Elisha Abbo, the embattled senator caught on camera physically assaulting a nursing mother at a sex toy shop in Abuja has appeared before the Senate Adhoc Committee investigating the matter.
At the session, Abbo was locked in war of words with Remi Tinubu, wife of former Lagos State Governor.
The Senate had last week set up a seven-man panel chaired by Sam Egwu (PDP, Ebonyi) to investigate the matter.
Trouble started when Abbo appeared before the Committee and declined to talk on the matter, claiming that the case is before the court of law.
He added that even if he decided to talk on the mater he will prefer a closed door session, even as he insisted that he is not afraid of suspension.
In her swift response, Tinubu said the embattled senator cannot dictate to the Committee, adding he can be suspended as a result of what transpired in that viral video.
This, however, did not go down well with Abbo who said, “You cannot threaten me with suspension, it is not out of place for me to say am not addressing press. I came because I received a text message before the Committee”.
Committee members however agreed that the lawmaker should speak before the Committee behind closed door.
But before the Committee went on closed session, Abbo said he decided to apologize last week in order to protect the institution of the Senate.
He explained that the matter happened before he became the Senator of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to him, the incident has been overtaken by events.
Earlier, the Counsel (Solola & Akpana) to the Victim, of the assault appeared before Committee informing the Panel that the Victim is in the hospital and they don’t know when she is going to leave the Hospital.
The Counsel however declined to make any statement on the matter.
In a 10-minute video viral video, the 41-year-old Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker from Adamawa State was seen slapping the nursing mother repeatedly at a sex toy shop in Abuja.
Though the video surfaced online on Tuesday, the incident was said to have occurred on May 11, a month before Abbo was sworn in on June 11, 2019.
The panel is expected to submit its report by next week.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
