By Abiola Olawale
The raging accusations of drugs being found in the house of the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Oyelola Ashiru following a public face-off between the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and former has continued to take different dimensions and shape.
This is as the Senate, on Tuesday, extended an invitation to the chairman of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen Buba Marwa (rtd), to appear before it following weighty allegations relating to drugs levelled against Ashiru, the lawmaker representing Kwara South Senatorial District of Kwara State, at the Senate.
The invitation came after the NDLEA accused Ashiru of an alleged involvement in drugs.
NDLEA had on Monday accused the Kwara South Senator of pursuing vendetta by making disparaging remarks about the agency on the floor of the Senate due to his inability to prevent the arrest and prosecution of his aides found engaging in drug abuse at the lawmaker’s house in Ilorin, Kwara State.
On Tuesday, Ashiru raised a point of order at plenary, arguing that the Senate should invite the NDLEA Chairman.
Following debates, the Senate constituted a six-member panel to invite all parties connected to the allegations made by the NDLEA against Ashiru.
The Senate panel, which is chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South, APGA), has 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), as members.
The saga began when Ashiru, in his address last week, advocated for the creation of a new drug agency. The senator had said that the NDLEA is allegedly corrupt and compromised, adding that there is a need to establish a new organisation to curb drug addiction and trafficking.
He stated this while contributing to a debate on a bill seeking to establish an institute for drug awareness and rehabilitation.
However, addressing a press conference on Monday, NDLEA’s director of media, Femi Babafemi, said Ashiru’s outburst was because of his grouse with the agency.
He said: “The personal house of the senator in GRA Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, had been raided in the recent 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.
“So, going by this backstory, it is deductible that these encounters that the Agency has had with the senator, must have been responsible for his outburst, and unfortunately, false allegation, the type that nobody within and outside of government has ever levelled against NDLEA before.”
The lawmaker, however, denied the allegations of the NDLEA, emphasising that he neither consumes drugs, alcohol, nor carbonated drinks.
