The lower chamber of National Assembly has accused the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, of disrespecting the house by ignoring invites by the lawmakers to address them on the wave of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in SouthAfrica.
Geoffrey Onyeama who was present during the meeting with the President in Abuja alongside South-Africa special envoy, failed to show up before the lawmakers before departure. The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, in his remarks after a long debate on the attacks at the plenary on Tuesday, said he had been told that the ministry failed to answer several invitations by the Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Buba Yusuf.
“It is unfortunate that in all those occasions, the minister has not responded to the Chairman’s invitations,” he said. While the Speaker alleged that Onyeama also refused to answer when the leadership of the House stepped into the matter, he warned ministers against shunning invitations by the parliament. Gbajabiamila, who threatened that the lawmakers would invoke relevant sections of the Constitution against erring Federal Government officials, he said he would report Onyeama to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Speaker also announced that Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, had been invited to appear before the lawmakers on Wednesday to appreciate him for offering free services to evacuate stranded
Nigerians in South Africa. While disclosing that the Air Peace boss was to appear in plenary on Tuesday, the Speaker said Onyema was on the same day airlifting another batch of Nigerians from the country.