Buhari Nominates Senator Durojaiye As NCC Chairman, Sunday Dare, Others As Commisioners

President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter dated August 2, 2016, and sent to the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has nominated Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye (South West) as Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, while Mr. Sunday Dare (South West) was named as Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management.

In the letter, Buhari requested the Upper Legislative Chamber to confirm the above-mentioned Nigerians among the nominees into positions of Chairman, Executive Commissioner, and Non-Executive Commissioners of the NCC.

According to a statement issued by the President’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, “Those nominated as Non-Executive Commissioners are: Aliyu Sa’idu Abubakar (North East), Clement Omeiza Baiye (North Central), Chief Okoi Ofem Obono Obla (South South), Pastor Ezekiel Yissa (North Central) and Senator Ifeanyi Ararume (South East).

“The nominations are in accordance with Section 8(1) of the Nigerian Communications Commission Act 2003.”

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Ekweremadu’s Removal Will Divide Nigeria – Archbishop Chukwuma Cautions Buhari

Most Rev Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, the Anglican ArchBishop of the Enugu Province, on Monday urged the President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government to desist from further plot to remove the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.

The Archbishop who spoke to journalists at the town hall meeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Information in Enugu, also insisted that “Nigeria is negotiable because people are wounded; people are being sidelined and this is what is causing this spate of bombings by Avengers and all these people who are agitators.

“The more you make Nigerians to know that they are part of the government and receive the social amenities and care, then there will be no need for us to talk about restructuring.

“Restructuring will surely be done because the way things are going, it has to be restructured. South-East is the only zone that has five states. You have to restructure because without restructuring there will be marginalization.”

“We need to know that Nigerians are Nigerians; to keep Nigeria as one is a task that must be done, but Nigerians must be carried along without any part being neglected in appointments, in infrastructure, and even when you see how they appoint some South-East people into government, it does not translate to infrastructural development. It does not.”

He added that “this town hall meeting is an opening for the Minister to tell the President that we are not happy; we need to be carried along, we need to be recognized.

“But we appeal to our brothers, let us be patient and see what will happen and this town hall meeting should not just be a jamboree, it should be studied for implementation and action to take place as soon as possible.”

On Ekweremadu, he noted that “What we are saying is that APC should not be afraid of Ekweremadu; Ekweremadu is a very simple developing senator and out of all the senators in the South East, Ekweremadu is the most, I must say, loved, hard-working senator that APC can make use of to develop Nigeria.

“We want to also express that it is unfortunate that the governor of Imo State has continued to insult him and we say that this is not right, he should be called to order by the APC because Ekweremadu was not elected by the APC and election in the senate was not done by governors.

“So, if a senator is going to survive in the senate, that senator must come to pay homage to the leading senator in the South-East.

“The governor of Imo State should tread with caution, if he is an Igbo man, otherwise he is a betrayer. I want to call him to order that if he continues this way, the Igbos will deny him.

“Ekweremadu should be left alone to do his work, he has been elected constitutionally as Deputy Senate President and nobody can remove him there. If they do that, it means that this government doesn’t want the Igbos, then you are calling for its secession from Nigeria because that is the high ranking position we have and we are all behind him and he has been performing, and he should be left to perform.”

My Emergence As Deputy Senate President, Reason For My Court Trial – Ekweremadu

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, yesterday, reiterated his innocence over the charges of forgery of the Senate Standing Rules brought against him by the federal government, insisting that his only offence was his emergence as the Deputy Senate President against the wishes of the “powers that be”.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, who spoke when members of Enugu State Economic Advisory Committee of which he is a member, paid him a solidarity visit at his residence in Enugu, he insisted that his hands were clean.

He said: “I am, indeed, humbled by your solidarity. As they say, the true test of a man is not where he stands in the time of comfort; it is where he stands when there is crisis.

"Many people may not take this step of faith because of the situation we found ourselves in the country; some may be afraid of their liberty and afraid of any reprisals. But you have stepped out to come and show solidarity and ask questions in a matter concerning one of your sons.

