of Representatives on Tuesday.
Yerima, who is now a Senator and Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, was arrested in Kaduna on Saturday by the police.
The police did so after he allegedly granted an interview to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and threatened that there would be mass protests if the All Progressives Congress, was denied registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
A lawmaker from Zamfara State, Mr. Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, who raised the matter on the floor of the House, claimed that the former governor “was detained and questioned for over three hours.”
He added, “His alleged offence according to the Nigerian police was that he made some inciting comments during a popular Hausa Phone-In-Programme, Hannu Da Yawa.
Shehu-Gusau argued that the arrest and detention of Yerima were an infringement on his rights to freedom of expression.
He therefore called on the House to investigate the circumstances of the incident within two weeks.
But, some members kicked against the motion on the grounds that he was trying to drag the House into an issue that had to do with the duties of security agencies.
One of the members, Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, said under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), every Nigerian was entitled to fair hearing and was liable to respond to questions by security agencies.
Elumelu added, “Security agencies should be given the liberty to do their work. Let Senator Yerima go to the police and defend himself. This is not a matter for us. He is entitled to fair hearing.”
The Deputy Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, also queried the silence of Yerima on the incident.
He stated, “We should not be crying more than the bereaved. The Senator who was involved has not talked about it even in his own red chamber, the Senate.
“Let him raise it first at the Senate.”
However, Ogor’s comments infuriated many lawmakers, as they shouted “no!”, “no!”
