One of the wives of the members of the House of Representatives accused of soliciting for sex from prostitutes in the United States while on a programme, Hon. Mark Gbillah’s wife, Sophia, has opened up. An engineer, Sophia, speaking by phone from the USA to The Nation, said:
“My husband did not do what he has been accused of. What they have alleged that he did. The few people in Nigeria today, who have had cause to interact with my husband, would have come away with a certain impression of the kind of person that my husband is. And that impression is that he is an honourable, but more importantly God- fearing person.
“Because of the value that my husband places on the God he serves, he would never do this kind of thing. Because of the kind of person that my husband is as a person, he would never do this kind of thing. And finally, because my husband values his family and loves me, his wife, he would never do this kind of thing.
“So, yes, my response to all this is: I know my husband very well, and I know my husband did not do anything that they have said; any of the things that they have alleged he did. So the accusations are totally unfounded, completely unfounded.
“Now to the second issue of where I was, where he was…when this programme came up, my husband requested officially by e- mail, from the organisers of this programme that he would be traveling with his wife and his baby…we have a 9-month-old baby, that he would like them to accompany him on this programme.
“The person who initially responded to that mail was a bit aggressive in his response, telling my husband that he can’t come with me. The way he responded was not the nicest way, and I have evidence, facts to prove it. It was sent by e-mail and the e- mail is still in existence.
“So, as a result of that, my husband and I agreed that we would travel together, but I decided that no, I’m just going to allow you go and do this thing by yourself in the chosen location. Now after this response from the man who responded initially, we were now able to talk to another one of the organizers of the programme who said its okay, I could go but could attend non-official events like the basketball event.
“But I thought I had already decided that since they said it’s an official thing and family is not allowed. You just go do what you have to do. I would be in the US as well, but you go do this.
“Where I am is about 45 minutes to an hour from where my husband was. He was in Washington DC and I was in Owings Mills, Maryland. They had to go to two separate locations – Washington DC and Cleveland in Ohio. My husband came to see us the night of the day they were supposed to finish from Washington
“My husband and I are constantly on Face Time when we are not together. Now my husband went to Ohio and I knew just about what went on. The day they were free, he was with me on Face Time all day.”
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, has petitioned the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, accusing some members of the lower chamber of improper conduct, attempted rape and soliciting for prostitutes while on official trip to the US. But, the affected lawmakers have denied all the allegations and threatened to sue the ambassador and the US government for “character defamation and a calculated attempt to ridicule the National Assembly.”
The Ambassador, in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed to Speaker Dogara, exclusively obtained by New Telegraph, alleged that three members of the House namely: Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Hon. Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa Ibom) and Hon. Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to the United States for the International Visitor Leadership Program, brought disrepute to the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing hotel housekeeper in a bid To Molest.
Ten lawmakers were invited by the US government for the International Visitor Leadership Program held between April 7 and 13, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. They include: Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (PDPNasarawa State), Danburam Abubakar Nuhu (APC-Kano State), Nkole Uko Ndukwe (PDP-Abia State), Rita Orji (PDPLagos State), Ayo Huliyat Omidiran (APC-Osun).
No comments:
Post a Comment