Opinion
Nigeria’s Cat and Mouse Fight With Amnesty International
“Where the cat is a kitten, the court is wretched… No man there would rest at night because of rodents, for we mice would destroy many men’s malt, and you rats would tear men’s clothes were it not for the cat of the court who can pounce on you. If you rats had your way, you could not rule yourselves” – William Langland, ‘The Parliament of Rats and Mice’.
There is this bitterly hostile rivalry between cats, mice and rats that is as old as antiquity. Unable to find a solution to this constant rodents/cats squabble, Odolaye Aremu, Kwara State, Ilorin’s dadakuada music exponent, retrieving his muse from ancient Yoruba wisdom, sang that only God could settle this endless rivalry – Olo’un lo le se’dajo ologbo at’ekute’le. In 2014, British’s House of Commons attempted to exploit this rivalry by using one to neutralize the other. Rising in parliament to debate the infestation of the House buildings built in 1860 by a huge mice population, MP Anne McIntosh said, “It is a matter of fact (that) the mice population is spiraling out of control.” To combat the rodents, members suggested storming the House of Commons with a herd of cats.
“The Parliament of Rats and Mice” is the title of the prologue to William Langland’s Piers Plowman. Considered to be one of the greatest works of English literature of the Middle Ages, it is an allegory of cats and rats, a narrative that tellingly depicts their rivalry. Though a social commentary on control of central power and authority during the reign of English king, Richard II, (1377-99) it is also a commentary on the disorder and abuse in government of his reign. Just ten years old when his grandfather died, Richard’s reign was fraught with crises, ranging from economic, social, political, to the constitutional. It became so bad that a “continual council” had to be set up, with the purpose of “govern(ing) the king and his kingdom.” Excesses of Richard II and his courtiers became intolerably high, including high level of corruption among royal councilors and advisers which the parliament could not stomach. Led by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of Edward III, the king’s uncle, the crown and the royal family considered the parliament’s eventual inquisition as threat to its power. Langland’s allegory peered searchlight into this chaos, representing the cat as John of Gaunt and the kitten as Richard II.
After so many squabbles between them, the rats concluded that the world would have peace if rodents let the kittens be. One rat, addressing its colleagues, said, “Though we had killed the cat, another would come to catch us and all our kind, although we creep under benches. Therefore I advise all the commons to let the cat alone… Where the cat is a kitten, the court is wretched. That is witnessed in Holy Writ, to whoever will read it: ‘Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.’ No man there would rest at night because of rodents, for we mice would destroy many men’s malt, and you rats would tear men’s clothes were it not for the cat of the court who can pounce on you. If you rats had your way, you could not rule yourselves.”
Global human rights policeman, Amnesty International (AI) and the Nigerian government are acting out Langland’s allegory. AI, over the years, has become the “cat of the court who can pounce on you,” as it ferrets nooks and crannies, baying for the blood of “mice (that) would destroy many men’s malt.” Last week, AI accused the Muhammadu Buhari-led government of extrajudicial executions in the Southeast and Niger Delta areas of Nigeria, as well as what it called “heinous crimes of enforced disappearances” of persons. It linked unknown whereabouts of persons to government. Said AI’s Media Manager, Isa Sanusi, “Not only these tragic disappearances, but also the government’s continuing failure to establish the truth and bring justice to their families, are growing stains on Nigeria’s reputation. Scores of disappearance cases…remain unresolved and cast doubt on Nigerian government’s commitment to keeping its own citizens safe.”
Sauced with blood-curdling examples, AI’s frightening allegations were made on the anniversary of the International Day of Support for Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Sister to a 33-year-old businessman whose disappearance since August 2014 after his arrest by Nigerian policemen, was quoted by AI to have said: “My brother’s disappearance affected everyone at home. We just decided to leave everything to faith, hoping he will show up one day. But we need closure, for us to know what actually happened to him. As it is now, nobody knows whether he is alive or dead”.
Another was the celebrated disappearance of Abubakar Idris, known as Dadiyata. A university lecturer and vocal government critic, Dadiyata was abducted from his Kaduna home on August 2, 2019 and his whereabouts is shrouded in secrecy. He was a critic of the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Another case cited by AI was that of 15 year-old Emmanuel John. Arrested by soldiers in a raid of Synagogue church at Oyigbo in Rivers State in October, 2020 while soldiers were searching for members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) Emmanuel’s whereabouts too has remained unknown. Yet another was 44-year old Felix Adika. After his arrest by the Bayelsa state DSS on February 27, 2016, for alleged membership of the Niger Delta militancy, his family last saw him in March, 2019.
