Lawan rejects Utazi, Ubah altercation over INNOSON Motors in Senate chambers

By Musa Adamu

Senate yesterday said the controversy between the Managing Director of INNOSON Vehicles, Innocent Chukwuma and some alleged Easterners who allegedly worked against Senate patronage of the INNOSON brand, should not be brought on the floor of the senate bought should be treated locally.
Recall that on the heels of the controversy sorounding the INNOSON brand of vehicles, the senator representing Enugu North, Chukwuka Utazi, had at the beginning of the Senate plenary, raised a point of order to draw the attention of senators to alleged disparaging comments made by some Nigerians against INNOSON MD.
Utazi who came under order 43 of the Senate standing rule for self explanation on alleged orchestrated attempts by some Nigerians to rundown the INNOSON MD, said “it was highly disturbing and worrisome that such plots are coming from people within the same geopolitical zone with the industrial giant”.
According to him, “Chief Innocent Chukwuma had done more than enough in getting the country industrialised as far as automobile sector is concerned than for some people to be ganging up against him and which must be condemned by the Senate”.
But before Utazi’s completed his submissions, some other Senators from the South East geopolitical zone, started countering him underground, wondering why such a local issue should be brought to the floor of the Senate.
The underground noise of the angered lawmakers, made the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to direct Utazi to end his submission, describing it as controversial.
“Please Distinguished Senator Utazi, rest your case on this motion which had already stirred controversy because this chamber should not be reduced to this type of discussion”, Lawan said.
Even at that, the background noise the motion generated increased with the voice of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who is being accused in the motion, sounding louder than those of others.
Senator Ubah who was later excused into the tea room by some Senators to calm down the rancorous session, said nobody from his constituency is against INNOSON MD and wondered why a Senator from Enugu State, took it upon himself to mislead the Senate on non existing attacks on an illustrious son from Anambra State.
Senator Ubah later addressed journalists saying, “My attention has been unavoidably drawn to a grossly misleading and fictitious narrative credited to certain faceless, pseudo media elements who in the figment of their imaginations claim that I rejected patronage of lnnoson vehicles in a Senate committee meeting.
“Ordinarily, a lot of people believe that there is no good reason to personally respond to such a laughable and poorly concocted lie.”