The Senate Chamber may be a Buka where “judicial delicacies” are served to feed our gluttonous politicians courtesy of Senator Bulkachuwa’s half revealed nature of how seats are gotten in the Senate. The other half may end like Chimamanda’s Half of the Yellow Sun, with Anne Giwa Amu’s claim to the original half, except God the righteous Judge steps in.
The red carpeted and furnished Chamber doesn’t look like a place that even an insane man will be comfortable to throw a banana peel. But the mischievous have their way of doing things, that exactly was what El-Rufai did with his APC Islamization speech to claim Islamic ownership of BAT Administration. Same intention informed the Bulkachuwa’s bombshell on the floor of the Senate.
The Senate is not a house of saints, if anything, it is a dark Chamber of sinners unfortunately retired from direct opportunity to plunder states and parastatals, who have taken seats under the covering of oversight function to continue their nefarious activities against the rest of us in the name of representing us. Occupants of the dark Chamber, if you like. But as a Yoruba saying goes, Eni ti Ile mo ba ni ole. The one upon whom the day suddenly breaks is the thief.
Daybreak, that is the nemesis of leadership of the Senate, of persons whose deeds others chose to throw out of the covering of the darkness of their Chamber into lime light of the public without mercy and there goes their fall.
Votes are no security of an inevitable fall. The Upper Chamber has witnessed many falls.
If number of votes that bring individuals to power are anything to go by, certain people would have enjoyed stability. Legislators in the Upper House of the National Assembly voted 90 to 109 to impeach Senate President Evan Enwerem, who won the Imo East Senatorial election, and rode to position of Senate Presidency after defeating his closet rival, Chuba Okadigbo.
Enwerem had survived an earlier motion to remove him, and fought to save his position after he was accused of perjury about his age and schools attended, when presenting his candidature for the Senate presidency.
The Senate also accused him of concealing a past criminal conviction.
And in came Chuba Okadigbo who was also removed in July, 2020.
After seven futile attempts, the Senate impeached Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as Senate President.
Okadigbo, who spent 263 days in office, is the second holder of the exalted office after Chief Evan Enwerem to be impeached by the Senate.
Okadigbo was impeached by 81 to 11 votes following his refusal to resign as earlier demanded by the Senate.
Then, there was Adolphus Wabara who became a senator in 1999, and was president of the Senate of Nigeria from 2003 to 2005, he continued his tenure as a senator until 2007 when he stepped down.
In May 2004 senators moved to investigate Wabara over alleged financial misdeeds. President Olusegun Obasanjo supported the decision. The senators accused Wabara of exceeding his authority by handing out various contracts without the knowledge or approval of the responsible Senate committee. An additional allegation was made by Senator Bode Olowoporoku, who denied receiving a N3 million advance that the Senate President said had been paid to him for a tour of Europe and Latin America. Wabara said he was ready for the probe, and said the allegations were false, raised by Igbo senators who wanted his position.
In April 2005 Wabara resigned from his position after allegations were made that he and others took a $400,000 bribe from the education minister, Fabian Osuji. He was succeeded by Senator Ken Nnamani.
It has been rumoured that the banana peel on the floor of the 10th Senate in recent days has witnessed the gathering of members around it. I doubt the survival of the intended victim who may have hands assisting the mission in case all the peel could get is a staggering.
There are reports that 22 senators from the All Progressives Congress (APC) are planning to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which would give the opposition party a majority in the Senate.
The move is said to be a result of an alliance between the APC senators and those loyal to Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, who lost out to Senator Godswill Akpabio in the Senate President election.
The 22 senators have reportedly held meetings in Abuja and London to solidify their commitment to switching allegiances.
Currently, out of the 109 legislators in the Senate, the APC holds 59 seats, while the PDP has 36.
The remaining 13 seats are distributed among other parties.
Should the 22 APC senators proceed with their plan, the PDP’s numbers would rise to 58, reducing the APC to 37, effectively establishing the PDP as the majority party in the Senate.
To execute their strategy, the PDP Senators have agreed to offer the position of Senate President to one of the 22 senators defecting from the APC, as well as the role of Deputy Senate President.
The PDP has offered the position of Senate President and Deputy Senate President to one of the defecting Senators, while securing the positions of Majority Leader, Chief Whip, and Deputy Chief Whip for themselves.
The alleged exclusion of senators not aligned with Akpabio from committee selections have further strengthened the resolve of the 22 senators to support the PDP in taking leadership in the Senate.
Senator Akpabio, if you recall, emerged victorious with just 17 votes against Senator Yari’s 46 during the 10th Senate presidential election on June 13.
I had gotten deeply involved in the dynamics of the last leadership of the senate, to check the Executive desperation at gaining control of the leadership of the senate. I did counsel on the need to allow the class to choose its captain. The chicken seems to be on its way home to roast. The stage is set for the most unstable Senate in the history of the country except a miracle will take place, the impeachment looming may not be limited to the Senate.
