It’s a low-quality movie crafted by scared oil thieves – Ikenga
The Northern Stakeholders Consultative Forum (NSCF) and 72 other organizations have called for an immediate investigation into allegations of corrupt practices against a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga.
Hon.Ikenga however, described the allegation as “a low-quality unbelievable Hollywood movie crafted in a panicking room of scared oil thieves and their paid agents to smear his image.”
The groups led by NSCF at a press conference in Kaduna, alleged that Hon. Ikenga who represents Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, sought for financial bribe and boasted about paying $1.7 million to secure his committee chairmanship.
The groups said such act was capable of impacting on the integrity of the legislative process, negatively.
However,Ikenga, who’s the House Committee Chairman on Downstream Petroleum, debunked the allegations that he gave $1.7 million to the House Speaker, Rt.Hon Tajudeen Abass and the House leadership to secure the committee Chairman position.
During a press conference in Kaduna, Spokesman of NSCF, Ali Mohammed Sani, the Convener of the Forum,Alhaji Yerima Shettima and the Secretary General of NSCF, Danjuma Paul, reasoned that it won’t be out of place if the House of Representatives investigate the allegations l against Hon.ikenga as nor doing so; could threaten Nigeria’s democracy.
The groups sued for a transparent, accountable, and ethical legislative process that genuinely serves the Nigerian populace and reinstates faith in the nation’s fledgling democracy, and called on 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 emphasized 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.
“We are here to voice our collective concern and demand immediate action regarding the troubling allegations involving Honorable 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 organizations stand united to advocate for accountability, transparency, and ethical governance in Nigeria.”
“The allegations against Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga underscore 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 behaviorif 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.”
