– Many Nigerian politicians have failed to conduct themselves in a distinguished way even in public places
– Almost on a weekly basis, Nigerians are inundated with the shameful conduct of their representatives
– A House of Representatives member, Honourable Saheed Akinade Fijabi is in the eye of the storm
A report by Daily Post has detailed how a House of Representatives member, representing Ibadan North-west/South-west Federal Constituency in Oyo state physically assaulted two journalists.
According to the report, an online newspaper, nassnews.ng had reported that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara called Fijabi to order over a controversial issue in the lower house.
The report accused Fijabi of recruiting the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators into the disagreement with some his colleagues, in an attempt to stall the investigation of an ad-hoc committee.
Fijabi, 39, who is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, is the House committee chairman on telecommunications.
Fijabi is the chairman of the House Committee on Communications. Photo credit: Twitter
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“The Speaker of the House of Representative was said to have cautioned Honourable Fijabi to desist from instigating Corporate Nigeria against the assignment of the ad-hoc committee, an action he said was capable of tarnishing the activities and image of the green chamber,” nassnews.ng reported.
The publication, however, did not go down well with the lawmaker, who requested his legislative aide, Baba Suleiman, to invite the chairman of online media chapel in the National Assembly.
The chairman of National Assembly new media chapel and correspondent of Daily Post, Yemi Itodo, was said to have pleaded with Fijabi to calm down and issue a reaction, which he promised would be published via same platforms, but the lawmaker was said to have requested to see the authors of the publication.
“Rather than following the suggestion of our chairman, Honourable Fijabi decided to pounce on me, engaging me in open fight,” one of the reporters, Oluwole Adeboye said.
He said it took the efforts of other lawmakers who heard Fijabi shouting on top of his voice, to come and separate the fight.
Speaking further, Adeboye said “When I finished writing this report, I called Honourable Fijabi severally but he didn’t pick. I went to his office to get his own side of the story but he told me he was busy. I had to publish what I had written and then get his reaction published afterwards.
“But he didn’t allow that to happen. He assaulted me and my chairman who had come to make peace. His boys too tried to beat us before we were rescued. He called the Police and Sergeant at Arm to arrest us that we were criminals.
“Acting on his instructions and without giving us the opportunity to express ourselves, myself and the chairman who came to rescue the situation were bundled inside a van like criminals in the watch of everyone.
“We were held for hours and all our phones seized. It took the effort of a senior DSS officer who gave us the opportunity to express ourselves and he intervened before we were discharged.”
ZENITHBLOG.com checks reveals that Fijabi was one of the lawmakers engaged in a free for all when the green chambers had leadership crisis.
Photos of Fijabi in a torn attire are still on the internet, suggesting that the lawmaker might be a violent person.
Fijabi played a major role in the free for all at the lower house during its leadership crisis. Photo credit: Urbanlifeng.com
Justifying his role in the shameful fight in the lower house, Fijabi had told The Punch that he was trying to save Nigeria’s democracy.
“I was only trying to save democracy. I was trying to save the mace. I didn’t throw punches; what I did was to only try and save the symbol of authority, the mace,”
Meanwhile, the chairman of National Assembly new media chapel, Yemi Itodo, has condemned in strong terms, the continuous harassment of online reporters in the National Assembly.
He attributed his ordeal and that of his members to “local politics being played by the Press Corp of the National Assembly.”
Itodo specifically accused the chairman of House of Reps Press Corp, Puma Umar, of instigating Honourable Fijabi to arrest the reporters who authored the story.
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ZENITHBLOG.com checks reveals that traditional journalists attached to the National Assembly are threatened by the rise of online media.
Efforts by online journalists to get accreditation in both chambers have been frustrated by the traditional journalists, who seem to be fixated with getting on the good side of lawmakers instead of focusing on their reportorial duties.
Watch the ZENITHBLOG.com TV vox pop below where Nigerians appraised the leadership qualities of President Buhari:
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