The siege on the National Assembly complex today by the operatives of the Department of State Security Services (DSS) has become one too many.
In the last three weeks, the DSS has attempted to give democracy a wrong name by carrying out assignments that are not consistent with their brief in a democratic setting.
The nation woke up on Tuesday with the sad news of the invasion of the National Assembly complex by the operatives of the DSS, who attired themselves as if they were going to the war front.
In a Gestapo manner, they brandished lethal arms, threatening anyone who dared to flout their “No Entrance” order.
It was however, gathered that they only allowed senators who are known to belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to enter the complex through the back door.
The hooded security agents said they were given an order “from above” to ensure that no one entered the complex.
Nigerians know the source of the siege. In the last few days, news of alleged plot to impeach Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, has been making the rounds. It was gathered that the stage was set for Ahmed Lawan, Senate leader, to become the Senate president, while Hope Uzodinma, would replace Ike Ekweremadu as deputy Senate president.
Saraki, who was elected senator and president of the Senate on the APC platform, had last Tuesday decamped to the main opposition PDP, a development that, not only riled the APC establishment and Aso Rock, but has also engendered controversy
The ruling APC insists that Saraki must resign his leadership position and drop the “crown” that belongs to it (the party). Sensing that the Kwara State-born politician is not ready to tow that line, the ruling party may have decided to employ all means possible to oust him.
Analysts have however, condemned the level of desperation being shown and displayed by the APC, saying that the party may be dragging the country back to the days of the Jackboot.
An analyst, who craved anonymity, told BusinessDay that “we are regaling in orgy of impunity.”
The analyst, who said that the ugly incident at the National Assembly on Tuesday was a reminiscent of what happened at the complex in 2014 following the plan by the then speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, to defect to the APC from the PDP, however, noted that the big difference between then and now is in the party.
“Why I am so pained about the impunity being perpetrated by the APC is that the party promised to take Nigeria away from that type of politics. When they came with their change mantra, we thought that sanity would be brought into the nation’s politics, but we are unfortunately seeing the worse of brigandage. I doubt if the 2019 will even be possible. When it happened in 2014, because it favoured them, it was commendable; now that the table is turned, they crying blue murder. This reminds me of a quote by ‘Will Rogers, that ‘A politician is just like a pickpocket; it’s almost impossible to get one to reform.’ So, no matter what the promise; no matter how they try to paint themselves – democrats or what; they are the same,” the pundit said.
In the recent times, Nigerians have witnessed a dangerous type of politics being introduced by the ruling party. First, it was in Ekiti State, during the gubernatorial election; the entire place was militarised in the name of providing security.
A few days ago, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, got a state-sponsored impeachment notice. Eight members of a 30-member House of Assembly were provided security by the powers that be, to impeach a sitting governor, just because Ortom defected to the PDP from the APC.
It would also be recalled that the DSS operatives had recently invaded the residences of the Senate President and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, allegedly to block the two principal officers from presiding over the sitting of the day at the Senate where a number of senators had concluded arrangement to defect to the PDP from APC.
But the recourse to oppression, persecution and sheer impunity to have a violent change of leadership at the National Assembly is against the tenets of democracy.
Analysts speak in tandem that the double-standard, which the APC is manifesting may further endanger peace in the country.
What the desperation shows is that days ahead may be brutal as the APC may decide to bare its fangs against any one that may dare to stand before the moving train.
President Buhari has come under fire for stoking the fire of desperation in the nation’s political arena. Some pundits believe that the drama playing out at the National Assembly may have been the brain child of the President.
“I am very sure that what we are seeing today may be the result of the meeting Buhari had with the security chiefs before he jetted out of the country a few days ago. He may have given the order and want it perfectly executed, so that when it is boiling here, he would claim that he was away on holiday. Someone who said he was going on holiday is still receiving the likes of Godswill Akpabio when he should be resting. There must be something fishy somewhere. If they have conscience, they should please, let this country be,” the analyst said, pleading anonymity.
The analyst also said that the relocation to Abuja od Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the APC, may have been designed “to take delivery” of the new leadership of the Senate if the plan had worked today.
A lecturer of International politics, Edwin Udo, told BusinessDay, that the genesis of the impunity was instituted in the current administration, when President Buhari decided to employ almost all the security chiefs from his side of the country, tribe and religion.
“I see things getting worse as we get closer to 2019. The seed of impunity was sown at the point when the President decided to employ all the security chiefs from his tribe and religion. Whenever they meet, they plan how to tame those who do not share their views, rather than how to make Nigeria secure. Look at how many DSS operatives that took over the National Assembly complex with the best of firearms, yet, insecurity remains the worst challenge of this country at the moment,” Udo said.
On the illegality of attempt to impeach Saraki with the composition of the Senate, Udo said: “It is not as if they do not know it is illegal to impeach the Senate president as it stands now, what is happening is that in a banana republic like ours, where there is no respect for the rule of law; where the power available to the President is so massive and absolute, they do whatever they like. It is about impunity and no regard and respect for the rule of law. A country that plies that route is likely to end in anarchy.”
1999 Constitution on impeachment of a Senate President – Falana
Providing insight into the steps that could be taken to successfully impeach a Senate President and the Deputy Senate President, Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said that section 52 of the 1999 Constitution “provides that the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President can only be removed by the resolution supported by the votes of not less two- thirds majority of the entirety of the members of the Senate.”
Falana noted that since the APC legislators “cannot muster the required two-third majority of the votes of the entire members the plan to impeach Senator Saraki should be dropped forthwith.”
Zebulon Agomuo
