TheNewsGuru

Tag: Senate

  • NASS invasion: We’ll get to the roots of this – Senate President

    Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki has condemned the invasion of the National Assembly in which the symbol of authority of the Senate was carted away by suspected Senator Ovie Omo-Agege sponsored thugs.

    TheNewsGuru reports Senator Omo-Agege allegedly sponsored five thugs to invade the red chamber of the National Assembly on Wednesday and forcefully carted away the mace of the Senate.

    In his reaction to the developments, Saraki, who has been away in Washington where he is attending the Spring Meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the National Assembly will get to the root of the matter.

    He commended the leadership and all members of the Senate for standing up firmly in defense of democracy and the rule of law with their decision to defy those who machinated the attack on the red chambers of the National Assembly.

    Saraki also lauded the swift reaction by the leadership and members of the House of Representives in demonstrating their solidarity with the red chamber and thereby sending a strong signal that enemies of democracy and those who want to undermine the legislature will be resisted by all parliamentarians.

    “I have just been informed that some hoodlums invaded the Senate chambers, forcefully taken away the mace and assaulted some of our Sergeant-at-arms on chamber duties. I am delighted that the Senate stood up to them by disregarding their unreasonable and shameful action and went on with the day’s proceedings as slated in the Order Paper.

    “My commendation goes to my deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, other members of the leadership, my colleagues, the leadership and members of the House of Representives for standing in defence of democracy, parliamentary sanctity and constitutionalism.

    “With the way the Senate has defied those seeking to undermine it, we have sent out a strong signal that we are always ready to defend our constitutional mandate and nothing will deter us from this.

    “I associate myself with the comments of the Deputy Senate President that we are ready to get to the roots of this assault on democracy and ensure that those who are responsible, no matter how remote, will be brought to justice,” Saraki stated.

     

  • Recover stolen mace in 24 hours – Senate tells Police, DSS

    The Senate has asked the Inspector-General of Police and the State Security Service (SSS) to recover its mace, forcefully removed at the chambers by hoodlums on Wednesday.

    The call followed a resolution by the lawmakers at the end of a closed-door session held immediately after the removal of the mace, the symbol of authority for the legislature.

    Recall that the mace was stolen by thugs suspected to be supporters of a suspended senator, Ovie Omo Agege (Delta, APC).

    Omo-Agege, who was suspended by his colleagues last week, was later arrested by the police on Wednesday afternoon after the Senate plenary.

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who announced the call on the security chiefs while presiding at plenary with another mace, said that the legislature would not be intimidated in any way.

    He said that while the Upper Chamber was awaiting the “return’’ of the mace, it would continue with its legislative activities, adding that the lawmakers would not be terrified in carrying out their constitutional duties.

    “This morning, we had an unusual incident at the chambers in the Senate.

    “At about 11.30 (am), some armed thugs invaded the Senate chambers, assaulted some of our staff and some of the media persons and forcefully took away the mace.

    “They passed through the entrance and the gate and left the National Assembly with the mace. They attempted kidnapping two of our senators.

    “They were eventually left, but we decided that we will not be intimidated by the circumstance. We will stand by and defend our democracy.

    “We have decided to go through everything on our Order Paper for today even if it takes us till 6.00 p.m. We will conclude everything here because that is what we are being paid to do.

    “We are going to get to the root of this matter, and I believe that I speak the mind of all of you here if I say that security agencies must recover our mace within 24 hours.

    “We are giving the Inspector-General of Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) 24 hours to recover our mace,’’ he said.

    Ekweremadu decried the incident and said that it was not only an affront on the Senate, but on democracy.

    He assured that the lawmakers would not be distracted, stressing that they would stand together while continuing with the assignment of representing Nigerians.

    He thanked the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Yussuf Lasun, who led members of the chamber to the Senate in solidarity over the incident.

    In his remarks, Lasun assured senators of Representatives’ continued support, adding that they would not be deterred from carrying out their responsibilities.

    “I have read a lot of books about representative democracy and what baffles me most is the fact that the ones that try to demean the institution of the assembly are pretenders to the institution of democracy.

    “This means that once your assembly ceases to function or you ostracise or you want to muzzle it, definitely you are no longer practising democracy.

