One of the
wives of the members of the House of Representatives accused of soliciting for sex
from prostitutes in the United States while on a programme, Hon. Mark Gbillah’s
wife, Sophia, has opened up. An engineer, Sophia, speaking by phone from the
USA to The Nation, said:
“My husband did not do what he has been accused of. What they have alleged that
he did. The few people in Nigeria today, who have had cause to interact with my
husband, would have come away with a certain impression of the kind of person
that my husband is. And that impression is that he is an honourable, but more
importantly God- fearing person.
“Because
of the value that my husband places on the God he serves, he would never do
this kind of thing. Because of the kind of person that my husband is as a
person, he would never do this kind of thing. And finally, because my husband
values his family and loves me, his wife, he would never do this kind of thing.
“So, yes,
my response to all this is: I know my husband very well, and I know my husband
did not do anything that they have said; any of the things that they have
alleged he did. So the accusations are totally unfounded, completely unfounded.
“Now to
the second issue of where I was, where he was…when this programme came up, my
husband requested officially by e- mail, from the organisers of this programme
that he would be traveling with his wife and his baby…we have a 9-month-old baby,
that he would like them to accompany him on this programme.
“The
person who initially responded to that mail was a bit aggressive in his
response, telling my husband that he can’t come with me. The way he responded
was not the nicest way, and I have evidence, facts to prove it. It was sent by
e-mail and the e- mail is still in existence.
“So, as a
result of that, my husband and I agreed that we would travel together, but I
decided that no, I’m just going to allow you go and do this thing by yourself
in the chosen location. Now after this response from the man who responded
initially, we were now able to talk to another one of the organizers of the
programme who said its okay, I could go but could attend non-official events
like the basketball event.
“But I
thought I had already decided that since they said it’s an official thing and
family is not allowed. You just go do what you have to do. I would be in the US
as well, but you go do this.
“Where I
am is about 45 minutes to an hour from where my husband was. He was in
Washington DC and I was in Owings Mills, Maryland. They had to go to two
separate locations – Washington DC and Cleveland in Ohio. My husband came to
see us the night of the day they were supposed to finish from Washington
“My
husband and I are constantly on Face Time when we are not together. Now my
husband went to Ohio and I knew just about what went on. The day they were
free, he was with me on Face Time all day.”
The United
States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, has petitioned the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, accusing some members of
the lower chamber of improper conduct, attempted rape and soliciting for
prostitutes while on official trip to the US. But, the affected lawmakers have
denied all the allegations and threatened to sue the ambassador and the US
government for “character defamation and a calculated attempt to ridicule the
National Assembly.”
The Ambassador, in a letter dated June 9, 2016, addressed to Speaker Dogara,
exclusively obtained by New Telegraph, alleged that three members of the House
namely: Hon. Mohammed Garba Gololo (APC, Bauchi), Hon. Samuel Ikon (PDP, Akwa
Ibom) and Hon. Mark Gbillah (APC, Benue) had, on a recent visit to the United
States for the International Visitor Leadership Program, brought disrepute to
the parliament by soliciting for sex from prostitutes and grabbing hotel
housekeeper in a bid To Molest.
Ten lawmakers were invited by the US government for the International Visitor
Leadership Program held between April 7 and 13, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. They
include: Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi (PDPNasarawa State), Danburam Abubakar Nuhu
(APC-Kano State), Nkole Uko Ndukwe (PDP-Abia State), Rita Orji (PDPLagos
State), Ayo Huliyat Omidiran (APC-Osun).
