BENIN – THE Senator representing Edo South Senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Senator Matthew Urhoghide has said that he has no regret over the motion he moved on the floor of the Senate that withdrawal of over $400million dollars for the purchase of aircrafts, saying that he would never be cowed by those asking for his head in Edo State. “I don’t have any regret for what I said. I stand on it. Where did I embarrass the President? Because of selfish interest here and people want to show to the President that everybody is cowed in Edo.
This is not a war I want to fight on partisan basis. I have immunity on what I said at the floor of the Senate. I am being crucified outside for what I said during plenary. I am going to report back to the Senate. All the security agencies must see the threat I am subjected to because I performed my duty as a Senator.
“They have promised to deal with me. If not for the State Commissioner of Police yesterday, nobody knows what would have happened. I obeyed the Police Commissioner; I remained where I was until the Governor came.
“We were side by side talking when a boy hit my head. The Governor walked away. Before I left Abuja, I knew what was happening and the person responsible for it. I called him to tell him that it was unnecessary but he didn’t pick his calls.
“It would be cowardice for me to abort the journey. I want to see what will happen, they display their thuggery, I am not cowed by it. I will represent my constituency and do whatever I want to do. I am going to take it to a proper court”, Urhoghide said while addressing journalists in Benin Saturday.
Speaking further he added, “It is a shame that at this time of our political development when other nations are moving in the right direction and the type of representation the eight Assembly has provided since 2015, people could still be cowed and harassed because of the views they have expressed which is defending the constitution.
“I am not surprised because I know that there still a lot of ignorance that is expressed among the elite and the political class.
“If this game is not played along the direction that some people want it, then they see you as a deviant. That is what you saw yesterday, asking a riffraff, a boy of no consequence to lay his hands on me, an elected representative of the people, a serving Senator, it is a shame on this country.
“I want to tell you that the whole world is watching and I have followed the path of the law. Incidentally it happened in the presence of the state Governor, the Commissioner of Police was there and all other security agencies. When the boy hit my head and threw away my hat, they saw it.
“I was still assuming that the Governor did not see it. It is a shame on the state that an elected Senator of this state that I could be so humiliated in the presence of our own leaders in the state”.
While insisting that the right thing the President would have done was to present a supplementary budget to the National Assembly for the purchase of the aircraft, he added that the offer for the purchase was made in December 2017 with the expiry date in February 21st, 2018, they did not do so.
“The request could have come. The action that was taken even though the purpose was noble, the right position was not adopted.
“They had ample time to bring the requests but they didn’t. We could have said more aircraft should be bought. What they have done is mumble jumble. The President has violated the constitution, which is the truth. If anybody is pretending that nothing has been done, the person should go to a mental home. Section 80 has been violated”.
