October 22, (THEWILL) – The Senate has summoned the Chairman of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), General Buba Marwa (retd), to appear and respond to allegations raised against Deputy Senate Leader, Oyelola Ashiru.
In addition, the Senate has established a six-man investigative panel chaired by Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), to further examine the allegations by inviting all parties involved.
Other members of the panel are Senator Kaka Shehu (APC, Borno Central), Senator Ede Dafinone (APC, Delta Central), Senator Ireti Kingibe (LP, FCT), Senator Afolabi Shauibu (APC, Ogun Central) and Senator Lawal Usman (PDP, Kaduna Central).
THEWILL had reported that the anti-narcotic agency, on Monday, accused Senator Ashiru of making derogatory comments about the NDLEA because he allegedly failed to prevent the arrest and prosecution of individuals involved in drug abuse in his house.
According to the NDLEA, Ashiru had during his contribution to the debate on a new bill for an Act to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, accused the agency of corruption and compromise.
“There is no doubt that setting up another agency is within the power of the Senate and if we are invited to contribute to the debate we will be willing to offer our opinion.
“While we cannot fault the power of the senate on that, yet for a member of the upper chamber to have made such an unfounded and unwarranted categorical statement against the Agency led us to look inward to see what could have been responsible for such a carpeting general statement. What we found was shocking, and we concluded that his statement came from a place of vendetta and certainly not out of public interest or any altruistic motive.
“The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in the past, where drugs and illicit substances were recovered while two of his aides: Ibrahim Mohammed and Muhammed Yahaya were arrested.
“Based on credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed that the senator’s house was being used as a drug joint for drug dealers and users, the house was raided by our operatives at 1:30 pm on February 4, 2024, during which the two aides were arrested, while a third suspect escaped arrest.
“In another encounter with the senator, the Agency also received intelligence that some of his boys popularly known as Omo Senator operating from his hometown, Offa, were equally dealing in illicit drugs.
“A raid was subsequently carried out on their joint in Offa where one of them, Oluwatosin Odepidan was arrested and illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and cannabis recovered from him on June 11, 2023. The bid to get the Agency to drop the case against Odepidan including a visit to the Kwara State Command headquarters of the Agency in Ilorin by the Personal Assistant to the senator, one Omoluabi, was rebuffed as Odepidan was promptly charged to court and prosecuted. Though the culprit jumped court bail in 2023, he was re-arrested in 2024 after the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was eventually convicted and sentenced in June 2024”, NDLE said Monday in a statement.
Raising the issue under Order 42 of the Senate Standing Order on Tuesday, Ashiru explained how the reaction to his comments during a debate on a bill by the NDLEA had affected his integrity as he neither takes alcohol nor carbonated drinks except water.
He then pleaded that the matter must be taken very seriously.
The Senate addressed the matter after a closed-door session that took place from 11:49 a.m. to 1:25 p.m.
