hehehehe.........A
new investigation has shown that the theft of the mace from the senate
was plotted by as many as fifteen senators who were desperate to
reinstate Ovie Omo-Agege.
Investigations by Saturday Vanguard have revealed that last
Wednesday’s invasion of the National Assembly was a scripted plot to
force the reinstatement of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and instigate the
removal of the Senator Bukola Saraki leadership of the Senate.
It was learned that the conspiracy stirred by 15 senators was
directed at provoking a confrontation that would have led to a
pandemonium.
Three vocal senators, who the dissenting senators hoped to trigger a
fight that would have led to the pandemonium, were, however, absent at
the sitting.
Residence of a former governor
Senate sources privy to the development told Saturday Vanguard that
the 15 senators, who planned the insurrection at the Abuja residence of
a former governor presently serving in the Senate had hoped that
Senators Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, Enyinnanya Abaribe, PDP, Abia
South or Obinna Ogba, PDP, Ebonyi would have engaged the invaders and
thus triggered a commotion that would have led to the invasion of the
Senate chambers by security services.
That meeting in the night followed an earlier evening meeting at the National Assembly complex, Senate sources said.
However, by happen stance, the three senators, who the group of 15
hoped to trigger the crisis were absent that Wednesday, thereby
preventing the envisaged crisis.
“To achieve the dual purpose of removing the Senate leadership,
especially with the absence of the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola
Saraki, who is on an official trip to Washington, USA, and the
reinstatement of Senator Omo-Agege, it was concluded that the mace
should be forcefully taken away,” a source revealed.
Calculation of the plotters
The source added that: “The calculation of the plotters was
that some hot-blooded Senators like Senator Dino Melaye and Senator
Obinna Ogba would not allow the mace to go without making serious
trouble. In the process, there would be fisticuffs and pandemonium in
the red chambers,” the source close to the Senate leadership added.
“The mace would not only be taken away, but the armed invaders
would use the opportunity to deal with some ‘heady’ Senators’, including
the presiding officer, Ike Ekweremadu. However, it happened that
Senators Dino, Ogba, and Enyinnaya Abaribe were not on in the chamber
when the assailants came.”
It was further gathered that the expectation was that following the
mayhem a motion for adjournment of the sitting to allow heads to cool
would have followed.
The plan was that after the adjournment, the group of 15 senators
would return to the Senate chambers with the mace earlier grabbed and
hold a sitting during which they would have suspended the Senate
leadership and elected another leadership.
The first task after that would have been to lift the suspension on Senator Omo-Agege.
“I am thanking God that Dino was not around because by the time
he came he was so angry that the thugs were allowed to go away with the
mace. He was saying that they would have killed him with the mace that
Wednesday,” the source revealed to Saturday Vanguard.
Despite insinuations of the alleged role of security services in
the plot, Saturday Vanguard has not been able to lay a direct connection
between any of the security services and the 15 senators involved.
Divisional Police Officer
It was nevertheless gathered that the Divisional Police Officer of
the National Assembly was not taken into confidence of the plot to
invade the National Assembly.
The DPO, it was learned, was sold the dummy that the Shiites who
had been protesting in Abuja were coming to the National Assembly that
day. It was when he went to organise reinforcement for the National
Assembly that Senator Omo-Agege came in.
Before Omo-Agege came in, a senator from the North-Central and a
key leader of the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group to which Omo-Agege
belongs had stepped out to make a call.
“We suspected that he went to inform the group that the DPO had left and that they could come,” the source added.
Saturday Vanguard further gathered that it was when the DPO
returned from the gate where he went for mobilisation that he discovered
what happened and directed that the main gate into the National
Assembly be locked. However, the thugs had left the National Assembly
premises unchallenged at the time.
Waiting for the men to strike
A senator said: “If there was no compromise, how was it
possible for a vehicle to park in front of the foyer, the entrance to
the Senate, waiting for the men to strike without being questioned.
