Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North) has denied media reports that he was booed and prevented from entering his senatorial district by protesting youths last weekend.
Raising a point of order on the floor of the Senate at plenary, Lawan said he was nowhere near his state last weekend, as he was in Katsina attending a wedding.
“I was in Daura on Friday and some of my colleagues here will testify that, that is an alibi, Aliyu Wakili, was there in Daura, Senator Yerima and many other senators here, we attended the wedding Fathia of the daughter of the DG SSS. So I was never in my state in the first place and from Daura we drove down to Kaduna and then to Abuja. I was never in the state, talk less of going to my senatorial district,†he explained.
Ladan lamented that the reports that youths from his constituency booed him, has presented his people in bad light.
He called for a retraction of the report by the media that published the story.
“Mr. President, by June 4 of this years I will be 18 years in the National Assembly. My people voted for me in 1999, the first time to come and represent them in the House of Representatives at that time. From that moment on after 17 years, the relationship with my people is love, trust and respect and therefore never ever was there a situation where I was booed or prevented from going anywhere I wanted to go,†the Senate Leader added.
“Mr. President, I love to be criticised and I am sure all of us welcome positive criticisms and especially when it comes from my constituents because we cannot lay claim to everything.
In fact, my people say that this is the way they want me to go and we have developed that kind of relationship,†he said.
Presiding, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, referred the matter to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, and the Committee on Media and Public Affairs, to report back in a week.