Recently, in a BBC piece she penned, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Nigerian journalist and novelist, depicting the fad of “unclaimed bodies” of “missing people,” allegedly wasted by policemen on the streets of Nigeria, wrote about the experience of an Anatomy student of the University of Calabar, 26-year old Enya Egbe, who fled from his anatomy class upon seeing the body of a friend of his, hitherto declared missing, whose corpse was the specimen to be worked upon.
AI also alleged that Nigerian security forces’ clampdown on IPOB militants has resulted in a gale of arbitrary arrests, detentions, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions in the Southeast and Niger Delta area. It claimed that “the whereabouts of at least 50 suspected members of IPOB arrested in Oyigbo, Rivers State, are still unknown since October and November 2020.” So also 41-year old Izuchukwu Okeke, a commercial motorcycle rider who was last seen on July 5, 2021, after his invitation by the police in Owerri, Imo State.
“The cases of at least 200 people – including former militants from Niger Delta, members of IPOB, #EndSARS protesters and security suspects believed to have been subjected to unresolved enforced disappearances in Nigeria have been documented by Amnesty International – The real number is believed to be higher. Nigerian security forces often cite the anti-terror law that allows the authorities to hold people without charge or trial in unofficial places of detention, often without contact to the outside world in practice, clearly increasing the risk of people disappearing after being detained,” said AI.
While it could put up with allegation of the impunity of Nigerian police’s disappearance of persons which has been national pastime in Nigeria from time immemorial, the Buhari rat was pissed off at the temerity of the cat to question its right to urinate inside the soup bowl. In a reply to AI, similar to the flipping of an enraged rat’s whiskers, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, accused AI of championing the matters of “a tiny dot in a circle,” which he euphemized as “those that violently oppose the Federal Government of Nigeria.” He could not stand AI “parroting the line of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB, a proscribed terror organization.” He also claimed that “controversial American lobbyists are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually… laundering IPOB’s reputation in Washington DC.”
Global Terrorism Index, (GTI) n a 2015 document produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, gave a comprehensive summary of key global trends and patterns in terrorism of the preceding 15 years. With data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) GTI said terrorism had become highly concentrated, “in just five countries — Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria…. (countries which) accounted for 78 per cent of (global) lives lost.” It said further: “Nigeria has experienced the largest increase in deaths from terrorism… There were 7,512 fatalities from terrorist attacks… an increase of over 300 per cent. The country houses two of the five most deadly terrorist groups (in the world)…Boko Haram and the Fulani militants.” Yet, the government of which Shehu is a megaphone has deodorized the terrorism of Fulani herders, as well as bandits’, refusing to label the latter terrorists. It seems obvious that government is aware that the moment it does, many of the Northern bigwigs who offer nesting place for terrorists and their allies being masqueraded as bandits, would face the wrath of the globally authorized cats.
Justifying, rather than repudiating the allegations by the AI, Shehu wondered why the international organization would be interested in the case of an “IPOB (that) murder(s) Nigerian citizens… kill police officers and military personnel and set government property on fire, (who have now) amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.” He then propounded a racist counterfactual, a line of thought prevalent among and deployed by African despots to racially profile western opposition to their tyranny and thus legitimize their despotism: “Were this group in a western country, you would not expect to hear Amnesty’s full-throated defence of their actions. Instead, there would be silence or mealy-mouthed justification of western governments’ action to check the spread of ‘terrorism.’”
Astonishingly, Shehu then queried AI’s legality in Nigeria. “Amnesty International has no legal right to exist in Nigeria,” he said. “The Nigerian government will fight terrorism with all the means at its disposal (italics mine). We will ignore Amnesty’s rantings… an organization that does not hold itself to the same standards it demands of others,” he concluded.
This cat and mouse tiff has endured between AI and the Buhari government almost since the latter’s inception. At a time, AI alleged that, in the name of fighting insurgency, Nigerian soldiers were massacring civilian population in the northeast. In 2019, same Nigerian government engaged in a spat with respected Wall Street Journal when it revealed that over 1,000 Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram insurgents were secretly and unceremoniously buried in a graveyard at Maimalari Army barracks in Borno State.
Government’s attempt to query the legitimacy of AI for doing a job whose modus operandi is known all over the world is baffling and reveals its naivety or insincerity. Or both. The question to first ask is if Shehu was aware that Nigeria is a signatory to international legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR) as well as the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances? Does he know that by being a signatory to the conventions, Nigeria had ceded the right to “investigate, prosecute, punish and provide remedies and reparation for the crimes of enforced disappearance” to the AI?
