Nigerian Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege who led hoodlums to the National Assembly on Wednesday, to snatch the Senate’s mace during plenary, has been arrested.
Omo-Agege was arrested at about 2:00pm outside the National Assembly building and led away by the Nigerian Police
The senator who led thugs numbering fifteen, entered the hallowed chamber, while plenary session was ongoing.
According to sources, while trying to lead Senator Omo-Agege into the chamber, the Sergeants-at-Arms tried to block them from entering, but they were pushed out, just as the thugs shouted at them, saying that “Nigeria belongs to all of us, we are all Nigerians, we have come to bring in our Senator, it has his seat as our senator.”
Senator Omo-Agege then went straight to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who was presiding, looking at him eye-to-eye. It was at this moment that one of the thugs, the smallest of them, took the mace.
It was gathered that as the incident happened, many of the Senators rushed to the tea room.
The thugs beat the security and Sergeant-at-Arms, went away with the mace before the very eyes of all.
Two of the thugs who wore brown safari clothes, ran out of the main entrance to the Senate lobby and ran into a waiting black Prado jeep.
Meanwhile, after forty minutes of the commotion, the Senate resumed plenary at 12.10pm, having got another mace.
Speaking at resumed sitting, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who noted that the Senate will get to the root cause of the problem and find a way out, said that the present 8th Senate will not be intimated, adding that as lawmakers, they will address all the issues in the Order Paper even it means staying to 6pm.
It will be recalled that the Senate on Wednesday, suspended Omo-Agege for ninety legislative days, apparently for kicking against the new sequence of elections adopted by the Upper chambers which was alleged to have been targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of 2019 election.
Senator Omo-Agege has also been asked to withdraw his suit against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Senate from the court as part of the conditions to forgive him at the expiration of the ninety legislative days suspension.
The Senate has also mandated that the Parliamentary Support Group (Senate) for President Muhammadu Buhari in which Senator Omo-Agege is the Secretary and Senator Abdullahi Adamu, APC, Nasarawa West is the Chairman, be disbanded immediately.
https://www.facebook.com/NgrSenate/videos/1680319392023396/?t=175
Decisions of the Senate were subsequent to the report of Senator Samuel Anyanwu, PDP, Imo East led Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which investigated the Senator.
Earlier, the Committee had recommended that Senator Omo-Agege be suspended for 181 legislative days for dragging the upper chamber to court and to serve as a deterrent to others, but following pleads from Senate leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North and Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara Central for leniency and in the spirit of one family, Senate President Bukola Saraki reduced it to 90 legislative days.
It will be recalled that the Senate had last month, asked the Committee to summon Senator Omo-Agege over his comments that the new amendment to the Electoral Act regarding election sequence in the 2019 general elections was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari.
Presenting the report yesterday, Senator Anyanwu said, “Having carefully and fully exhausted all sides to the matter and the inherent implication therefrom for today and the future of the National Assembly, the Committee recommends as follows:
“That Senator Ovie Omo-Agege be suspended for 181 legislative days from the date this resolution is taken to serve as a deterrent to other Senators who might contemplate taking the Senate to court over its power to regulate or determine its internal matters.”
