A Nigerian senator has owned up to a scandalous video that
showed him dressing up in the presence of two women in a room,
presumably after sex.
But Bukar Ibrahim, representing Yobe East Senatorial District,
told PREMIUM TIMES not Thenigerialawyer in his first interview
since the scandal broke that he had not committed any official
wrongdoing and the video was only made public after attempts to
blackmail him failed.
“This is a personal, private matter. What does my having been
with a girl have to do with the public?
“You know the normal thing: people ask for unreasonable things, and
if you deny them, they try to blackmail you if they have a way,”
Mr. Ibrahim, a former governor of Yobe State, said Monday
afternoon.
Sahara Reporters published the video on the Internet Sunday, and
it quickly caught online frenzy.
The footage, roughly two minutes long, showed Mr. Ibrahim
reaching for his underwear, apparently after emerging from the
shower.
In the room, one of the two women in the video held a device
that was capturing the activities; while the other strolled about.
But none of them was stripped like Mr. Ibrahim.
Mr. Ibrahim said he couldn’t remember where or when sexual
activities took place, but the room appeared like a typical motel
accommodation.
The senator said he owed no one an explanation since he was not
accused of any crime.
“If they say I raped, that’s a different matter altogether,” Mr.
Ibrahim said. “Is it because I am a public official then I am not
supposed to be entitled to private life?”
The senator said he knew when one of the women was filming him, but
was told it was only for fun and they also wanted to illuminate the
room with a camera.
“They just mentioned it to me as a joke and I took it as nothing
really serious,” he said. “This is something that happened between
two adults.”
Mr. Ibrahim, who signed a controversial Sharia law while in office
as governor, nonetheless, said he will investigate the matter.
“I have commenced investigations to find out why it is
circulating,” the senator said. “But from all indications, it is a
blackmail.”
The latest scandal underscores growing cases of indiscretion
amongst Nigerian lawmakers.
It comes barely a year after a former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
accused three members of the House of Representatives of sexual
misconduct.
James Entwistle, who left Nigeria last August, said in a petition
to Speaker Yakubu Dogara that the lawmakers solicited sex from
prostitutes and hotel workers during a leadership training
assignment in Ohio, midwestern United States.
In his petition, which was published by New Telegraph in Lagos,
Mr. Entwistle said he had evidence to nail Mohammed Galolo, Samuel
Ikon and Mark Gbillah of the sexual offences.
But the lawmakers denied the allegations and added their voice to
the growing calls for a thorough investigation at the time.
The House later cleared the trio following an internal
investigation by its Ethics and Privileges Committee. Mr. Entwistle
declined an invitation to testify before the committee.
Samuel Anyawu, Chairman of Senate Ethics Committee, told PREMIUM
TIMES he had not been fully briefed on the viral video of Mr.
Ibrahim, but said he would wait until the entire Senate gives him
instruction on how to proceed.
“I am not fully aware of what transpired,” Mr. Anyawu,
representing Imo East Senatorial District, said Monday. “I will
wait for the Senate to give direction on how to proceed, if at
all.”
A Lagos-based lawyer, Liborous Oshoma, said the latest scandal
further corroborates longstanding public perception of Nigerian
politics and politicians.
“In Nigeria, the more honourable or distinguished you become,
the less honourable or distinguished your behaviour becomes,” Mr.
Oshoma said in an apparent mockery of House members and Senators
who prefer to be addressed as ‘honourables’ and ‘distinguished’,
respectively.
“This is what our politics and politicians have been associated
with for decades —female politicians drinking and attending late
night events with male politicians who cannot do without sleeping
with women that are not their wives,” Mr. Oshoma said.
“So, if one is coming to the public light right now, it just
goes to buttress what everyone has always known.”
Mr. Oshoma said Nigerians would expect no serious outcome from
the Senate, even if the body conducts an investigation into the
latest scandal.
“We have enough issues on our hands to begin to discuss a
Senator with illicit affairs,” Mr. Oshoma said. “Let the Senators
deal with the issues surrounding our ailing president and take
Nigeria out of the current crisis.”
