POLITICS
Rep Ikwechegh to Face Reps’ Ethics Panel for Assaulting Bolt Driver
By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Tuesday directed its Ethics and Privileges Committee, to investigate its member, Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, over allegations of assault on an e-hailing driver.
The directives followed the adoption of a motion on a Matter of Privilege, Pursuant to Order 6 of the House Rule, brought before the House by the Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere at plenary.
Ihonvbere while raising a matter of privilege drew attention of the House to the trending video and report over the encounter between a member and a Bolt driver.
The House Leader informed the parliament that over the last few hours, he had been inundated with calls and messages from across the country over the case of alleged assault by Rep Ikwechegh against a Bolt driver.
He said as Leader of the House, he has the responsibility to protect the collective image and integrity of the parliament.
Ihonvbere said the action of the members of the House as captured in the trending video did not reflect the image and culture of the House.
The Leader said as members of the House of Representatives from diverse backgrounds, they have built their reputations overtime before coming to the parliament and that the action of the lawmaker impugned on the collective integrity and image of the House.
Ihonvbere averred that Order 5 (E) of the House Rule stipulated how the matter at hand should be handled and therefore, moved that the matter be referred to the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate and report to the House for further legislative actions.
The motion was unanimously adopted when it was put to a voice vote by the presiding officer and Deputy Speaker, Rep Benjamin Okezie Kalu.
Kalu, while ruling on the motion, mandated the Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the matter and report back within two weeks.
The Maitama Police in Abuja has received a complaint against the Reps Member, Ikwechegh, who was said to be undergoing questioning.
In a statement on Monday, the Command said the Bolt driver Stephen Abuwatseya reported the matter to the Command.
In a now-viral video, the House of Representatives member was seen slapping and raining insults on the Bolt driver, insisting that he would not pay for his well-delivered services.
Ikwechegh represents Aba North and South Federal Constituency in the Green Chamber on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
A furious Ikwechegh was captured in the video in casual wear as he lounged in his compound within the FCT on Sunday evening.
Going by the conversation recorded in the viral video, the lawmaker had ordered some snails from a vendor who engaged the services of the e-hailing App driver to deliver the goods.
A heated disagreement ensued when the Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya, arrived at the lawmaker’s residence and asked to be paid.
The angry client was heard speaking with a woman saying, “how can this stupid idiot come to me and tell me that I am supposed to come and meet him in his car and pick up a snail I am buying from you? I can make this man disappear in the whole of Nigeria and nothing will happen.”
Ikwechegh further faced Abuwatseya and said, “You will not get a penny from me with this level of disrespect. You will suffer, I will deal with you.”
The APGA lawmaker fulfilled his threat and thudded two slaps on the cheeks of the driver who maintained his composure in the face of the assault.
To capture that he had been slapped, the Bolt driver asked, “Are you slapping me, sir?”
“I just did, slap me back. How dare you?” the lawmaker angrily retorted.
The Bolt driver asked again, “Did you slap me thrice sir?”
The Lawmaker replied, “Twice, you will soon receive the third one.”
When alerted that the episode was recorded, the lawmaker told the driver: “My name is Honourable Alexander Mascot Ikwechegh, I am a member of the House of Reps, tell them. Call the Inspector General of Police, let him come.”
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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