“Let me start by saying that I reinstate my innocence; that I committed no offence or forged any documents; and non of the accused persons to the best of my knowledge committed any offence, let alone forging any document. Let me also say that no senator accused me, President of the Senate or the other people of committing any offence."

“Again, as a lawyer, I know what is called Proof of Evidence, that is the statement of witnesses who are going to confront you with the offence for which you are being charged.

“I was served, and I have read this document (court process) from the first page to the last page; no witness said any of us committed any offence. Our only offence is that Senator Bukola Saraki and myself emerged as President of the Senate and Deputy President of the Senate. Some people found it unacceptable, and that is why we are being charged, not that we committed any offence”.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Monsignor Prof. Obiora Ike, said members were in Ekweremadu’s residence to get his own side of the case as regards what is happening at the National Assembly, and thanked him for granting them audience.

“One more thing, our people stand behind you, our people believe in you and our people are praying for you; and when you are in public service, there is always trouble, but when you are forthright, you will always triumph”, he said.

Prof. Ike stressed: “We respect the principles of democracy, which speak of separation of powers among the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature. In the year 1625, Montesquieu De Baron, a French philosopher spoke about the separation of powers as a guarantee of true freedom; because he believed that despotism and dictatorship will lead to anarchy, they will lead to lack of freedom. But if you separated powers, and regulated them by law, then you had a stable society. And that was in Europe at a time of Monarchism to the enlightenment

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Ekwermadu Suffering Injustice In Buhari’s Hand Because He Is An Igbo Man – MASSOB

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, in a statement signed by the leader of the group, Comrade Uchenna Madu, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s grouse against the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu is because the Senator is an Igbo man and not because of party affiliation.

The statement read in part: “MASSOB has discovered the major reasons behind President Buhari’s hatred against Ndigbo and Biafrans in general.

“Buhari’s grouse against Ike Ekweremadu is because he is an Igbo man. If a non Igbo PDP senator replaces Ike Ekweremadu, Buhari, Tinubu and their likes will relax their nerves. MASSOB also reminds Ndigbo that this is the time to be your brothers keeper"

“President Buhari is always rattled and unsettled whenever he sees, hears or encountered the magnanimity of economical dominance and booming enterprising exploits of Ndigbo both in Nigeria and in diaspora.

“Today in Nigeria, Ndigbo owns 70% of private, economic and social investments in Nigeria, this Jewish and Zionist advancement of Ndigbo also stretched to many countries of the universe. Ndigbo is divinely, naturally, humanly, academically, Religiously destined to lead in every field of nation building.

“Ndigbo and their Biafran brethren have never been deterred, frustrated or admitted failure in all endeavors of life, we are always progressives, Republican, conquering every obstacles of lives including the environment we found ourselves.

“MASSOB declares that any person or group of people that hates Ndigbo as a result of religious beliefs, tribal/ ethnic sentiments, personal envy or tutorial orientation will constantly experience unfulfillment, unprogressiveness and backwardness.

“Biafrans are direct legitimate descendants of Abraham. God of Abraham ( Chukwu Okike Abiama) always bless friends of Biafrans and course our enemies.

“MASSOB wish to inform President Mohammed Buhari that all his political, economical and religious persecutions of Ndigbo and anti Igbo policies of his government will never derail, deter, frustrate or shortchange the domineering nature or economical prowess of Biafrans.

“The more our people are persecuted, the more we are united and resolute, irrespective of our Billions dollar investments and establishments in Nigeria, we shall not relent in our genuine and legitimate pursuit for Biafra restoration.

“MASSOB reminds Igbo Leaders that Nnamdi Kanu, arrowhead of new Biafra agitation, Benjamin Onwuka, 23 members of MASSOB in Onitsha/ Awka prisons, Chidiebere Onwudiwe are still languishing in Nigeria prisons and DSS cage including Lotachukwu Okolie who is been detained in Norway prisons since 2013.

