The Senate on Tuesday disclosed that it will not
hesitate to probe the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, over allegations
that he was convicted of felony in a
California court in the United States, if a petition to that effect is sent to
the upper legislative chamber.
A coalition of civil society groups had recently
canvassed for the resignation of Omo-Agege over his alleged conviction for
felony while practising as a lawyer in the United States in 1998.
Senate spokesman, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, while
answering questions from journalists on the issue after plenary, gave an
assurance that the Senate would investigate such allegation once any individual
or group sent in a petition to that effect.
He cited as an example of the investigation carried
out by the Senate last year of Senator
Elisha Abbo who was alleged via a petition sent to the Senate that he slapped a
pregnant woman in Abuja few weeks before he was sworn in as a senator.
Akwashiki to him, "On the issue of Elisha
Abbo, a senator stood up and raised a matter of public interest; we discussed
it and set up a committee but because that matter is in the court of law, we
said we should keep it in abeyance. There is nothing wrong with that."
He added that the allegations against the deputy
Senate president did not even happen in Nigeria.
"What I know is that we are senators, and if
somebody petitions the Senate on the allegations against the DSP, I want to
assure you that we will look into it," Akwashiki added.
Shedding more light on the issue, the Senate
spokesman stressed that "the issue of the deputy Senate president is just
like any other person, but I am speaking here for the ninth Senate, and I am
not speaking for American court or judiciary as an arm of government in
Nigeria.
"The issue of Senator Abbo is similar but
entirely different from the issue of Senator Omo-Agege. We are lawmakers, so we
should be seen working within the purview of the law of the land."
A coalition of civil society groups had a fortnight
ago stormed the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja
to demand the probe of Senator Omo-Agege over alleged forgery and perjury which
it said was in contravention of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The coalition also demanded the resignation of
Omo-Agege, and threatened that in the event that the call was not heeded, it
would be left with no other option than to mobilise thousands of CSOs and youth
groups to occupy the National Assembly until it is purged of corrupt elements.
The coalition, which comprised the Guardians of
Democracy and Development; Partners for Legislative Agenda for Nigeria (PLAN);
Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative and Our Partners under the
Coalition of Civil Society and Youth Groups in Nigeria, in a petition to DSS,
called for a thorough investigation of Omo-Agege.
It said available information in its possession
gave credence to the fact that he was allegedly convicted by the state Bar
Court in Los Angeles, State of California, US, and he served a jail term.
The coalition, led by Mr. Solomon Adodo, claimed
that available information which he believes has serious substance indicated
that in 1998, Augustine Ovie Omo-Agege was suspended from the practice of law
with probation for three years by the Supreme Court of the State of California
having been convicted of forgery on March 7, 1992 in violation of the Penal
Code section 470.
In his reaction to the allegations, the deputy
Senate president had then said though he was tired of the allegations, but was
cleared of any wrongdoing.
"For the umpteenth time, we would like to
reiterate the fact that Senator Omo-Agege was cleared of all the charges in the
said case and was never a convict in the US as being alleged. Till date, he
travels freely to and within the country (US) without any hint of harassment,"
a statement by Omo-Agege Media Adviser, Yomi Odunuga, said.
The statement added that "ordinarily, we would
have ignored this latest effort by political jobbers to drag the name of the distinguished
senator into disrepute.
"However, in a political environment like ours
where silence could be misinterpreted as consent and evidence of guilt, we make
haste to dismiss the allegation as not only unfounded and illogical, it is the
residue of the warped imaginations and misleading rumour peddled without
conviction some years back.
"While the senator remains completely
unperturbed by peddlers of negativity and their faceless sponsors, it remains
clear that this is another feeble round of mere shadow-chasing that ultimately
amounts to nothing."
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