    “Due to the way some of us started practising politics, a lot of Nigerian populace does not agree with the fact that we have to develop the institution of legislation, that it must be well strengthened.

    “Once you do not do that you should as well forget about democracy.

    “We decided to visit to show solidarity not with you alone, but to tell Nigerians that this assembly must make sure that democracy works in Nigeria.

    “We are in solidarity with you and we will make a resolution to ensure that the mace is recovered within 24 hours,’’ he said.

  • Reps condemn attack on Senate, says NASS won’t be intimidated

    Sequel to Wednesday’s attack on the Senate and subsequent hijacking of the mace, the House of Representatives has called for a total overhaul of the National Assembly security system.

    The lawmakers condemned the porosity of the National Assembly complex where adequate security was said to be grossly lacking.

    While reiterating their solidarity, the lawmakers, however, vow that they won’t be intimidated by the attack.

    The call followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by the House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who described the invasion of the Senate by hoodlums as attack on the highest arm of the institution.

    He said: “In every democracy, the mace is vital to the parliament. We don’t know the facts yet, though it has started to unravel.

    “What we do know is that thugs came into the floor of the Senate while members are sitting, picked up the mace and took off with it into a waiting car in front of the White House.

    “How this happened is a cause for concern because it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for anybody to walk into the chamber and pick up the mace.

    “It is sad that on this day we have visiting parliamentarians from the Gambia and we have to apologise to them because they should not leave with a bad taste in their mouth.

    “So, we have to join the Senate in solidarity because as it is now, we are sitting ducks and we will be forever if something is not done on the matter.

    “This moment should be used for what we should have done long ago. This place is porous. Things we should not see are happening everywhere. You see people hawking, some selling clothes and suya. How did they get in?

    “There is a need to discuss how to beef up the security at the National Assembly.

    “This attack is sacrilegious and could have been worse. This is akin to a terrorist attack but we will not be intimidated.

    “This attack is meant to stop us from performing our job but we will sit and do our job.”

  • Thugs invasion: Senate continues plenary with ‘improvised’ mace

    The Senate refused to stop plenary on Wednesday afternoon after some thugs suspected to be working for a suspended member, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege invaded the Senate and hijacked the mace leading to commotion.

    An improvised mace was provided pending the recovery of the stolen one.

    However, the Senate leadership has alerted security agencies to fish out the culprits and also recover the mace within 24 hours.

    It also said the invasion and subsequent hijacking of the mace in an act of treason and all those behind it will be treated as such.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki was not in Nigeria when the incident took place.

    The Senate, reacting in a statement said the invasion was a treat to the nation’s democracy.

    Read full statement below:

    Today, some armed hoodlums led by suspended Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, walked into the Senate plenary and seized the symbol of authority of the Upper Legislative Chamber, the mace.

    This action is an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the Federal Government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such. All security agencies must stand on the side of due process and immediately mobilise their personnel to retrieve the mace and apprehend the mastermind and the perpetrators of this act.

    This action is also an affront on the legislature, and the leadership of the House has come to express their support against this action.

    The Senate is now in an Executive session.

    An updated statement will be released immediately after the closed door session.

     

  • Breaking: Commotion as hoodlums invade Senate; hijack, cart away mace [Video]

    The Nigerian Senate is under attack by certain persons who have been branded as hoodlums, who hijacked and cart away the mace of the red chamber.

    TheNewsGuru reports Wednesday’s plenary session was ongoing when the said hoodlums invaded the Senate chamber of the National Assembly.

    Watch video below:

    According to a source who spoke to TheNewsGuru.com on the incident, about 10 suspected thugs who came to the venue forced their entrance into the chamber.

    Seconds later, the hoodlums ran out of the chamber with the mace causing pandemonium in the Senate.

    They left the National Assembly with the mace in a black SUV.

    The mace is the symbol of authority of the parliament.

  • Senators call for sack of security chiefs, calls for self-defence

    Senators yesterday in plenary suggested various measures to address the current state of insecurity in the country following fresh herdsmen violence in Nasarawa state.

    Senator Suleiman Adokwe (PDP, Nasarawa) drew the attention of the red chamber to ongoing crises in his Nasarawa South senatorial district that led to the death of 32 persons. According to him, the attacks continued unabated for four days “under the noses of security agencies”.

