by Alexander O. Onukwue

A videotape is making the rounds on the internet showing a former Governor of Yobe State, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, apparently in a groove.

Bukar Ibrahim, who is a serving Senator, is seen in the video transiting from a naked state to dressing up, going from his underwears to his kaftan, one at a time. The video was first published online by investigative news platform, SaharaReporters.

It does not show the Senator in an active sexual position, neither are the women involved anywhere near as stripped as he was when the video commenced. It begins with a scene which shows the Senator’s clothes rumpled and laying on a couch, to where he is seated – naked – and then goes on to follow his relaxed dress up. The amateur nature of the video – taken by one of the two ladies in the room – does not let you see clearly every scene in a clear mode. It does appear the Senator had either just risen from ‘the night’ after, or had emerged from the shower.

Actually, it does not “seem” – the Senator is not denying that it was indeed scenes from after a sexual affair.

Responding to the release of the video, the Senator has stated that he owes no explanation to anyone for the video, calling it “a personal, private matter”. He is pointing at blackmail, that someone has released the video after not acceding to demands. The former Governor – who introduced Sharia legislation in 2000 while Governor of Yobe – has quickly dismissed any illegality in his act, specifically rape.

Senator Bukar Ibrahim is 66 years old – will be 67 by October, has a wife who is a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (whose Senate screening he had influenced). As a Senator, he is not just a leader for one State in Nigeria, but his actions reflect on the character of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His defence of his actions that “being with a girl has nothing to do with the public”, a statement that will very well meet with counter reactions over the coming weeks.

While new media in the US were fussed about the ‘scandal’ that New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, took his family to a beach which had been closed to the public, Bukar Abba Ibrahim is asking the Governor to hold his beer.

Editor