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By Sunday Ani
Senator Adams Oshimhole’s revelation about some lawmakers’ complaints that their signatures appeared in the Senate committee’s report recommending Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension despite not signing the document has sparked fresh controversies about the Kogi Central senator’s earlier suspension.
Oshiomhole made the revelation while speaking on Democracy Today, a programme on African Independent Television (AIT), where he was asked to comment on the suspension, which many observers have described as one of the most controversial actions taken by the Senate in recent years.
Responding to the issue, the former Edo State governor explained the procedure for committee reports in the Senate, noting that lawmakers are expected to sign reports to indicate their agreement with the findings and recommendations contained in them.
According to him, committee reports are products of collective deliberations after hearings had been conducted and all parties had been given the opportunity to state their positions.
“Members of the committee are expected to sign so that it is the collective decision of members of the committee,” Oshiomhole said.
He added that lawmakers who disagree with a report are free to withhold their signatures.
“Where many don’t accept, they can refrain from signing it because to sign is to endorse those decisions,” he stated.
Oshiomhole, however, disclosed that some lawmakers later raised concerns about the report that led to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
“There were one, two or three cases where some said they didn’t sign, but their names were there,” he said during the interview.
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He particularly mentioned the Senator representing the FCT, Abuja, Ireti Kingibe as having told him that she neither agreed with the report nor signed it.
The senator further noted that he could not determine how the names came to appear on the report, suggesting that such questions should be directed to those responsible for processing committee documents.
“Maybe, they were inserted by the clerk or the registrar, which is not the practice. But this is not my problem,” he said.
His comments are likely to renew public debate over the allegations that signatures on the report recommending Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension may have been forged or inserted without the consent of some committee members.
The allegations surfaced shortly after the suspension was announced, with claims that some lawmakers whose names appeared on the report had distanced themselves from its contents. Until now, no senior senator had publicly acknowledged that such complaints were made.
Oshiomhole maintained that any allegation of forged signatures should be treated with the seriousness it deserves.
“If somebody says so, I think if you take it seriously, don’t give it to frivolities,” he said.
The remarks have added a new dimension to the controversy surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension and may intensify calls for a closer examination of the circumstances under which the committee report was prepared and presented to the Senate.
For many observers, Oshiomhole’s comments represent the strongest indication yet from within the Senate that concerns were indeed raised over the authenticity of signatures attached to the report that formed the basis of the disciplinary action against the Kogi Central lawmaker.
