By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/p>\n
If he had taken time to review recent history and incidents of insolence
\nin the National Assembly, perhaps, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta
\nCentral) might not have embarked on his ill-fated rebellious voyage.
\nHowever, he might have reckoned that political correctness which informed
\nhis decision to pitch his tent with the Parliamentary Support Group (PSG)
\nin the Senate would avail him with the essential protection by the
\npresidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC). That protection, to
\nhim, would appear more important than any other immediate consideration.<\/p>\n
To be sure, the PSG works to defend the interests of President Muhammadu
\nBuhari and the APC in the Senate. It would, therefore, be preposterous to
\nthink that Omo-Agege did not do his diligent political calculations and
\npermutations before dumping the Labour Party (LP), on which platform he
\ncontested and won election to the Senate, for the APC, where he has since
\nstrategically enlisted as one of Buhari\u2019s foot soldiers. It should be
\nrecalled that it took judicial intercessions for him to dislodge from the
\nSenate, Ighoyota Amori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was
\noriginally declared as the winner of the Delta Central senatorial
\nelection.<\/p>\n
In making his moves, Omo-Agege must have had his eyes on the structure of
\nthe APC in Delta state, which he would take over and deploy for the
\nactualisation of his political agenda. And, this is regardless of the fact
\nthat some leaders had been in the APC from the outset expending energy,
\ntime and resources to build the party in the state. Strategically, his
\nbrazen support for Buhari in the Senate was his gambit to worm into the
\nhearts of the president, his men and the party leadership in Abuja.<\/p>\n
That stratagem had largely worked to bolster his interest in the local APC
\npolitics in Delta where, in concert with Great Ovedje Ogboru, he has now
\nvirtually dislodged Olorogun O\u2019tega Emerhor who had, singled-handed,
\nfunded and built the APC in the state when the party was operating as
\nopposition in 2014. If the scramble for the soul of the APC in Delta is
\nthe reason Omo-Agege had staked his reputation in support of Buhari in the
\nSenate in defiance of legislative authority and resolutions, the
\nenterprise could be said to have paid off: a joiner has now virtually
\ndislodged the builder of the APC in Delta.<\/p>\n
But in Abuja, far away from Delta, Omo-Agege deservedly continues to be
\nunder fire in the National Assembly for challenging the authority and
\ndecisions of the legislature. In his overzealousness during the organised
\nopposition to the move by the National Assembly to reorder the sequence of
\nelections, he had suggested at a press conference after the passage of the
\namendments to the Electoral Act 2010 Amendment Bill (2018) that the action
\nby the Senate to put the presidential election as the last in the sequence
\nwas targeted at President Buhari.<\/p>\n
That statement had landed him in trouble with his colleagues, on account
\nof which he was suspended for 90 legislative days. He was to go for 180
\ndays but the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had weighed in to reduce it
\nto a half. Although, he had proceeded to the court to seek the
\nnullification of his suspension for that length of time, he had, during
\nthe pendency of the matter, led thugs into the chamber during plenary on
\nApril 18, 2018, to hijack the mace (the legislative symbol of
\nauthority).\u00a0\u00a0The thugs had taken away the mace, thus disrupting
\nlegislative proceedings.<\/p>\n
Omo-Agege would later get a reprieve from the Federal High Court, Abuja,
\npresided over by Justice Dimgba Igwe, which nullified his 90-day
\nsuspension.\u00a0\u00a0The court had declared that the Senate ran afoul of its own
\nrules by suspending Omo-Agege for more than fourteen days plus one that
\nthe rules prescribed.\u00a0He had returned and was, indeed, admitted into the
\nchamber on the basis of that ruling. But there was no let-up as the
\nNational Assembly planned a massive and final onslaught against him
\nthrough the instrumentality of an inquiry.<\/p>\n
The National Assembly Joint Committee set up to investigate the April 18,
\n2018 Mace theft properly served him with a formal invitation to appear
\nbefore it. The committee, chaired by Honourable Betty Apiafi, laid its
\nreport before the House of Representatives on July 5, 2018.\u00a0\u00a0The committee
\nfound Omo-Agege to be complicit and culpable in the sordid incident and
\nrecommended that he should be suspended for 180 legislative days in line
\nwith Section 14(2) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act,
\n2017.<\/p>\n
That was not all. The committee also recommended that he should be
\nprosecuted along with six other suspects for treasonable felony, assault
\noccasioning harm, conspiracy to steal and actual theft. The House had
\nsubsequently considered the report and ratified the recommendations. The
\nconcurrence of the Senate is being awaited to put the nail in Omo-Agege\u2019s
\ncoffin. He is not likely to enjoy any sympathy from the Senate this time
\nround.<\/p>\n
But, while the concurrence by the Senate is being awaited, Omo-Agege must
\nbe engrossed in some quiet dialogue with himself, possibly wondering if
\nhis odious enterprise was worth the sacrifice of his reputation on the
\naltar of ephemeral political advantage and convenience.<\/p>\n
Truth is, if Omo-Agege has scruples, he must be contemplating with pains
\nin his heart the bad example in leadership that his act of guiding thugs
\ninto the Senate chamber to hijack the mace has exemplified. He must be
\nworried that he is a battered, shattered and tattooed role model who has
\nlost the occupation of the very high pedestal of civility and respect.\u00a0\u00a0He
\nmay not be worried that he will be out of the Senate as that would afford
\nhim the opportunity to pursue his political agendas including the campaign
\nfor Buhari and his personal electoral plans, but he must realise that
\nthrough his imprudent action, the entire Delta Central stands to lose its
\nvoice and representation in the Senate for 180 legislative days.<\/p>\n
Beyond his just comeuppance in the hands of the National Assembly, the
\npeople of Delta Central should not hesitate to punish Omo-Agege for his
\nact of indiscipline and indiscretion. No amount of chastisement should be
\nconsidered too much for his misdemeanor. His people should,
\nunderstandably, be pained that someone they sent to Abuja to represent
\nthem would abandon the communal mandate in service of some extraneous
\npolitical, personal and pecuniary interests.\u00a0Omo-Agege caved in under the
\nweight of the tension of selfish goals and objectives to sully a good
\nfamily name. It is really sad that a man who should be standing for his
\nsenatorial zone became a poster child of a splinter group in the
\nSenate.\u00a0The ball is in the court of Omo-Agege’s people to decide his
\npolitical future in the hope that others would learn some practical and
\nhard lessons about recompense for not remaining committed and steadfast to
\nthe original mandate and social contract.<\/p>\n