The Nigerian Senate has defended its actions in confirming the nomination of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
There had been uproar over the Senate’s actions due to a pending court case over alleged rigging in Ekiti State and the complicity of Obanikoro but in a press statement from Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate said it was not able to scuttle Obanikoro’s appointment as there was no legal judgement against him.
“There are allegations against Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, but in our law and the constitution of Nigeria, anything that is a mere allegation that is not a court decision is nothing but a mere allegation. The laws of Nigeria is very clear; you are innocent until proven guilty, so that is what played out on the floor of the Senate. The Senators who addressed the press conference and spoke otherwise of Senator Obanikoro are enjoying a privilege. This is because some of them have EFCC cases, and they are still in the senate because of this privilege of being innocent until proven guilty. So they cannot go to a press conference, and try to convict somebody when the person has not been convicted by a court of law. The Senate is not a court of law and even when the Senate conducts its own investigation, it passes it to the appropriate body for prosecution” Abaribe said.
Leave a Reply