The House of Representatives is set to suspend Ikenga Ugochinyere, the chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Downstream, over the politicisation of the oversight function in Rivers.

Yusuf Gagdi (APC-Plateau), while moving a motion of personal explanation at the plenary in Abuja on Thursday told the parliament that his privilege as a member of the house had been bridged.

The legislator said it was reported that about 50 members of the House paid a solidarity visit to Governor Similaye Fubara of Rivers during their visit to the state.

Mr Gagdi added that Mr Ugochinyere’s statement was in bad taste and made the House look like it was taking a position on political matters. He said that the report presented the story as though the members visited the governor on behalf of the House, whereas they were in Rivers for an oversight function and decided to greet the governor.

Mr Gagdi said that after the visit, Mr Ugochinyere issued a statement published in the media, adding that this made their visit look like they were a delegation of the House to visit the governor.

However, Mark Essien (PDP-Akwa Ibom) said the matter was irrelevant and should not be entertained as more matters of national importance needed to be addressed.

In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary, said that the House leadership would look into the report. He added that if found necessary, the matter would be referred to the Privilege and Ethics Committee for further investigation.

Some dissatisfied members indicated they wanted to speak, but Mr Kalu denied them the opportunity, saying that matters of personal explanation were not open to debate.

(NAN)