SAUDI TRIP: Six Representatives Still In The Dark

NOMINEES MAY ISSUE STATEMENT DISASSOCIATING SELVES FROM THE CHARADE

San Francisco Jan 30, (THEWILL) - THEWILL can authoritatively report that the House of Representatives plan to send six of its members to Saudi Arabia on a visit to ailing President Musa Yar’Adua is a hoax.

House Speaker Dimeji Bankole on January 21, 2009 had named Deputy House Leader, Mr. Baba Shehu Agaei (Northcentral); Minority Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndune (Northeast); Nnena Ukeje (Southeast); Jubrin Adamu (Northwest); Fatai Morouf (Southwest); and Patrick Ikhariahle (Southsouth) as members of a team mandated to fly to Jeddah on a fact finding mission for the House.

THEWILL checks revealed that the representatives have not been approached for their international passports to enable them procure visas to the Arab nation nor has there been any formal communication on the proposed trip to the team.

As a result of this, some members of the team who have become embarrassed by the charade have decided to speak out publicly in order to disassociate themselves from it. Particularly miffed at Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole, for using them as a part of his ploy to stall an impeachment of the ailing President, a member of the team representing one of the constituencies in the south may call a press conference to lampoon the leadership of the House for stalling the journey. The representative who is serving a first term in the House may issue a statement as early as Sunday in Abuja.

On Wednesday, the Saudi Embassy in Abuja speaking through its Charge d’Affairs, Jalal Hassan O. Almagraby said the embassy has not received any requests for visas from the House of Assembly regarding the journey.

Speaker Dimeji Bankole has been accused of collecting millions of dollars in bribe to ensure that the leadership of the House block any move geared towards upsetting the status quo, but House Committee Chairman on Media and Publicity, Hon. Esene Eyiboh earlier this week denied the claim.

Bankole told a group of PDP leaders during a Friday night meeting at the residence of party chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, that the pressure on him to allow the House take a stronger stand on Yar’Adua was getting out of his control.

Over 200 representatives have signed on to impeach the ailing President for his failure to inform the National Assembly of his long absence from duties.

Nigerian President Musa Yar’Adua remains incapacitated due to complications from Churg Strauss syndrome at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.