Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga
By Abdullahi Abubakar
The Northern Stakeholders Consultative Forum (NSCF), in partnership with 72 other organisations, has called for an immediate investigation into allegations of corrupt practices against Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga, a member of the House of Representatives.
The Forum alleged that Hon. Ikenga, member representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, solicited a financial bribe and boasted about paying $1.7 million to secure his committee chairmanship, which raised concerns about the integrity of the legislative process.
Ikenga, who’s also the House Committee Chairman on Downstream Petroleum, had since debunked the allegations that he gave $1.7 million to Speaker Abass and House leadership to secure the committee Chairman position, describing such as “a low-quality unbelievable Hollywood movie crafted in panicking room of scared oil thieves and their paid agents to smear his image.”
However, while addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday, Spokesman of NSCF, Ali Mohammed Sani, flanked by the Convener, Alhaji Yerima Shettima and the Secretary General, Danjuma Paul, respectively, said it was imperative that the leadership of the House of Representatives probe the allegations levelled against the lawmaker.
The Forum argued that sweeping the allegations under the carpet posed a significant risk to the nation’s hard earned democracy.
The NACF’s spokesman, who read the text of the speech, advocated for a transparent, accountable, and ethical legislative process that genuinely serves the Nigerian populace and reinstates faith in the nation’s fledgling democracy.
According to him, the Forum called upon the leadership of the House of Representatives to procure and review the CCTV footage from the House complex which will validate the claims.
“We are confident that these recordings will validate the claims, revealing various meetings held between Hon. Ikenga and the private investigators within his office premises,” he added.
The forum emphasised that the integrity of democratic institutions is imperative to ensuring that the will of the people prevails while adding that it was the duty of representatives to act decisively to uphold accountability at all levels in the House.
The NACF’s spokesman, said, “We are here to voice our collective concern and demand immediate action regarding the troubling allegations involving Honourable Ugochinyere Ikenga, a member of the House of Representatives on issues which bothers on accountability and transparency which are not merely legal requirements; they are moral imperatives essential to the functioning of democracy.
“The recent misconduct alleged against Hon. Ikenga threatens to undermine the trust of the Nigerian populace and its elected officials and the legislative framework that governs our national affairs.
“The Northern Stakeholders Consultative Forum (NSCF) in partnership with 72 other organisations stand united to advocate for accountability, transparency, and ethical governance in Nigeria.”
Speaking further, the spokesman said that “the allegations against Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga underscores a disconcerting narrative of exploitation and corruption, which is detrimental to the trust bestowed upon our legislative representatives.
“In the interest of restoring public confidence and institutional integrity, we implore the Speaker of the House to initiate a comprehensive investigation into these serious allegations, particularly concerning the activities of the disbanded committee.
“The broader implications of such behaviour—if left unchecked—pose a significant risk to our democratic foundations and must be addressed with utmost severity.”
“We urge all stakeholders to embrace our collective responsibility in this matter.
“We advocate for a transparent, accountable, and ethical legislative process, one that genuinely serves the Nigerian populace and reinstates faith in our democracy.”
