THREE members of the House of Representatives exonerated of the sexual misconduct allegations levelled against them by the US government are set to file a $1bn suit against Washington and its agents.
In June, the three members were accused of soliciting for sex while on recent trip to the US but following an investigation, they have been exonerated of any misdemeanours after their cases were looked into by the House's Ethics and Privileges Committee. Following an official trip to Ohio in April, Mohammed Gololo (APC-Bauchi), Mark Gbillah (APC-Benue) and Samuel Ikom (PDP-Akwa Ibom) were accused of inappropriate behaviour.
Former US ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, had accused the three lawmakers of the misconduct during a visit to his country for a leadership training programme, prompting the Nigerian legislature to investigate them. Last Tuesday, the House exonerated the lawmakers after a report by its Joint Committees on Ethics/Privileges and Foreign Relations found no wrongdoing on their part.
Foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama, appeared before the committees on July 21 to testify that the US did not produce any concrete evidence to back the allegations. Mr Entwistle failed to appear before the committees, while a female maid, who alleged that Hon Garba grabbed her, also declined to testify.
Hon Gbillah disclosed that the three lawmakers would immediately institute legal action against their accusers in the US. He stated that the US government, Mr Entwistle, the Marriot Hotel, the US embassy and their agents would all be sued for damages.
This will be in addition to demanding what he called an internationally-published apology. Hon Gbillah expressed regrets that they would be unable to visit the US physically to file the suit because their visas, which were withdrawn in the wake of the false allegations, had not been restored.
Hon Gbillah added: “We won’t let the matter go like that because our reputation has been defamed internationally and there is also the cancellation of our visas to consider, a decision that has still not been reversed. In the American archives, the records have not been set straight.
"As a matter of fact, this has already affected the members of one of our families. We will be seeking legal redress in the US as we are going to take the Marriot Hotel, the parent brand, the place we stayed, the former US ambassador himself and the US State Department, who are his employers to court and the local organisers of the programme as well."
He added that they will be seeking among other things, an internationally-published apology to them as individuals, to the National Assembly and to Nigeria by the US government. According to Hon Gbillah, already, contacts have been made with various law firms in the US as they want to use a very reputable law firm.
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