Former Governor Of Yobe State, Senator Bukar Abbah
Ibrahim Caught In Sex Scandal
A Nigerian senator has owned up to a scandalous video that
showed him dressing up in the presence of two women in a room,
presumably after sex.
But Bukar Ibrahim, representing Yobe East Senatorial District,
told PREMIUM TIMES not Thenigerialawyer in his first interview
since the scandal broke that he had not committed any official
wrongdoing and the video was only made public after attempts to
blackmail him failed.
“This is a personal, private matter. What does my having been
with a girl have to do with the public?
“You know the normal thing: people ask for unreasonable things, and
if you deny them, they try to blackmail you if they have a way,”
Mr. Ibrahim, a former governor of Yobe State, said Monday
afternoon.
Sahara Reporters published the video on the Internet Sunday, and
it quickly caught online frenzy.
The footage, roughly two minutes long, showed Mr. Ibrahim
reaching for his underwear, apparently after emerging from the
shower.
In the room, one of the two women in the video held a device
that was capturing the activities; while the other strolled about.
But none of them was stripped like Mr. Ibrahim.
Mr. Ibrahim said he couldn’t remember where or when sexual
activities took place, but the room appeared like a typical motel
accommodation.
The senator said he owed no one an explanation since he was not
accused of any crime.
“If they say I raped, that’s a different matter altogether,” Mr.
Ibrahim said. “Is it because I am a public official then I am not
supposed to be entitled to private life?”
The senator said he knew when one of the women was filming him, but
was told it was only for fun and they also wanted to illuminate the
room with a camera.
“They just mentioned it to me as a joke and I took it as nothing
really serious,” he said. “This is something that happened between
two adults.”
Mr. Ibrahim, who signed a controversial Sharia law while in office
as governor, nonetheless, said he will investigate the matter.
“I have commenced investigations to find out why it is
circulating,” the senator said. “But from all indications, it is a
blackmail.”
The latest scandal underscores growing cases of indiscretion
amongst Nigerian lawmakers.
It comes barely a year after a former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
accused three members of the House of Representatives of sexual
misconduct.
James Entwistle, who left Nigeria last August, said in a petition
to Speaker Yakubu Dogara that the lawmakers solicited sex from
prostitutes and hotel workers during a leadership training
assignment in Ohio, midwestern United States.
In his petition, which was published by New Telegraph in Lagos,
Mr. Entwistle said he had evidence to nail Mohammed Galolo, Samuel
Ikon and Mark Gbillah of the sexual offences.
But the lawmakers denied the allegations and added their voice to
the growing calls for a thorough investigation at the time.
The House later cleared the trio following an internal
investigation by its Ethics and Privileges Committee. Mr. Entwistle
declined an invitation to testify before the committee.
Samuel Anyawu, Chairman of Senate Ethics Committee, told PREMIUM
TIMES he had not been fully briefed on the viral video of Mr.
Ibrahim, but said he would wait until the entire Senate gives him
instruction on how to proceed.
“I am not fully aware of what transpired,” Mr. Anyawu,
representing Imo East Senatorial District, said Monday. “I will
wait for the Senate to give direction on how to proceed, if at
all.”
A Lagos-based lawyer, Liborous Oshoma, said the latest scandal
further corroborates longstanding public perception of Nigerian
politics and politicians.
“In Nigeria, the more honourable or distinguished you become,
the less honourable or distinguished your behaviour becomes,” Mr.
Oshoma said in an apparent mockery of House members and Senators
who prefer to be addressed as ‘honourables’ and ‘distinguished’,
respectively.
“This is what our politics and politicians have been associated
with for decades —female politicians drinking and attending late
night events with male politicians who cannot do without sleeping
with women that are not their wives,” Mr. Oshoma said.
“So, if one is coming to the public light right now, it just
goes to buttress what everyone has always known.”
Mr. Oshoma said Nigerians would expect no serious outcome from
the Senate, even if the body conducts an investigation into the
latest scandal.
“We have enough issues on our hands to begin to discuss a
Senator with illicit affairs,” Mr. Oshoma said. “Let the Senators
deal with the issues surrounding our ailing president and take
Nigeria out of the current crisis.”
Former Governor Of Yobe State, Senator Bukar Abbah
Ibrahim Caught In Sex Scandal