“Igbo Political, Religious, Traditional, Progressive leaders including Elder statesmen should rise up now in defence of our people and living heroes; MASSOB shall hold Igbo leaders responsible if any harm befall on these innocent Biafra detainees”.

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Ekweremandu’s Seat Threatened — Okorocha

Chief Rochas Okorocha, the Imo State Governor, says “Ike Ekweremadu’s seat as Deputy Senate President, is now threatened, with the emergence of Benjamin Uwajumogu in the last senatorial re-run election in the state.”

An obviously joyous Okorocha said, “The position of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President is at the moment under heavy threat because in no distant time, the APC Senator in waiting from Imo State, Benjamins Uwajumogu, will take over the seat on the ground that it is an aberration that a PDP senator from the South-East is Deputy to an APC Senate President because, before now, APC could not produce a senator from the South-East zone".

Okorocha on a wild goose chase 

 

Reacting to Okorocha's statement, the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate in a statement issued by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy President of the Senate, said it would have “allowed the governor to continue to wallow in his delusions and wild claims, but, considering the fact that this is the second consecutive statement by the governor in one week wherein he attempted to impugn the integrity and democratic credentials of the Office and person of the Deputy President of the Senate, we are being compelled to set the record straight.

“The Deputy President of the Senate visited Imo State for the last time in 2015. It is also instructive that the governor’s claim comes on the heels of another statement by some All Progressives Congress (APC) elements in Ezeagu Local Government Area on Sunday where they whined bitterly over the huge solidarity shown by the good people, stakeholders, and traditional rulers of Enugu State to Senator Ekweremadu during his annual Ikeoha Scholarship and Bursary Awards/Adult Literacy Day at the Council headquarters on the same Saturday, June 23, 2016."

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Jonathan Rejected Efforts To Separate Office Of AGF From Minister Of Justice - Ekweremadu

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy President of the Senate, said former President Goodluck Jonathan frustrated efforts to separate office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from that of Minister of Justice by refusing to assent to the amendment that would have brought it about.

According to Ekweremadu, who disclosed this to journalists during a tour of the construction site of national headquarters of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Abuja, he said it is necessary to separate both offices, if Nigerians still desire that justice delivery must be strengthened in the country.

Ekweremadu said: “I believe in the separation of the two offices. I go for it any time, any day. This is because it will guarantee financial independence, security of tenure, and make the holder of the office of the Attorney-General at the state and federal levels to be autonomous in thinking and approach to the idea of justice.

"It will ensure that citizens have access to justice, since the officer will not be dictated to by any external interest or influence.

"During the last constitution amendment, we (members of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in the 7th National Assembly) recommended it to our colleagues, based on inputs from Nigerians, and they graciously adopted it.

"Unfortunately, the last President did not sign it. Although, we will be looking at all the issues again, the decision on the separation, or any other issue for that matter, will depend on what other colleagues and Nigerians would think. But as a person, I strongly believe in it.”

