By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase, has drawn the ire of the Middle Belt group, the Middle Belt Journalists Forum (MBJF), which consequently passed a vote of no confidence in him.
The deputy speaker had questioned the eligibility of Nigerians living abroad to submit petitions to the National Assembly.
Responding, the forum condemned the way and manner Wase dismissed the petition seeking to draw the attention of the lawmakers to the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue State and other states within the Middle Belt.
Recall that the petition by a group of concerned Nigerians resident in the United States of America from Benue State had sought to highlight the plight of IDPs and the continued illegal and unconstitutional occupation of their ancestral lands by their attackers (bandits and herdsmen), which is similar to many places in the Middle Belt including Plateau State where the deputy speaker comes from.
In a statement jointly signed by the President, Jonathan Ipaa, and the National Secretary, Mrs Oikeke Igado Kure, the forum pointed out that the issues at stake were clearly within the purview of violation of fundamental human rights.
It stated: “As a beneficiary of democracy, which catapulted him into the exalted Office of Deputy Speaker, we expect Rt Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase to tow the line of civility and to have allowed the petition to be heard. By this, the deputy speaker would have defended his constituents who are now suffering in the various IDP camps across the zone.
“The question to ask is, ‘Does it matter the residency status of who draws attention to a crime or injustice?’
“The posture of the Deputy Speaker as Presiding Officer suggests that he calls the shots and determined the petition to be heard irrespective of its merit.
“His action to say the least, appears to have encouraged the killer herdsmen, armed bandits and terrorists to sustain their heinous acts against innocent Nigerians in general and the Middle Belt in particular. As a lawmaker of about 16 years at the National Assembly, what was expected of him was to refer the matter to the relevant committee to investigate and report back to the House and not to shut it down. “This has put to question his 16 years of legislative experience as a federal lawmaker of his repute.”