Articles and OpinionHighlight

Senate Invasion: Parliament Respect Your Own Rules

638

Suleiman Kabiru

Watching last week’s invasion of the Senate chambers by thugs last week on television shocked me to my bone marrow. The ease with which the thugs entered the red chambers and picked the mace-the symbol of senate’s authority-right in front of the senate presiding officer, Ike Ekwerenmadu, the deputy senate president, is almost unbelievable.

I also watched in complete incredulity how the thugs just simply shoved the senate security personnel out of the way as they race out with the mace, leaving the senators dumb founded and wondering what just hit them.

I imagined for a moment if the mission of those hoodlums was to eliminate all the senators in the chambers! No one could have stopped them perhaps, and by now we probably would still be mourning the demise of such a gathering of distinguished senators! It’s unthinkable. But after what I saw last week, I’m convinced it’s quite a possibility.

Ekwerenmadu rightly described it as an “invasion” of the senate and a threat to “our democracy.” While it was no doubt an unwelcome invasion, the real threat to our democracy is the parliament which has become like a sore on democratic governance in the country.

Since the return of democracy to the country in 1999 till date, the parliament has been unable to win the confidence and trust of Nigerians due largely to the way members; especially presiding officers have conducted the business of legislation. One could count several instances of pure legislative rascality and unpatriotic posturing of members of parliament. 

In many of these instances, the legislators put personal interests above national interests and above the interest of the parliamentary institution.

To the matter at hand, while would a law making institution always take recourse to ignoring its own rules whenever it suits the interest of the leadership of the parliament? While would a law making institution find it so easy to ignore the law, including those it sets for itself? While would members of parliament allow dictatorship thrive in the chambers of the National Assembly?

The parliament is expected to always promote the rule of law and not the rule of chaos. But when it fails to promote the former, it is inadvertently promoting the latter. This is exactly the way I see the invasion of the senate by thugs allegedly acting in cohort with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

Omo-Agege incurred the wrath of the senate leadership when he and some 12 other senators disagreed with the senate’s decision to change the order of the 2019 general election prepared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Omo-Agege addressed a press conference on behalf of the dissenting senators alleging the re-ordering was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari.

The senate leadership in response asked him to recant the allegation and apologise or be suspended. The senator later apologised to his colleagues on the floor of the senate.  But the powers that be in the senate were still unsatisfied and insisted the senator be investigated for holding a different opinion. Omo-Agege, was billed to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, but he sued the senate to stop his appearance.

But while the case is in court, the senate still went ahead and suspended him for 90 legislative days. It was a gross disregard of its own rule which forbids the chamber from deliberating on a matter that is in court. Such disrespect for the court process by the leadership of the senate is a more potent threat to democracy by any act of thuggery in the chambers.

I am not in anyway justifying what happened in the senate chambers on April 17. But I am suggesting that the leadership of the senate invited such chaos when one of their own approached the court to stop his suspension, and without waiting for judicial intervention, suspended him. It is like taking the laws into your own hands.

This was a repeat of what the House of Representatives did to Abubakar  Malami, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federation over the probe of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former Pension Reform Chairman. Suspecting a witch-hunt, Malami had gone to court to stop the National Assembly from probing the alleged recall and reinstatement of Maina.

But in utter disregard of the court and its own rules, and after well-publicised senate public hearing on the same issue, the House still went ahead to constitute an adhoc “investigative” committee to probe the AG.

In another show of shameless legislative rascality, the adhoc committee came up with a report it laid in plenary about three weeks ago. The report purports to indict the AG, without pointing to any shred of evidence and in complete usurpation of the role of the judiciary, as the culprit in the Maina saga. The legislative report pronounces the AG guilty of masterminding the recall and re-instatement of the runaway pension boss.

It was at best laughable. But it constituted a serious threat to the legislature and its place in our democracy. What is there to gain by putting legislative integrity on the line just to nail and bring down one man seen as an obstacle to some interests?

This is what the whole saga about Senator Omo-Agege seems to be all about. The Senate President Bukola Saraki was quoted in the media as saying the senate suspended the senator because of his activity with the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group. Saraki, in a shameful moment of Freudian slip, said he was the right person that is supposed to lead the group and not those leading it now. Saraki reportedly said those leading the group now make it look as if some parliamentarians were not in support of Buhari’s re-election.

Pray, what is wrong if some members of parliament feel strongly enough about Buhari’s re-election and decided to form a group? If Saraki thinks it’s his right to lead the group, why did he not just “do a coup” as he did to win the senate presidency instead of compromising the integrity of the senate to get at some of his colleagues? Let the leadership of the national assembly rule by law so that they can be on a moral high ground when checking executive recklessness.

Kabiru wrote in from Abuja.

Leave a comment

Related Articles

Four Filipinos, Eight Nigerians Jailed for Cybercrime Offences

In a landmark judgment, a Federal High Court in Lagos today convicted...

SunTrust Bank MD, ED Arraigned for Alleged $12m Fraud

Halima Buba, Managing Director/CEO, and Innocent Mbagwu, Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer of...

Air Peace, Oshiomhole Row: Keyamo Orders Investigation

Following a recent confrontation at Lagos Airport, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo has...

Tinubu Hails ‘Uncle Sam’ on 90th Birthday, Calls Him Eminent Statesman, Journalism Icon

President Bola Tinubu has sent a heartfelt message to the publisher of...

Presidency corrects errors in Democracy Day honours list

The Presidency has corrected an error in the list of national honours...

London-bound Air India Flight Crash Claims 200 Lives, Briton Survives

A London-bound Air India passenger plane with more than 200 people on...

Senate Introduces 844 Bills in Two Years, Akpabio Reports on Democracy Day

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced on Thursday that the...

Full text of Pres. Tinubu’s address at joint National Assembly session on Democracy Day

ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR AT THE JOINT SESSION OF...

Democracy day: Protests hit Abuja, Lagos amid heavy security

As Nigeria observes Democracy Day today, demonstrators have taken to the streets...

NNPC Ltd Demonstrates Transparency in its April 2025 Monthly Report

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has released its April 2025...

Just in: Air India flight AI171with 242 passengers on board crashes

A London-bound Air India flight with 242 passengers on board crashed shortly...

Fela’s Iconic “Zombie” Album inducted into 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame

Nearly three decades after his passing, Nigeria’s Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti...

SEC Warns Nigerians: CBEX Remains Banned, Avoid Doing Business with It

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reiterated that CBEX (Crypto Bridge...

Ogun market woman’s fatal stabbing over levy: Suspects nabbed, remanded in prison – Police

Police in Ogun State have announced the arrest and arraignment of several...

Wike’s APC Switch Invitation: Tinubu Says Party’s Door is Open

President Bola Tinubu said on Wednesday that while the Federal Capital Territory...

Just in: 2027: Coalition to remove Tinubu bound to fail, says Wike

The planned coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 is bound...

Investing in Infrastructure Critical to Nigeria’s Economic Growth – Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu said on Wednesday that his administration’s guiding philosophy is...

Just in: Rivers 2025 budget provides for Gov. Fubara’s return – Administrator Ibas

As Nigerians continue to call for the return of the suspended Rivers...

World Bank: Global Economy Slumps to Weakest Performance in Years, Excluding Recessions

The World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report has warned that global...

N1bln Constituency Projects Fund: Tinubu Gets Kudos for Empowering Lawmakers

Mr. Tunji Akinosi, the House of Representatives member for Ado-Odo/Ota federal constituency,...