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SARAKI’S NEW GAMBLE

By Emmanuel Aziken

The decision to reshuffle the Senate committees came on the last sitting day before the Senate proceeded on recess. Coming after one of the most turbulent weeks for the leadership when Senator Dino Melaye came on the spot after allegedly verbally attacking Senator Remi Tinubu, the reshuffle may have been a sop to foes of the leadership.
Mainly affected were two of the most outspoken critics of the leadership – Senators Kabiru Marafa who was moved from the committee on National Population to the chairman of Petroleum Downstream; and Senator Tinubu who was moved from Committee on Women Affairs to Environment. Another person affected was Senator Binta Garba who was moved from Committee on Tertiary Education to Committee on Women Affairs. Senator Garba, one of the longest serving legislators since the advent of the Fourth Republic was described as being neither here nor there and as such possibly expendable.
The appointment of Marafa and Tinubu into committees may be seen by some as a way of appeasing the two who are leading elements of the Senate Unity Forum, SUF, the group of All Progressives Congress, APC, senators opposed to the way and manner Senate Bukola Saraki emerged as Senate President.
But given her background and the seeming principles involved in her agitation, it remains an issue whether the reshuffle would be enough to soften Senator Tinubu.
Internal opposition
Senator Saraki’s appeasement of the internal opposition may be his own desperate effort to consolidate his support in the chamber given the recent troubles, including two ongoing trials he has claimed to be politically motivated.
The move towards conciliation was almost derailed penultimate Tuesday, July 12 when the Senate resumed.
Indeed, on that day, tempers were undoubtedly charged when the Senate reconvened from the Sallah break. The day before, July 11, the presiding officers of the Senate, Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu had been arraigned in court for allegedly forging the Senate Rule book.
As such when the senators returned that day, it was understandable that the Senate immediately resolved into a closed door session. Account of how that session proceeded have been variously narrated by different partisan interests in the Senate; but what is agreed by all, even by the lead combatant, Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West was that harsh and seemingly misogynist words were used on Senator Oluremi Tinubu, APC Central. The Kogi State born senator was variously quoted to have vowed to beat up Senator Tinubu and in the words of Mrs. Tinubu to also rape her.
The setting for the face off was the division in the Senate that had seen Senator Tinubu, and some other APC senators take position against the emergence of Senator Saraki as Senate President. The bitterness of the group styled as the Senate Unity Forum had seen them petition the police alleging that the Senate Standing Rules had been forged.
With Senators Saraki and Ekeweremadu in the dock over the charge, the Senate on resumption on July 12 had resolved into a closed door to prospect how a solution could be found to the arraignment.
Sources said that Senator Tinubu had in her contribution frowned at how Senator Melaye spoke to other senators as she complained that Melaye’s harsh words complicated the matter.
It was in response that Melaye allegedly fired back using words that have been generally condemned.
Public strolls around Lagos
As news of what happened in the closed-door session came out, Mrs. Tinubu’s husband, himself a Third Republic senator and a national leader of the APC came out in a strong statement to denounce Melaye saying that his political career was finished.
Melaye, who has won a reputation positively or negatively for drama, including at least two fighting bouts in the House of Representatives, came out last weekend to challenge Asiwaju Tinubu as the elder Tinubu is otherwise called.
Melaye, who lodged at the Eko Hotel, subsequently went on public strolls around Lagos taking pictures in public landmarks and posting same on facebook as a seeming taunt to the Tinubus.
Again when the Senate returned on Tuesday, the issue was dragged into another closed door session where Melaye was reported to have apologised to the Senate for bringing the institution into the mud; he, however, reportedly refused to apologise to Senator Tinubu.
Following the Senate session, Mrs. Tinubu also petitioned the Inspector General of Police, the Senate President and the national chairman of their party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
Her petition to Odigie-Oyegun was instructive as she made reference to the fact that the Senate Leadership, which is supposedly under the control of the party failed to call Melaye to order.
Whether drawing from the letter to the party chairman or not, Saraki subsequently met separately with Mrs. Tinubu and Melaye following which both parties resolved to bury the hatchet. Affirming that she had forgiven Melaye, Mrs. Tinubu said on Wednesday that her Christian virtues compelled her to put the trespass behind her.
“I met with the Senate leadership yesterday (Tuesday) after one week; I met with him (Senate President Bukola Saraki) yesterday. And as a Christian, I said I had already forgiven him (Melaye) for even with the way I was treated. But the point is that what people don’t realise is that I am a very reserved person.
“After I gave my word to him (Saraki) yesterday, I told myself that at 55 I am not a wimp of anybody. “I witnessed the Sani Abacha regime, and I know what I saw and why I am committed to this cause. But now, my hands are tied to say I forgive people. I am a Christian; when I give my word, I must abide by it. But I am not scared to follow this through.
Continuing division
“I am not championing a cause for women. I am only standing in my space, and if my space is encroached upon, I have to fight back,” she said.
However, despite the settlement, the issue of the division between both sides in the Senate, the SUF and the Likeminds where Melaye is attached would continue to reverberate in the Senate.
The continuing division inevitably puts the ruling party under further stress as it fights to keep the reins on its members in the National Assembly.
Remarkably, Senator Ekweremadu let it slip earlier this week during a solidarity visit to him that some APC senators were set to defect to the PDP.

