A suspended senator led armed men into Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber in a plenary session Wednesday, stealing the mace in a dramatic twist that signals political turmoil ahead of presidential polls in 2019.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Security agencies should retrieve the symbol of authority, which usually lies on the table before the senate president, and apprehend Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and the other perpetrators, senate spokesman Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi said in an emailed statement.
“This speaks to the kind of fractures that we’re going to see as 2019 approaches,” independent political analyst Chris Ngwodo said by phone from Jos, in central Nigeria
Omo-Agege, a ruling All Progressives Congress party politician seen as a Buhari loyalist, was suspended by the senate for claiming that lawmakers’ move to amend the Electoral Act to reverse the sequence of elections was motivated by anti-Buhari sentiment. Buhari, who will seek reelection, refused to sign the proposed bill into law.
The incident serves as an illustration of the state of Nigerian politics, where parties are merely a means to power and wealth, an politicians propelled neither by ideology nor principle. Known locally as “cash-and-carry politics,” success is often measured by gaining access to the treasury and dispensing patronage.
‘Sheer Hooliganism’
Omo-Agege was arrested shortly after the incident, Yusuf Olaniyonu, a spokesman for senate president Bukola Saraki, said in a WhatsApp message, and a substitute mace was used to continue the proceedings. The senator did not immediately answer an email seeking comment and a police spokesman did not respond to calls.
“The sheer hooliganism of the action does not speak well of the senator or just of the institution itself,” Ngwodo said. “It’s an unfortunate example of the low values we find among our political elite.”
Senate security operatives were hurt in the altercation, spokesman Abdullahi said in a statement, with footage showing one intruder in the chamber carrying a fire extinguisher.
“It’s troubling that security is so low that a suspended senator can go into the chambers and steal the mace,” Clement Nwankwo, executive director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, said by phone from Abuja.
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