It bears stating that AI is always at loggerheads with rogue governments all over the world that have no regards for the lives of their people. In Nasirabad, Sindh, Pakistan on April 17, 2017, like Nigeria’s Dadiyata, Hidayatullah Lohar was forcibly disappeared. An activist, his abductors, men in police uniform and civilian clothes, rough-handedly disappeared him from the school where he taught, shoved him inside a double-cabin grey coloured vehicle and his whereabouts, since then, has become a mystery. In same Pakistan in 2017 and 2018, repeatedly harassed blogger, Ahmad Waqass Goraya, was also forcibly disappeared, alongside three other bloggers in Punjab. Their sin was that they ran Facebook pages considered to be critical of Pakistani military’s policies. Same happened during the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1964 where 434 political deaths and disappearances reportedly occurred between 1946 and 1988.
As Langland said in ‘The Parliament of Rats and Mice’, humanity will never have rest at night if heartless rats are left to inflict destruction on the world. This philosophy explains the establishment of agencies of cats empowered to pounce on them. Yoruba have a saying that if a mentally challenged was left unchecked to do whatever they liked with the remains of their mother, they could barbecue it. If despots and rogue governments, especially in Africa, were left unpoliced, they will turn the state into a field of blood. That was why the world criminalized in July, 2002, through the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, forced disappearance (or enforced disappearance). It is a secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party “with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law.”
IPOB has acted like a demented organization, inflicting irresponsible and senseless violence on the people of the southeast. Its sadism reflects the kind of leadership that Nnamdi Kanu gives it. It kills, maims and orchestrates untold arson on government buildings, with a magisterial impunity that must never be allowed in a community of human beings. However, Nigeria has gone past the military despotism of 1984 – whether George Orwell’s or the cow-obsessed despot’s – where Bartholomew Owoh and his ilk could be executed retroactively. The moment we laud, rather than heckle government in its trampling on human rights, no matter who the victim is, we lose an essential component of human essence. Felons abound all over the world and an eye for an eye would make the globe go blind. With patent bias harboured by the head of this government for Igbo and anyone else but the Fulani and his blood-soaked pedigree, it is dangerous for humanity to hand over Nigeria’s remains in his hand, unchecked. He will willingly make suya of it.
It is a notorious fact that his government’s sense of justice is warped and self-serving. Fulani nomads’ pillaging, acknowledged by the Terrorism Index, which made it to declare Fulani herders as a global terror as far back as 2014, is not worth the labeling of terrorism in the lingua franca of the Nigerian government; not the terrorism of northwest felons, even when they downed a military jet. Comparatively small-scale irritation of felons of southeast, spearheaded by Kanu and separatist agitators of southwest, never known to have shed a pint of blood, however provoke the misplaced hyper brawns of the government.
It is not difficult to explain the anger of this government against Amnesty International and its phobia for public disclosure. An English proverb says that evildoers are evil dreaders. Yoruba’s own version of this is that executioners mortally dread the presence of swords in their vicinity. Government’s dread manifests in its choice not to name Boko Haram sponsors all this while, even when requested by Rtd. Commodore Kunle Olawunmi and even Mary Beth Leonard, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria last Monday. Leonard had said America was eager to help Nigeria in the disclosure. Could government’s dread of disclosure be a consequence of fear of its own shadow? Till date, government hasn’t said a word about the retired Commodore’s maggots-dripping allegations of its covert boost for insurgency.
Due to the collapse of the mirror that our society once used to reflect its core values, with which it identified evils in human action, it goes without saying that this Amnesty International and government’s cat and mouse tiff would be viewed by many Nigerians with the APC/PDP, region and religion lens.
As I write this, the pulsating rhythm of British reggae music sensation, UB40’s highly apocalyptic track, in the album entitled Labour of Love, the band’s fourth studio album released in the UK on September 12, 1983, filtered into my ears. Denouncing evil doers represented in a Johnny “who’s too bad,” who was busy “robbing and stabbing, looting and shooting,” UB40 had asked pointedly, “One of these days, when you hear a voice say come, Where you gonna run to?” It is such question we should ask Nigerians who legitimate known evils of this government. So, like UB40, I ask, when individuals become personal victims of this governmental evil which they play the ostrich in labeling its correct name, where will they run to?