    Adokwe stressed that the alleged apathy on the part of security agencies is leading to greater calls for self-defence as recently propounded by former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. TY Danjuma (rtd).

    Also aligning with Senator Adokwe, Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta) said the issue of self-defence is “a matter of natural instincts, defend yourself or they kill you.”

    Furthermore, he boasted that Ijaw communities will defend and avenge any attack on their land but called for an implementation of the resolutions of the Senate’s Security Summit held in February as a means of bringing lasting peace to the country.

    On his part, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Lagos) called for the sack all the service chiefs as they have run out of ideas, stressing that the President is “in need of fresh ideas” to combat the insecurity situation.

    “I think the President needs fresh ideas and fresh men, all the service chiefs and head of security agencies should be sacked immediately, there are no two ways about this.

    “I believe they have exhausted all the ideas deposited in them over the years as security experts. This current head of security agencies cannot give him the fresh ideas, they have to go in order to put an end to what is happening,” he said.

    Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi) in his contribution added another dimension to the discussion by saying that Nigeria should call for international help “before it is too late,” an idea the presiding officer and Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu agreed with.

    According to Ekweremadu, “The time has come for us to seek help from other countries as some of us have suggested here. We should not be ashamed to ask for help.

    “The President met with the UK Prime Minister and she was of the opinion that Britain would help us security wise, America is also offering to help. We should not be reluctant to come out openly as say we need help, because what we have now is a global village.”

    He continued: “We cannot be asking people to come to Nigeria and invest their monies here, they will not! Rather, let us ask them to come and help us to solve our security problem. If we solve our security problem, they will come here, with nobody asking them to come. I think the first thing to do is to resolve the issue, and it is something we all need to do, and do it fast.”

    The Senate subsequently observed a minute silence in honour of those who lost their lives in the crises while calling on the President to direct the armed forces and the police to stop the carnage and return normalcy to troubled areas.

    In addition, the Senate mandated its Ad-hoc Committee on security to investigate the incident in Nassarawa .

  • Omo-Agege’s suspension unacceptable to Urhobo – Taiga

    The President General of the Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide, Olorogun Moses Taiga, has urged the Nigerian Senate to immediately lift the suspension placed on the senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Ovie Omo-Agege.

    Olorogun Taiga, who made this plea in a press statement, said the Urhobo Nation, the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria, could not be without representation in the senate for such a long and critical time.

    “Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is the only senator representing the entire Urhobo Nation. For him to be absent at this critical time is unacceptable to the Urhobos.

    “Elections are almost here, we are discussing the way forward for Nigeria and there are many other critical issues, including the invasion of Urhoboland by Fulani herdsmen.

    “We need Senator Omo-Agege in the senate to protect and defend the Urhobo interest we sent him there to do.

    “All the UPU is asking for is the reinstatement of Ovie Omo-Agege and the UPU is ready to work with the senate to ensure his prompt recall,” Olorogun Taiga added.

    Olorogun Taiga said the Urhobo Nation was the greatest loser in the suspension of Senator Omo-Agege and urged all Urhobos, irrespective of political affiliations and whatever would have happened before, to work towards the lifting of the suspension.

    It would be recalled that the senate suspended Senator Omo-Agege for 90 legislative days last week.

     

  • Omo-Agege: You have case to answer, Court tells Saraki, Ekweremadu, others

    …urges them to respond in seven days

    The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Friday gave a seven-day ultimatum to the principal officers of the Senate and other parties to respond to a suit challenging its investigation of the senator representing the Delta central senatorial district, Ovie Omo-Agege.

    Recall that Omo-Agege was investigated and subsequently suspended for accusing his colleagues of working against President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The court presided by Nnamdi Dimbga made the ruling after declaring that the time for the defence, including Senate President Bukola Saraki, to file their response to the motion brought by Omo-Agege had been abridged.

    Omo-Agege had approached the court to stop the Nigerian Senate from implementing the report of the Senate’s’s ethics and privileges committee which investigated comments made by him in February.

    Omo-Agege had alleged during a sitting in February that the proposed electoral amendment by the National Assembly was a plot against President Muhammadu Buhari.

