US Government cancels 3 House of Reps’ Visas

United States government has cancelled the visas of three serving  Nigerian House of Representatives members involved in an alleged sex scandal according to reports via the Punch.

This is as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Thursday ordered a probe of the alleged sex scandal.

Mohammed Garba-Gololo (Bauchi State); Terse Gbillah (Benue State), and Samuel Ikon (Cross River State) were alleged to have solicited for sex from prostitutes and also accused of trying to rape a hotel maid during a recent trip to the US to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on Good Governance organised by the US Government.

The three legislators were members of a team of 10 lawmakers nominated to attend the leadership programme, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, between April 7 and 13 this year.

The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, confirmed the cancellation of the visas of the affected members. He said the House Speaker Dogara decided to investigate the scandal following a formal complaint by the US Ambasador to Nigeria, James Entwistle.

He said, “We are in receipt of a letter from the US Ambassador, alleging misconduct by some members of the National Assembly, who attended training in the United States of America.

“The leadership of the House has commenced its own part of the investigation. When it is concluded, we will brief Nigerians further on this issue.”

The US formally cancelled its visas for the three lawmakers, which means the affected politicians will not be allowed into the US in the future.

Entwistle, in his June 9 letter to Dogara, stated,

“It is with regret that I must bring to your attention the following situation.

“Ten members of the Nigerian National Assembly recently travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, as participants in the International Visitor Leadership Programme on good governance.

“We received troubling allegations regarding the behaviour of three members of the delegation to the US Government’s flagship professional exchange programme.

“The US Department of State and the Cleveland Council on World Affairs received reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel, where the representatives stayed, alleging that the representatives engaged in the following behaviour:

“Mohammed Garba Gololo allegedly grabbed a housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex. While the housekeeper reported this to her management, this incident could have involved local law enforcement and resulted in legal consequences for Representative Gololo.

“Mark Terseer Gbillah and Samuel Ikon allegedly requested that hotel parking attendants assist them to solicit prostitutes.”

The lawmakers however dismissed these allegations as “baseless and untrue” when Dogara first sought their explanations and are threatening court action against the American government.