The Nigerian Senate has extended an invitation to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to provide justification for the allegations made against Deputy Senate Leader, Oyelola Ashiru.
The Senate also established an Ad Hoc Committee to oversee the matter and report back to the lawmakers within one week.
This was announced after the lawmakers’ closed-door session on Tuesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio also questioned why the NDLEA had to wait for Senator Ashiru to make a point on the Senate floor about the corruption in the agency before digging up the allegation of drug issues against the lawmaker.
The Senate President noted that the utterances of the Senators during plenary are not subjects of debates by outsiders as they are covered by immunity.
Reiterating the confidence of the Senate in Ashiru, Akpabio described the Kwara South lawmaker as a gentleman who doesn’t even take alcohol.
He noted that the Senate must take the matter with the NDLEA seriously and call the agency to order because injury to one is an injury to all.
The resolutions of the Senate on Tuesday were sequel to a point of order raised by Senator Ashiru during the day’s plenary. He moved a motion of urgent national importance, citing Orders 9, 10, 41, and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules.
Ashiru had last Wednesday in the Senate during a debate on a Bill seeking to establish a National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation, said the “NDLEA is corrupt and already compromised.”
However, the NDLEA, on Monday, said it recovered illicit drugs from the personal residence of the Kwara South Senator, suggesting that the lawmaker’s recent criticisms of the agency stem from personal vendetta rather than genuine concern for the national interest.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd), countered the senator’s claims. He stated that Ashiru’s remarks were not motivated by altruism but rather by a desire to deflect attention from the agency’s findings.
Represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Marwa emphasized that the agency would continue its efforts to dismantle illicit drug networks, including those operating from the senator’s property.
In a quick response, Senator Ashiru, in a statement through his special assistant, Olaitan Adeyanju, challenged the NDLEA to charge the culprits allegedly found in his house to court.
He said the exposure of the corruption in the NDLEA is responsible for the agency’s attacks on the lawmaker.