Dr. Festus Adedayo, a media expert and lawyer writes from Ibadan
In a world that is increasingly dependent on sound financial expertise and innovative management practices, illuminating figures are crucial for the academic and professional growth of a nation. One such figure is Dr. Akinde Mukail Aremu, the esteemed Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro in Ogun State. With an impressive academic background and a commitment to excellence in education, Dr. Akinde is not just shaping the minds of future financial leaders; he is also positioning the institution at the forefront of Nigeria’s educational landscape.
A Legacy of Academic Excellence
Dr. Akinde’s academic journey is nothing short of remarkable. With multiple degrees—a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Economics, a Master’s in Finance, and a PhD in Finance—his expertise spans across vital fields like Financial Management, Business Finance, and Financial Accounting. His position as the Chief Lecturer in the School of Management Studies at the Federal Polytechnic is a testament to his commitment and passion for education. Dr. Akinde’s rich academic fabric is woven with numerous publications in reputable journals, exploring key issues from stock market performance to the complexities of financial reporting standards in Nigeria.
His research interests primarily lie in finance and financial analyses, where he tirelessly seeks to address pertinent economic questions, providing insights that resonate deeply within the Nigerian financial landscape. His studies not only contribute to academic discourse but also guide policy-making in the financial realm, fostering a better understanding of economic development in Nigeria.
Championing Innovative Pedagogy
As a dedicated educator, Dr. Akinde has consistently advocated for modern pedagogical methods that inspire creativity and critical thinking among students. His teaching areas encompass crucial subjects that equip students with the financial acumen needed in today’s dynamic economic environment. By incorporating practical examples and real-life scenarios into his curriculum, he ensures that students are not just passive recipients of knowledge but active participants in their learning journey. His hands-on approach is fostering a generation of finance professionals ready to tackle the challenges of the industry head-on.
Elevating the Institution to New Heights
Under Dr. Akinde’s leadership, the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, is experiencing a renaissance. His vision for the institution is clear: to provide quality education that meets the benchmark of global standards. His strategic initiatives have led to the establishment of innovative programs that align with market needs, ensuring that graduates are not only employable but also ready to lead. His emphasis on human capital investment and sustainable economic strategies positions the institution as a beacon of hope for Nigeria’s future.
Furthermore, Dr. Akinde’s efforts extend beyond the classroom. His participation in international conferences and collaboration with academic institutions worldwide has spotlighted the Federal Polytechnic on a global stage. By fostering partnerships and exchanging knowledge with global thought leaders, he is silencing the cynics and proving that Nigerian institutions can compete on an international level.
A Voice for Change and Development
Beyond academia, Dr. Akinde is a vocal advocate for fiscal responsibility and policy reform in Nigeria. His extensive research publications reflect a commitment to dissecting the intricacies of Nigeria’s financial landscape, addressing critical issues ranging from foreign direct investment to the implications of tourism development on economic growth. His work sheds light on the pivotal role that education and informed fiscal practices play in Nigeria’s quest for economic revival.
Dr. Akinde understands that his role transcends academia; he is a mentor, an innovator, and a change-maker. His unwavering dedication to equipping the next generation of leaders with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in an increasingly complex world is evident in every initiative he undertakes.
In conclusion, Dr. Akinde Mukail Aremu’s leadership at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro is redefining the educational landscape of Nigeria. His commitment to academic excellence, innovative pedagogy, and social responsibility serves as an inspiration for students and educators alike. As he continues to shape the future of financial education in Nigeria, there is little doubt that Dr. Akinde is not just preparing students for jobs—he is preparing them to become the architects of the nation’s economic future. In a rapidly evolving global economy, his vision and leadership will undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on the educational sector and beyond.
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, is a restless and courageous politician. However, he ought to have learned political patience from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who spent years building a viable political alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when its stalwarts boasted that they would rule Nigeria for 64 years.
Cleverly, Tinubu abandoned the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to establish another political platform, the Action Congress (AC), which later metamorphosed into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
In collaboration with other political groups—including the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and some elements of the PDP—the All Progressives Congress (APC) was born, with El-Rufai as one of its foundation members. Ultimately, the APC wrestled power from the PDP, truncating its 64-year dominance plan.
For El-Rufai to abandon the APC now is nothing short of political suicide, as Tinubu is strategically positioned to secure a second term with an array of both seen and unseen political foot soldiers.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP), as a political entity, effectively died with the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola. Any attempt to resurrect it is an exercise in futility.
