The unruly events which played out in the National Assembly yesterday, when some Legislators and hired thugs in a most unbecoming fashion, scaled the gates of the National Assembly compound and forcefully gained entrance into the premises of our National Assembly, if not properly addressed could signal the commencement of a quickened slide down the path of infamy which most observers have long foretold will be Nigeria’s lot since we have failed to effectively restructure and renegotiate our polity.
Under no circumstance should the ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, and whatever number of unruly elements he might be able to assemble, have been allowed to desecrate the hallowed chambers of our National Assembly.
Whilst I congratulate the security officials stationed at the gates of the National Assembly for exercising utmost restraint in the face of attempts at forced entry into the premises of the National assembly earlier this morning, it behooves on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to ensure that the laws are implemented with regards to persons disrespecting lawful orders issued by Police and Security authorities in the dispensation of their duties and people forcefully trying to gain entry into secured premises irrespective of whatsoever positions they may hold in society
I knew we had some dishonorable characters who had infiltrated the membership of our legislative houses; I however never believed in my wildest imaginations that the dishonorable characters were in such huge numbers as was displayed in the shockingly unruly behavior of so many of them as they forcefully entered the premises of the National Assembly today – no wonder we are where we are and the rest of the world are where they are forging to.
To gauge the direction the Nigerian State is drifting to, it is pertinent that the following queries be clarified by the Presidency and the Office of the Inspector General of Police respectfully:
Questions for the Jonathan administration:
1. Did the Presidency actually write a letter to the ex-Speaker to reconvene the House to discuss the extension of the State of Emergency in the northeastern region OR did Mr. Tambuwal decide to storm the National Assembly of his own volition?
2. Considering that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has deposed, in a suit pending before the Federal High Court in Abuja, to the fact that Mr. Aminu Tambuwal’s membership of the House, by virtue of his decamping from the political party via which he was elected into the House of Representatives and in keeping with the provisions of Section 68(1){g} of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic, had expired, who advised the issuance of a letter to the ex-Speaker to reconvene the House? (If indeed a letter was written to Mr. Tambuwal).
The Presidency simply has to get its act together and right. Continued prevarications, docility and unwillingness to proactively and effectively exercise the powers vested in the Presidency by the Nigerian Constitution to ensure stability will boomerang with horrible effects!
Questions for the Police/Security authorities:
3. Why was a contingent of police officers and other security personnel unable to successfully secure the perimeter of the National Assembly from forceful entry by unruly thugs?
4. Was it necessary to have indiscriminately fired Tear Gas canisters within the premises and into the main building of the National Assembly?
5. Why were the characters who scaled the gates of the National Assembly not immediately apprehended and where appropriate charged for relevant offences committed?
6. Has the failure of the Nigeria Police to adequately prosecute other acts of hooliganism by thugs masquerading as members of various Legislative houses across Nigeria contributed in any way to the delusion of immunity being displayed by our supposedly ‘honorable’ Legislators?
Whilst appreciating efforts at enforcement of our laws relating to decamping from political parties [as provided in Section 68(1){g} of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic] being exercised by the current Inspector General of Police, it must be stated that such aggressive law enforcement must be equally implemented across political divides. Having taken the rightful position that a defection during the pendency of an elected public officials tenure amounts to an abdication from Office, the IGP should have likewise visited other defectors, since the Mr. Tambuwal episode, with similar consequences.
And to those who, under the pretext of partisan activism, continue to fan the embers of illegality and desecration of the Constitution by denying the fact that Mr. Tambuwal vacated his membership of the House of Representatives when he defected from the party via which he gained membership of the HOR, bear in mind that when the polity goes up in the flames we are all stoking up, there will be no hiding place for any.
For sanity to prevail, the Police authorities MUST identify the members of the House of Representatives who scaled the gates to forcefully gain entrance, and others who acted in similar manner to gain access into the House and take necessary legal action, including prosecution where deemed appropriate.
There simply must be a limit to the depth we are willing to descend.
Our Courts have repeatedly held that defection tantamount to loss of membership of the Legislative House (http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/court-declares-house-reps-seat-vacant/ ). Mr. Mark Reckless defection from the British Conservative Party to the UK Independence Party, triggered the recent by-election won by the UKIP (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-30140747 ). When the Mayor of Drogheda, Kevin Callan, resigned from his political party, Fine Gael, he honorably relinquished his position as Mayor ( http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/fine-gael-mayor-resigns-from-party-over-water-charges-controversy-30712030.html ). Why should Mr. Tambuwal's be different? Why can we not learn from where systems work?
Video of a past episode of a legislator (Mr. Chidi Lloyd, in white native dress in the video) almost clubing his colleague to death in the Rivers State House of Assembly ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zX388EnB5I )
Picture: Minority Leader of the House of Representatives (Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, in white shirt descending the gate, who unfortunately is enrolled as a member of the Bar inthe United States) and some of his colleagues, scaling the gate of the National Assembly in Abuja (20th November 2014)
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