Some hoodlums today stormed the Senate chamber and made away with the mace while the plenary was in session and being presided over by the Deputy Sena
Some hoodlums today stormed the Senate chamber and made away with the mace while the plenary was in session and being presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. The plenary had been disrupted while the sergeants-at-arms battled with the men to retrieve the mace which they ended up not being able to. Irked by their action, Ike Ekweremadu said the invaders would be punished while calling on senators to settle down for continuation of the proceeding.
There are speculations that suspended Senator from Delta State, Ovie Omo-Agege, was responsible for carting away the mace. He was said to have sneaked in through one of the glass barricades within the White House before carrying the mace. Security operatives ran to the senator to get hold of him but he was shielded by his aides whom he came with.
Senator Omo-Agege
Senator Omo-Agege was last week suspended by the leadership of the Senate for addressing the press, over his remarks that the amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act, which changes the sequence of elections set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari. This he did without recourse to lay down rules and procedure which the Senate considered as an affront on the entire senate.
Sen. Bala Na’allah, the Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate had stressed that the action amounted to sycophancy and an attempt to pitching the executive arm against the Senate. He said that his suspension was expected to serve as a deterrent to others.
“If you are a member of the Senate, you are only there by majority of lawful votes and you have to obey the rules of the senate. The Senate will not condone certain behaviours considered injurious to our democracy,” he said.
