Nigerian senator, Bukar Ibrahim, has owned up to a scandalous video that showed him dressing up in the presence of two women in a room, presumably after sex.
According to SaharaReporters, Senator Bukar Ibrahim, representing Yobe East Senatorial District, told the Premium Times in his first interview since the scandal broke that he had not committed any official wrongdoing and the video was only made public after attempts to blackmail him failed.
He said, “This is a personal, private matter. What does my having been with a girl have to do with the public?
“You know the normal thing: people ask for unreasonable things, and if you deny them, they try to blackmail you if they have a way,” Mr. Ibrahim, a former governor of Yobe State, said Monday afternoon.
Sahara Reporters had published the video on Sunday, and it quickly caught online frenzy.
However, Mr Ibrahim said he said he owed no one an explanation since he was not accused of any crime.
“If they say I raped, that’s a different matter altogether,” Mr. Ibrahim said. “Is it because I am a public official then I am not supposed to be entitled to private life?”
The senator said he knew when one of the women was filming him, but was told it was only for fun and they also wanted to illuminate the room with a camera.
“They just mentioned it to me as a joke and I took it as nothing really serious,” he said. “This is something that happened between two adults.”
Mr. Ibrahim, who signed a controversial Sharia law while in office as governor, nonetheless, said he will investigate the matter.
“I have commenced investigations to find out why it is circulating,” the senator said. “But from all indications, it is a blackmail.”
The latest scandal underscores growing cases of indiscretion amongst Nigerian lawmakers, with the last incident occuring barely a year ago, involving three members of the House of Representatives of sexual misconduct.
In response to the recent incident, Samuel Anyawu, Chairman of Senate Ethics Committee, told Premium Times that he had not been fully briefed on the viral video of Mr Ibrahim, but said he would wait until the entire Senate gives him instruction on how to proceed.
“I am not fully aware of what transpired,” Mr Anyawu, representing Imo East Senatorial District, said on Monday. “I will wait for the Senate to give direction on how to proceed, if at all.”