For the sake of argument, let’s consider a hypothetical scenario: Suppose another southern politician is fielded in 2027 and wins the election. Even if he signs an agreement to serve only one term, political realities could shift, and he may seek another four years.
If anyone doubts this, they should ask former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. The simple implication of this is that President Tinubu remains the best candidate for northern politicians seeking a power shift back to the North in 2031—at which point El-Rufai could have been one of the credible northern contenders for the presidency.
When Ebenezer Babatope (Ebino Topsy), a staunch Awoist, chose to serve in General Sani Abacha’s regime, he later reflected on his decision, saying: “I have eaten the forbidden fruit, and it will haunt me till the end of my life.”
By abandoning the APC for another political party, El-Rufai has also eaten the forbidden fruit. Only time will tell if it will haunt him or not.
However, for some of the political leaders already contacted from the South West, supporting any party against President Tinubu would be akin to Judas Iscariot’s betrayal—a reputation no serious South West politician would want to bear.
El-Rufai’s departure from the APC to SDP is nothing short of a suicidal political move, reminiscent of Harakiri.
Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela, a former Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology and the Commissioner representing Oyo State at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), sent this piece from Abuja, the nation’s capital.
For most of last week, Senate President Godswill Akpabio was in the eye of the storm as his traducer, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, was relentless in getting her voice hear loud and clear.
Though the matter eventually culminated in the suspension of the Kogi senator for six months on Thursday, it is clear that the drama has not ended yet. The whole saga, as we have seen in the last few weeks, smacks many wrongs and few rights. The Senate scored some rights and some wrongs, the same for the Kogi senator. But in apportioning the rights and the wrongs, we have to distinguish between emotions and the rules.
Recall that in July of 2024, Senator Akpabio had compared the conduct of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to that of someone in a nightclub. That statement incensed the Kogi Central senator, the womenfolk, and a number of other senators. Days later, Akpabio, having sensed the mood of the Senate, spoke from his chair and said: “I will not intentionally denigrate any woman and always pray the God will uplift women, Distinguished Senator Natasha, I want to apologise to you.” That was expected of him and by that statement, Akpabio brought some calm into the relationship between him and the Kogi senator, but as we are to discover in the last two weeks, still waters do run fast under the surface.
The latest scene of the drama started with what looked like an innocuous development on the Senate floor. The Senate president, in exercise of the power conferred on him by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Senate Rule book, made adjustments to the seats in the minority wing of the chamber and relocated Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. The excuse was that following the defection of some senators from the minority side, seat adjustments had to be effected. That was within Akpabio’s power. Remember that the Senate Rule book does not only empower the Senate president to allocate seats, but he can also change the seats occasionally. So, Akpabio was right with that action. But perhaps Akpoti-Uduaghan, based on family relationships with the Akpabios, expected that she would have been alerted of the impending seat change. And on getting to the floor of the Senate to discover the seat switch, she got alarmed. Was she right to flare up? No, that is the answer. Apart from the powers of the Senate president to change seats allocated to senators, the rule book also says that every senator must speak from the seat allocated. The implication is that anything a senator says outside the allocated seat will not go into the Senate records. The Senate, or any parliament for that matter, is a regulated environment. The Hansards take records of every word and action made on the floor of the chamber. And so, it is incumbent on every senator to follow the rules.
So, on Thursday, February 20, when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan raised hell over her seat relocation and engaged Senator Akpabio in a shouting match, she was on the wrong side of the Senate Rule book. No Senator is expected to be unruly. In fact, unruly conduct can be summarily punished by the presiding officer. It is important to note that the rules of the Senate treat the occupier of the chair of Senate President like a golden egg. The President of the Senate is the number three citizen in the country, even though he was elected to represent a constituency like his colleagues. He is first among equals, but the numero uno position comes with a lot of difference.
A legislative expert once told me that the Chair of the President of the Senate must be revered at all times and that infractions to the rules are heavily punished unless the offender shows penitence. The rule says the President of the Senate must be heard in silence; Senators must avoid naming (being called out for unruly conduct); and that any situation that compels the President of the Senate to rise up to hit the gavel in trying to restore order could earn the culprit (any named senator) summary dismissal. Those are the powers of the President of the Senate, which Madam Natasha was trying for size. I think it is important that Senators are taken through inductions on the rules and regulations, whether they got in mid-term or at the beginning of the session.
Rules are very key to operations in a big club like the Senate or the House of Representatives. But as we will later discover on this page, the number of years spent on the floor does not necessarily guarantee a clear understanding of the rules.