    After making the statement, Omo-Agege later apologised to his colleagues.

    Following an observation by Kogi State senator, Dino Melaye, the matter was handed over to the Senate’s’s committee on ethics and privileges for investigation.

    But after the committee began its investigation, Mr Omo-Agege approached the court, seeking an order preventing the Senate from taking any action from the findings made by the committee.

    Omo-Agege also asked the committee to suspend its investigations pending the determination of the matter in court.

    The committee has, however, submitted its findings to the Senate, which resulted in the suspension of Omo-Agege on Thursday for 90 days.

    During its previous hearing, the court refused an ex-parte motion filed by Omo-Agege and asked the respondents in the suit to appear before it on Friday for hearing on the motion.

    Dimgba also said the court would ensure accelerated hearing on the matter.

    The respondents were all absent during Friday’s hearing.

    Dimbga, therefore, ruled that considering his earlier decision to ensure accelerated hearing into the application, the time for the respondents to file their replies was over.

    He ordered the respondents to file their responses, within seven days from Friday, April, 13.

    According to the order, the date for the submission of respondents’ briefs elapses April 20. The plaintiff is then expected to file his reply to the respondents’ briefs within three working days from his date of receipt.

    The respondents in the suit are the Senate, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

    The case was adjourned till April 27 for hearing on the application.

  • Court rejects Omo-Agege’s bid to stop suspension from Senate

    The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an ex parte application filed by the lawmaker representing Delta Central in the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, to stop his suspension by the Senate.

    He had, on April 3, filed the ex-parte application before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, asking the court to order that “all further proceedings against the plaintiff (the Senator) in respect of the allegations referred to the 1st defendant’s (Senate) Committee for Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition” be halted pending the hearing and determination of his main suit.

    Omo-Agege asked the court to order parties to the main suit, earlier filed on March 26, 2018, “not to consider, act on or give effect to any recommendation, resolution or decision of the 1st respondent’s (Senate) Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition.”

    The defendants to the suit are the Senate, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

    But the Senate, on Thursday, suspended the Senator for 90 legislative days for his comments that the amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 to reorder the sequence of polls in a general election was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari.

    This came after the Federal High Court in Abuja had, on Wednesday, rejected his ex-parte application requesting that parties be ordered to maintain the status quo by suspending all actions concerning the issues raised in respect of the case.

    On Wednesday, Omo-Agege’s lawyer, Mr. E. R. Emukpoeuo, had moved his client’s ex parte application filed before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on April 3, 2017.

    Ruling, however, Justice Dimgba refused to grant the order directing parties to maintain the status quo.

    The judge held that “in the interest of maintaining the balance of power between the judicial and the legislative organs of government,” he could not grant such orders without hearing from the defendants.

    Rather, the judge ordered that the defendants be served with the processes in the suit to enable them to respond to the Senator’s application.

    The judge said, “It is hereby ordered as follows:

    “That in the interest of maintaining the balance of power between the judicial and the legislative organs of government, I am not minded to granting the reliefs sought for now without hearing from the defendants.

    “That the defendants shall be put on notice to appear before me to explain why the interim preservatory order sought should not be granted.

    “That this matter shall be accorded an accelerated hearing.”

    The judge then adjourned until Friday for hearing.

  • Senate confirms Buhari’s NDDC board nominees

    The Nigerian Senate on Thursday confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s three board nominees for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    They nominees are Chuka Ama Nwauwa (Imo State), Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa (Ondo State) and Nwogu N. Nwogu (Abia State).

    The confirmation was based on the recommendation by the Committee on Niger Delta, whose report on the nominees was considered at the plenary on Thursday.

    The committee, in the report, recalled that it had disqualified three of the NDDC board members earlier nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, which made the Senate to reject their appointment on October 6, 2017.

    The committee also recalled that Buhari replaced the nominees in a confirmation request read in the chamber on April 11, 2017.

    The report said, “The committee met and screened the nominees but put its report on hold in line with the resolution of the Senate regarding confirmation of nominations at that time.

    “After due consultation with the leadership of the Senate, given that Mr. President had forwarded the above-mentioned names before the resolution of the Senate on confirmation exercises, the committee wishes to present its report on the screening of the nominees.”