Senate wants disciplinary action against Marafa over false publication

Senate has directed its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to begin a probe of alleged false publication and sanction against Kabir Marafa, senator representing APC, Zamfara Central.

Marafa, who doubles as the chairman, Senate Committee on National Identity and National Population, was said to have made the comments in a national daily, where he supported former President Olusegun Obasanjo on calls for transparency in the National Assembly budget.

Relying on a Point of Order, Isah Misau said the interview published on Punch Newspapers of February 7, 2016, credited to Marafa was misleading and brought the Senate to disrepute.

Misau said it was unfortunate that at a time, when the Senate was working hard to pass the budget in good time, one of them was misleading the generality of Nigerians with falsehood.

Misau said that it took him about 11 years to get to the upper legislative chamber and as such could not overlook the situation where his integrity and that of the Senate was put on the spot by another senator. “If anybody had bothered to read that interview, you will know that it is an issue that we must not treat with kid gloves,” he said.

The Senate thereafter referred the motion to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to report back in one week.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE