by James Sambo
Senate President, David Mark, has described as embarrassing and horrible, the recent testimony of a Divisional Police Officer attached to the National Assembly, who named his security aides as being behind the throwing of teargas canisters at the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal
On November 20, police and other security details prevented Tambuwal and other legislators from gaining access into the National Assembly. They locked the gates and threw teargas at them, yet, some legislators scaled the gates.
At the Ad-Hoc committee investigating the incident, headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the DPO, Idachaba James revealed that it was not the Police officers from the Federal Capital Territory, that tear-gassed the Speaker and other members of the House of Representatives, but rather the Senate President’s security details.
Mark in a statement signed by his Special Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the allegations as ” as absolute falsehood, dubious, vexatious, horrible and embarrassing.”
The statement said: “The attention of the Office of the President of the Senate has been drawn to news reports alleging that security details attached to the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, were responsible for the use of teargas on the person of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tanbuwal, at the National Assembly premises on November 20, 2014 and credited to SP Idachaba James, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, of National Assembly.
“We wish to state without equivocation that the security details attached to the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, did not and could not have attacked the person of Speaker Tambuwal with tear gas.
“We find the reports credited to SP. Idachaba that security details of Senator Mark attacked Speaker Tambuwal with tear gas as absolute falsehood, dubious, vexatious, horrible and embarrassing.
“The events of November 20, 2015 are very fresh and any attempt to re-write or misrepresent them will not stand. SP. Idachaba James, who claimed not to have been present at the scene of the incident but only relied on hearsay, must not be allowed to embark on a name calling exercise.
“It is also imperative to state that any attempt to create a needless feud between the two chambers of the National Assembly is mischievous and wicked. For the avoidance of doubts, we hereby declare that the security aides of the President of the Senate did not attack Speaker Tambuwal with teargas.”
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