where both the accuser and the accused will have opportunity to defend themselves to trade tackles, which they ordinarily will not have opportunity to do in the emotive atmosphere which the debate took place yesterday."
'I wish to state categorically that there is a commitment on the part of the leadership of the National Assembly and members to make sure that whatever is the findings of the Ethics and Privileges Committee on this matter, shall be made public to Nigerians and when the allegations are made, we are going to publish the names of all the people that have been named, the status of the report on them. If you are cleared Nigerians will know that you are cleared, if you are ‘convicted' Nigerians will know that you are convicted. We will make sure that nobody is spared, nobody is protected.
'What the leadership is trying to do was to create an atmosphere that will prevent the innocent from falling with the victims. There is no way anybody can sit on that report."