The House of Representatives is set to carry out its threat to sue the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, for character assassination.
Akpabio, while appearing before the House of Representatives committee probing N40 billion alleged scam in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, on Monday, claimed that most of the contracts awarded by the commission were to lawmakers.
At the plenary on Tuesday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila gave Akpabio 48 hours to release the names of the lawmakers that benefitted from the said contracts or be ready to face the consequence.
Following the failure to give out the names at the expiration of the ultimatum as at Thursday morning, Gbajabiamila said moves were already on to sue Akpabio.
Gbajabiamila who spoke during plenary said the House would resist any attempt to undermine it.
His words: “This morning, I asked the clerk of the house of representatives to engage the services of legal counsel, and instruct them to initiate a criminal complaint of perjury against the minister.
“At the same time, we will instruct counsel to explore the possibility of a civil defamation suit against the Minister.
“The house of representatives is a public trust placed in our care for the duration of our term in office. We must prove ourselves worthy of this public trust or risk the censure of history.
“Therefore, we will resist every attempt to undermine this institution, whether such attempts come from within or from outside. This house will live up to the highest expectations of the Nigerian people. This is our commitment, and we will not fail.”