Well, as we saw it, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan raised hell by protesting the decision of the Senate to relocate her seat. She was out of order, and her colleagues noted the same. With another presiding officer, she could have been suspended right there. But Akpabio didn’t do that. Then, the Kogi Central senator opened another flank, this time, outside of the Senate chamber. She granted an interview to Arise television, claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Akpabio. Here, too, Senator Natasha was on the wrong side of the Senate rules. Yes, she has a right of freedom of speech, but if the right must be meaningfully exercised, she must do so in compliance with the rules of the club she belongs-the Senate. This is expressly so because she is covered by Order 10 of the Senate Rule Book, which permits her to raise issues of privilege without previously notifying the President of the Senate or the presiding officer. The elders and the holy books also say that when you remove the log from the eyes, you show it to the eyes. As a club, the senate detests the washing of its dirty linen in the public. Such conduct led to the suspension of the late Senators Arthur Nzeribe and Joseph Waku, as well as Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Senator Ali Ndume and even Senator Abdul Ningi in recent past.
Rather than go to the court of public opinion to accuse Akpabio of sexual harassment, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan should have quietly assumed the seat allocated to her, raise her complaints through Order 10 and at the same time tender details of her sexual harassment allegation against Akpabio and seek Senate’s intervention. If she had done that, she would have been on the right side of Senate Rules and had Akpabio by the balls. As much as the Senate rules forbid a senator from submitting a petition he or she personally signed, the Senate does not forbid any lawmaker from raising allegations that affect either their rights or privileges on the floor. Several newspaper editors have been summoned before the Ethics Committee to answer questions of alleged breach of the privilege of senators. I recall that as correspondents in the chamber, senators were always unhappy each time we scooped a story or blow open a report they were about to submit. Such senators didn’t need to write a petition. They would only come to the floor and raise points of order on privilege. Senator Akpoti- Uduaghan failed to do that.
But the conduct of the Senate President and some of the principal officers on Wednesday, March 5, left so much to be desired of the Senate. I was shocked to see Senator Akpabio rule Senator Natasha in order; he also ruled Senator Mohammed Monguno in order as well as Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. How do you have three right rulings on one issue? First, he allowed Senator Natasha to lay a defective petition on the Senate table. That’s expressly out of order. In the days of Senate Presidents David Mark, Bukola Saraki, and Ahmad Lawan, we saw how such scenes were handled. A David Mark would simply ask the senator, ‘Distinguished Senator, please open to Order 40(4) and read’. By the time the senator finished reading the order and seeing the order had negatived his or her motion, he would only be begging to withdraw that motion. That was not the case with Akpabio. And to make matters worse, the clerks at the table were also looking lost. They could not guide the presiding officer in any way. That tells a bit about human resource capacity in the assembly. But then the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele and the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, who have spent quite a long time in the National Assembly, should know better. Their interventions did more damage to Akpabio’s Senate. Once the President of the Senate had ruled Senator Natasha in order to submit a petition she personally signed, (against the rules of the Senate which forbids such), and the Kogi Central senator had approached the chair and laid the petition on the table, the matter in a way becomes sub judice, to borrow the language of the law. The Senate Rule Book classifies such an action as “Matters Not open to Debate.” So at that point, the matter was no longer open to debate. Since the gavel has been hit and the action has been taken, no senator has the right to reopen the case. It was wrong of Senator Bamidele and Monguno to immediately start to revisit a closed matter, and that’s illegal. It is wrong for Akpabio to allow it.
I recall an incident in the 6th Senate when President Umaru Yar’Adua was bedridden in Saudi Arabia. Some senators moved a motion, seeking the Senate to constitute a panel to visit Saudi and ascertain the health status of the president. Somehow, when the motion was finally passed on a day, Senator Ike Ekweremadu presided, it turned out that the motion only mandated the Federal Executive Council to do the assignment. The original proponents of the motion were enraged, but they were not allowed to reopen the matter. They had to go into lobbying and eventually secured signatures of two-thirds of the Senate to re-table the matter and that paved the way for the adoption of the famous “Doctrine of Necessity.” That’s how serious the matter should be handled, but it was trivialized by Akpabio, the Senate Leader and Senate Whip. That’s on the wrong side of the rule.
Now that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has been suspended, many would say she was being silenced. That is far from the truth. Her suspension was on the basis of what the senate perceived as unruly behavior on the floor. We are yet to hear the details of her sexual harassment allegations, and I believe that she has avenues to ventilate that. Nigerians earnestly await these details, which should be salacious enough to help us cool off some heat.
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