“Why was the gate which leads to the Presidential Villa where
the President and Commander in Chief of the Federation do come from when
entering the National Assembly opened?
“The gate which is always manned by men of the Department of
State Services, DSS was manned by the operatives, and it was from there
the thugs escaped. We will know the truth later.”
Reacting to the development, the Senate President, Sen Bukola
Saraki, cautioned those behind the saga, spoiling for change of
leadership.
Saraki, who was represented by Sen Ben Murray-Bruce at TheNiche 4th anniversary lecture, said this in Lagos yesterday:
“What happened was a disgrace and did not make any sense.
Looking at it critically, they were working for change in Senate
leadership, but they left what they were supposed to do and engaged in
the undemocratic act.
“If you want to impeach a President all you need to do is to
put it to vote and the majority will have their way instead of stealing
the mace.
“Come to think of it, behind us is where President lives. So to
escape through the back where the President leaves considering the
presence of security agents gives room for many questions that need
answers.
“There will be no regime change. They are only wasting time.
Similarly, a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Ahmam Aliyu Pategi, said: “Those
who invaded the National Assembly complex and stole the mace actually
attempted to cow the legislators into abandoning the chambers so that
they can take over. It was an attempted coup.’’
A former President of Aka Ikenga, Mr. Goddy Uwazuruike, said: “The
desecration of the hallowed chamber of the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria is a forewarning to those who believe in democracy.
The antics of the anarchist is to intimidate the various arms of
government.
“The arrest of Senator Omo-Agege may be a palliative but definitely not the answer to the question.’’
The Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Peter Azi, said: “As
a lawmaker and the leader of parliament, I will not give credence to
what happened. It is very pathetic and politically unhealthy. Whatever
happened, the mace is the symbol of authority. ‘’
Likewise, Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Plateau State said: “It
is a sad and unfortunate commentary on our democracy and a confirmation
that everything is wrong with our security architecture.’’
Chairman, Plateau Youths Council, PYC, Dr. Jemchang Fabong, said: “What
happened was a threat to democracy, not just that, it was a mockery of
the system. All these didn’t start today. We have seen the practice of
our democracy going down, no thanks to the people we voted to lead us.’’
Also speaking, a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr.
Ehiogie West-Idahosa described the invasion as an act of treason.
He said: ”It has never happened in the history of this country.
It was a disruption of the Senate sitting. If someone disrupts their
(senators) right to sit, it means disruption of a government proceeding.
It is against section 412 of the Penal Code.’’
Deputy National Chairman of Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, Mrs. Marie Okwo, said: “This
is the beginning of chaos in the in the country. There is anarchy in
the land. There is no leadership in this country; there is so much
confusion and calamity.’’
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has
condemned the invasion of the Senate by armed thugs, saying the entry
of the National Assembly which was one of the “most-secured environment
in Nigeria gives course for suspicion.”
Ohanaeze said it was even more worried because the attack was
targeted at the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who was
the only Igbo man occupying a top position in the country alongside
other law makers.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, made this
known in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Emeka Attamah. According
to Ohanaeze, the Igbo would hold the Executive arm of the Federal
Government responsible, if anything ugly happened to Ekweremadu and
other Nigerian law makers.
The statement entitled, “Senate Invasion: Ohanaeze Raises the
Alarm Over Ekweremadu, Lawmakers’ Safety,” read in part, “The foremost
Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has flayed the
invasion of the Senate by armed men, saying it had genuine concerns over
the life and safety of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, and other lawmakers and staff of the National Assembly.
“Ohanaeze said it was still at loss as to how armed men were
able to break into the National Assembly situated in the most secured
area in the country.
“We join other patriotic Nigerians in condemning this reprehensible gangsterism and attack on the parliament and our democracy.
“However, the breach of security in an otherwise most-secured
environment in Nigeria gives course for suspicion. We know for certain
that there are several security checks before one can access the
National Assembly Complex.
“We are also aware that it takes the motion for the suspension
of the Order 17 of the Senate Standing Rule before anybody outside the
Senators and chamber staff is allowed access into the Senate Chamber.