Senate Calls On Security Agencies To Check Killings

The Senate following a Point of Order raised by Sen. Joshua Dariye (PDP-Plateau Central) at plenary over the recent killing of Mr. Lazarus Agaie, a first-class traditional ruler in Bokkos, Plateau, have called on security agencies in the country to take adequate steps to bring incessant killing of Nigerians across the country to an end.

Senator Dariye, relying on Order 42, said that the late traditional ruler was apprehended on his way from farm, adding that the rate at which innocent Nigerians were being killed was alarming, thereby calling for urgent steps by relevant stakeholders to stem the tide.

Dr Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate in his remarks said, “We must put an end to this senseless killing of people returning from their farms.

“Security agencies must get the culprits of this dastardly act. Our hearts go to the government and people of Plateau State.”

The motion was unanimously adopted and the legislators observed a minute silence for the deceased monarch and others who died in the incident.

I’ve Forgiven Melaye But, I Won’t Be Intimidated By Anybody - Tinubu

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the Senator representating Lagos-Central Senatorial District, Lagos state, has said that she would not be intimidated by anybody, however she also insisted that as a Christian she has forgiven her Kogi-West counterpart, Senator Dino Melaye.

The Senator revealed this when a delegation of the Lagos State House of Assembly members and members of the All Progressives Congress caucus in the Senate as well as some party leaders paid her a solidarity visit at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

She said, “When the Senate President invited me yesterday (Tuesday) and I gave my word. You can see the channel I have taken in the aftermath of the event. I reported to the IGP; I wrote to him also, after I waited for one week. When it happened, it was him I went to. I waited for one week and nothing was done. I also wrote to the party (the APC) chairman.

“I met with the Senate leadership yesterday (Tuesday) after one week; I met with him (Senate President Bukola Saraki) yesterday. And as a Christian, I said I had already forgiven him (Melaye) for the way I was treated. But the point is that what people don’t realise is that I am a very reserved person.

“After I gave my word to him (Saraki) yesterday, I told myself that at 55 I am not a wimp of anybody.

“I witnessed the Sani Abacha regime and I know what I saw and why I am committed to this cause. But now, my hands are tied to say I forgive people. I am a Christian; when I give my word, I must abide by it. But I am not scared to follow this through.

“I am not championing a cause for women. I am only standing in my space and if my space is encroached upon, I have to fight back. Rosa Parks wasn’t an activist; she just decided to sit in her space and not give up her space to anybody in a bus. And that sent a message.

“I want to use this opportunity to thank all Nigerian women who rose up; the women rights groups who are calling, conducting press conferences and doing a lot of things.”

“I didn’t give anybody anything; I don’t even have N80m in my personal salary account in the Senate. And I don’t think if I have any other savings I want to use it to mobilise women to protest. What about the investments we have put into politics? How much has that done for this country?” Tinubu said.

 

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Not Yet Time To Contemplate Buhari’s Impeachment , Anenih Tells PDP Senators

Chief Tony Anenih, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Board of Trustees BoT Chairman, said Wednesday that those contemplating the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari should jettison that as the time was neither right nor the reasons compelling enough.

In a four-page letter to the Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and dated July 15, 2016, Anenih urged him to dissuade the PDP caucus in the National Assembly from participating in the alleged “ill-advised adventure” of removing President Buhari from office.

Chief Anenih asked Makarfi to personally lead the process of consultation with PDP members in the National Assembly, with a view to getting them to play what he described as a patriotic, rather than partisan role, at this time of national economic and social uncertainty.

The letter, titled: “THE PDP CAUCUS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE THREAT TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI” reads: “I am constrained to write this letter by my love for our great country and my long years of involvement in the pursuit of peace, co-existence and national development.

