Kehinde Fajobi
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has come to the defence of Deputy Senate Leader Yisa Ashiru after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) accused him of drug-related activities.
During plenary, Akpabio dismissed the allegations as a personal vendetta, saying, “If the NDLEA felt you were a drug baron, they should have arrested you before you turned 30… not at 68.”
He criticised the agency’s timing and called for an ad hoc committee to investigate, adding that the Senate would take “drastic action” if the NDLEA cannot justify its claims.
Ashiru had earlier condemned the NDLEA’s accusations as “mischievous and misleading,” linking them to his recent criticisms of the agency’s corruption during Senate debates.
“I am 68 years old and cannot even identify cannabis or any drug,” he said, explaining that his comments in support of a bill to establish a National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation likely triggered the allegations.
The NDLEA’s statement, issued by spokesman Femi Babafemi, claimed Ashiru’s house in Kwara had been used as a drug joint, leading to the arrest of two of his aides. However, Ashiru urged the Senate to protect him and other members from similar false accusations aimed at undermining their credibility in parliamentary debates.
Akpabio stressed that the NDLEA should account for these allegations, stating, “Injury to one is injury to all.”
He formed a six-member ad hoc committee to probe the matter, chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, alongside five other senators.