A Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Thursday
called for the impeachment of Senator Ovie-Omo-Agege as the Deputy
Senate President.
It said the credibility of the 9th Senate would be eroded if
Omo-Agege was not impeached, adding that the National Assembly would
remain a “mere political circus ring and a charade even.”
HURIWA stated this while describing the election of Senator
Omo-Agege as the Deputy Senate President and Femi Gbajabiamila as
Speaker of the House of Representatives as a desecration of the
legislative arm of government when the duo are “yet to fully and
transparently clear their names against very damaging allegations of
misdemeanour and fraud.”
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the
Rights group insisted that the election of the duo was a sacrilege on
the parliament.
The statement reads: “HURIWA described their election as a
desecration of the central law-making organ of government with lasting
consequences on the moral justifications of the legislation to be
churned out from the 9th session of the National Assembly and constitute
also a grave sacrilege on the parliament because of the hovering doubts
that will linger in the minds of decent persons globally about the
ethical challenges that confronted the duo which were never treated or
resolved to the satisfaction of the principle of rule of law.
“We also condemn the All Progressives Congress(APC) for
insisting on foisting the duo of Omo-Agege and Gbajabiamila which
offends section 15 (5) of the Nigerian Constitution which states that
the Nigerian State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of
power.”
The Rights group said it was the “peak of corruption that two
persons with questions to answer which in some cases borders of alleged
criminal conducts of fraud and aiding and abetting the criminal invasion
of the Senate and the violent theft of the Mace the symbol of authority
of the Senate just as the group said the emergence of these two persons
as Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives
smacks of irresponsibility and crass insensitivity to the opinions of
millions of the Citizens.”
Speaking specifically on the emergence of senator Omo-Agege as
deputy senate president even after he was indicted by the 8th session of
the National Assembly over his alleged role in the theft of the Senate
mace by suspected armed hoodlums, HURIWA stated that the credibility and
integrity of the Senate has been eroded and massively damaged
irretrievably unless senator Omo-Agege is impeached from the high office
of Deputy Senate President.
HURIWA said, “called on the Senate to impeach Senator Omo-Agege from the office of Deputy Senate President,” stressing that “so
long as Omo-Agege remains the Deputy Senate President, the 9th session
of the National will remain a mere political circus ring and a charade
even as any laws emanating from such a body will have little or no
credibility.
“We invite the senators to take a good look at the
preponderance of overwhelming rejection of the election of someone who
disrespected the constituted authority of the 8th session of the senate
when he was suspended by the leadership of the then senate in session
only for him to now emerge as deputy senate president. “This is comedy
taken too far and will water-down the respect the rest of the world
would have on our senate. What this action conveys to Nigerian
youngsters is that it pays to misbehave and disobey constituted
authority. This election of both Senator Omo-Agege and tje allegedly
discredited lawyer Femi Gbajabiamila if allowed to remain will amount to
the CANONIZATION OF RASCALITY AND MISCONDUCT”.
The statement added: “It would be recalled that the National
Assembly joint ad hoc committee recommended the immediate suspension of
the senator representing Delta Central, Ovie Omo-Agege, for 180
legislative days over the theft of the Senate mace. The recommendation
was made by the committee investigating the invasion of the Senate at
the conclusion of their investigation. The committee also recommended
that Senator Omo-Agege be prosecuted alongside six other suspects who
allegedly accompanied him into the chamber on the day of the incident.
They are to be prosecuted for treasonable felony, assault on National
Assembly members of staff, conspiracy to steal and eventual theft of the
Senate Mace.
“The committee also recommends a total review of the National
Assembly’s security architecture. These steps were never taken by the
law enforcement agency under the direct control of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration because Senator Omo-Agege was then positioned as
the chief loyalist of the Executive at war with the then-Senate
President Bukola Saraki. ”
HURIWA argued that the emergence of someone with this kind of
disciplinary record as Deputy Senate president has graphically depicted
Nigeria as a banana republic whereby misconduct is rewarded.
Besides, the Rights group recalled that for many years,
”Gbajabiamila, has been accused of perpetrating fraud in the United
States where he obtained a law degree and where he practised until his
return to Nigeria to join partisan politics from the platform of the
defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD).”
0 comments:
Post a Comment