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The case of the House of Representatives member, Hon Alex Ikwechegh who assaulted a bolt driver may have gone from bad to worse.
It is bad enough that he is getting public lashing over the assault, but his colleagues his colleagues are probably not in the mood to sweep the mater under the carpet,
This has been proven both by their reactions and steps collectively taken at plenary on the matter.
Hon Alex Ikwechegh representing Aba South/Aba North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives have been on the media limelight from Monday, after he allegedly assaulted an uber driver.
The hapless driver had gone to deliver a message at his Abuja residence when things went out of hand.
The house, on the heels of various reactions from Nigerians, has resolved to conduct an investigation into the matter, which may lead to even loss of public goodwill for the lawmaker.
Once the matter involving Ikwechegh and the Uber driver, Mr Stephen Abuwatseya, got to the public domain, it began trending, with many viewers online and offline lashing the lawmaker.
When the lawmaker appeared on plenary on Tuesday, he softened, stating:
Hon Alex Ikwechegh has apologised but the bolt driver says he wants to seek legal redress
“It happened in the heat of the moment. As a public officer, my behaviour fell short of the standard expected of me. I am very sorry.”
Nonetheless, Ikwechegh was arrested and questioned by the police for the action, upon which he later apologised but many Nigerians are still on the matter, and the house is resolved to investigate the matter.
The investigation part all started when Majority Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, who came under the House privilege, adopted a prayer for the matter to be investigated even as he drew the House’s attention to the seriousness of the matter, moreso, the dent it had brought to the house.
“It is the way you do and manage your house that outsiders will see, and give you respect.
“In this House, we come from different professional backgrounds and cultures.
“Many of us have invested heavily in improving our reputation before we came here.
“It is that reputation that we brought to the House of Representatives.
“I want to say that what has been in the news in the past two days is that one of our members was involved with a citizen. It was an act that dented the image of this House.”
Reps member from Ikorodu Federal Constituency: Babajimi Benson, reacting said:
“Mr Speaker, our elders have a saying that the day we stop learning is the day we die.
“They also say that we learn from mistakes and not from successes. However, the parliament is one of the most hated institutions in Nigeria today.
“We are bashed in the morning, afternoon and night as legislators though most of us have very noble intentions for the people of Nigeria.
“We should always be guided and also know that we are not an authority over Nigerians; Nigerians are an authority over us.
“They should be treated with dignity, respect and kindness at all times.
“We must continue to change the heavily-battered image of the garment we all wear.”
A repentant Hon Alex Ikwechegh has also promised to initiative projects in his constituency that would help to bridge representatives-subjects relationship, but how far this would douse the tensions already generated can only be established with time.