“It is also common knowledge that the National Assembly Complex
is surrounded by the Presidential Villa, headquarters of the Department
of State Services, DSS and the Office of the National Security Adviser,
NSA, among others. So, how on earth did the assailants escape with the
mace?
“We watched on live television and the other footages of the
incident, how the invaders moved menacingly towards the Deputy Senate
President before he was whisked away to safety by his security guards.
“With a hindsight of the attempt on Senator Ekwremadu’s life in
November 2015 but which the security agencies refused to investigate
or say a word about, we have genuine cause to believe that the attack on
the Senate chamber by armed men on a day the Senate was in session and
with the Senator Ekwremadu presiding had more sinister motives than met
the eye
“The 1999 Constitution (as amended) is very clear that the
primary purpose of government is the welfare of citizens and the
protection of their lives and property.
“We wish to state unequivocally that with all the legitimate
instruments for the protection of lives and property, including those of
the lawmakers and the parliament, firmly in the hands of the executive
arm of government, Ndigbo and the world know whom to hold
responsible should any harm befall the Senator or other lawmakers and
parliamentary staff.
“Senator Ekweremadu is just the one eye with which Ndigbo are
seeing in this administration that have unabashedly sidetracked the
South East. He is the only Igbo man occupying a principal and
non-appointive position in the top hierarchy of the Federal Government
today and we believe that there should be limits to political
rascality.”
Ohanaeze further stressed that although Ekweremadu was attacked in
the media by some government functionaries and agencies when he warned a
few weeks ago that the nation’s democracy was receding and derailing,
the invasion of the National Assembly in broad daylight had further
proved him right.
“Unfortunately, the Nigerian political class appears to have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing, Ohanaeze also stated.
Reacting to the invasion, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,
yesterday said the invasion was a violation of the sanctity of the
Senate which constitutes a threat to our democracy, adding that the
National Assembly Security apparatus should be probed for laxity or
compromise.
According to the statement issued by the leadership of the union: “The
invasion of the hallowed chamber of the Senate on Wednesday by hoodlums
and miscreants who carted away the mace and other paraphernalia of
authority is a violation of the sanctity of the Senate and constitutes a
threat to our democracy. It represents a throw-back to those dark old
days we are better off without. It is equally a sad commentary on the
quality of representation.
We do also believe that the National Assembly Security
apparatus should be called to question for laxity or compromise. Whereas
they have often distinguished themselves by keeping at bay constituents
and peaceful protesters from the precincts of the National Assembly,
these thugs seem to have walked on a laid red carpet. Could these
agencies have been acting alone? What is the degree of their complicity?
Whichever way, we condemn this primitive conduct and demand sanctions.
Let it never happen again. There are better methods no matter the
issues.”
We therefore condemn it in its entirety. We similarly invite all
who love Nigeria to rise and condemn this crude and sordid act or
conduct. Also, the deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu said
the invasion was a total embarrassment on the entire security structure
and another lesson on the need to rethink the nation’s security
structure.
Ekweremadu stated this yesterday when the leadership of Nigerian
Political Science Association, NPSA, led by its President, Prof.
Aloysius-Michaels Okolie visited him over the incident.
He said: “It is an embarrassment to Nigeria before the
international community for someone to drive all the way into the
National Assembly Complex, enter the hallowed chamber, and cart away its
symbol of authority.
“It shows a breakdown of security and it is a setback to
Nigeria’s drive for foreign investment because no one would be ready to
invest money in such a system. So, it is a lesson that we cannot keep
doing the same thing with our security system and expect a different
result.
“It is also an irony that the people involved would organise
armed bandits to rob the Senate of its mace since they understand the
implication of what they have done. As a parliament, we will ensure that
this does not happen again and insist that all the actors behind the
drama are brought to book”.He enjoined the Association to help the
nation to rethink its governance and security structures in line with
other federal systems.
Source: Saturday Vanguard
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