A member of the House of Representatives Hon. Ben Igbapka has claimed that Ghanaian government has placed members of the Nigerian National Assembly on watch list following the statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari in his Independence Day address that one of the lawmakers was sponsoring secessionist agitation in the country, IgbereTV reports.
Buhari had said in his speech, “The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals. We are vigorously pursuing these financiers including one identified as a serving member of the National
Assembly.”
A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Igbapka at the plenary on Tuesday moved a motion under Order 6 Rule 2 and Section 17 (A) of the Legislative Houses (Powers And Privileges Act 2017, where he said that his privileges had been breached by the President’s address.
The lawmaker said a few days ago he was in Ghana to attend a wedding ceremony, but to his surprise, he was detained for four hours based on the allegation made by the President.
He said he was informed by the Ghanaian authority that they wanted to make sure that Nigerian lawmakers who had already been tagged as sponsor of terrorism did not come into the country to cause problem.
Igbapka noted that by identifying and not naming the member of the National Assembly who was allegedly sponsoring secessionist groups in the country has made all the 469 lawmakers suspects.
He stated: “As reported by media houses across the world, President Buhari in his Independence Day speech, told the world that one of us is sponsoring terrorism. IPOB by what it is to the face of the law today is a terrorist organisation, even when we have our reservations, because the laws of the land and courts have spoken. Mr. Speaker, that means that 469 members of this National Assembly are crime suspects.”
