26 May 2008
Lagos — Action Congress (AC) has said that the Senate owes Nigerians an apology over its mis-handling of the Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello's disappearance saga, saying it was wrong for the upper legislative chamber to have treated the senator with kid gloves.
"Iyabo went underground for several weeks to evade the law, re-surfaces when all the deals had been packaged to give her a soft landing and returns to the warm embrace of her colleagues in the Senate, without as much as a whimper from the Senators. This is shameful,"the party said in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
"The message from the Senate is simple: There are two sets of laws, one for legislators and one for others. Or how else does one interpret the fact that Iyabo was not censored by her colleagues for trashing the law when she eventually showed up?
"This woman spent only two nights in police custody, when even the former Ministers being tried with her over the N300 million scam, were subjected to a longer period of incarceration. Then the Senate decided to rub salt to the wounds of Nigerians by pampering her on return. This is unacceptable."
The party said every indication points to the fact that the Senators were not aware or chose to ignore the enormous responsibility placed on their shoulders by Nigerians.
"Each of the Senators of the Federal Republic serves at least one million Nigerians. They are supposed to be models in adherence to due process and observance of rule of law. What do we have instead? A group of people who have refused to lead by example, a group of people who are more interested in feathering their own nests, whose perks - in the face of untold sufferings across the land - bother on obscenity! Nigerians demand an unreserved apology from Iyabo and the entire Senate."
We are grossly disappointed that the Senate failed to cash in on Iyabo's deviant behaviour to show how responsible it is. "In other climes, a Senator who has put herself, her family, her constituents and the entire Senate in shame would have bowed out as a mark of penitence and regret for her actions. "Instead, Iyabo saunters into the Senate chambers to say she has never and will never do anything to put the Senate in shame!!! And then she steps out to receive bear hugs from apparently concurring Senators who must have been intimidated by her pedigree as the daughter of a former President. How laughable!" AC added.
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Our senate committee and the senators are corrupt.