“I am concerned about the noises coming out of the National Assembly to the effect that some of our distinguished Senators and Honourable Members are contemplating a move to impeach the President.

“I feel even more disturbed that the PDP Caucus is being rumoured to be actively involved in this plan to “go for the jugular” of the Executive. The rumoured role of the PDP Caucus is, indeed, the main reason I have chosen to write this letter to you.

“I wish to appeal to you to use your noble office as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of our great party to dissuade our party members, in the National Assembly, from embarking on or participating in this ill-advised adventure. I am persuaded, Sir, that the time is neither right nor the reasons compelling enough to contemplate the impeachment of the President.

“I do not doubt that the National Assembly may have its grouse against the President, but I am sure that the options of consultation, dialogue and negotiation have not yet been exhausted. We should all assist in persuading our members to persevere in the pursuit of these options.

“I do not believe an attempt at impeachment, at this time, is in the best interests of the party, or the country. Such a move will create tension, instability and even crisis in our body-politic. It will unleash all those fissiparous forces which, in the last few months, have begun to gain momentum.

“Fundamentally, as the main opposition party, I believe the PDP should concern itself with an inward review of why Nigerians lost faith in us and in our party’s vision for Nigeria; our focus should therefore be on trying to figure out how we can once again regain this trust.

“As a party in opposition, what I expect is constructive criticism of the ruling party when it goes wrong. Playing an active role in the internal power struggles between factions of the ruling party is an unnecessary distraction, and an exercise that appears to promote personal agenda rather than the National Interest.

“I am not unaware that the times are hard; that Nigerians are groaning under the weight of unpaid salaries and astronomical increases in the cost of living, that ballooning security problems are increasingly threatening to rip apart the fabric of our national existence, and that Nigerians feel more divided today than they have ever felt, but it would be unfair to blame this President or this Government for all of these problems. Instructively, none of these problems was floated as justification for the threat of impeachment by the National Assembly.

“On the economy, it is a well known fact that all oil-producing countries are suffering from an economic down-turn because of the radical drop in the price of crude oil. As a mono-product economy, dependent on crude oil, there is no magic bubble that could have insulated us completely from the systemic shocks caused by the attendant loss of revenue.

“Rather than seek scapegoats, the situation demands that all our institutions, political parties and leaders should set aside all partisan interests, and work together to wade through these difficult times.

“It is, therefore, my wish and prayer that you, personally, lead the process of consultation with our members in the National Assembly, with a view to getting them to play a patriotic, rather than partisan role, at this time of national economic and social uncertainty.

“May God continue to bless you with the wisdom to lead our party to its manifest destiny.”

SENATE: Leave Ekweremadu Alone, PDP BoT Tells Buhari, APC

The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP BoT, speaking yesterday when they paid a solidarity visit to the PDP Senate Caucus at the National Assembly Complex, condemned the ongoing trial of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged forgery of Senate Rules as a frame-up, saying it was a deliberate plot to tarnish his person.

The leader of the delegation and Chairman of the PDP BoT, Senator Walid Jibril, noted that as fathers and conscience of the party, the BOT could not sit and watch the framing-up of the Deputy President of the Senate on trumped-up charges of forgery, apparently for political reasons, he said,: “We are here to show solidarity and recognise the leadership of Senator Ekweremadu, especially when we hear stories of what is happening to him. We are here to give our total support to him over the recent framing of him in an alleged forgery case, because we cannot, as fathers and conscience of the party, sit down and just watch."

“Senator Ekweremadu is a man of integrity with a high record of performance. We want to advise strongly that nobody should try to tarnish his personality and we are strongly calling for fair hearing and justice in the attempt to rope-in Senator Ekweremadu for political reasons.

“He was elected Deputy President of Senate by 48 PDP senators with the support of APC Senators, which is a good ingredient of our democracy. No attempt should be made to rope him in. He should be left alone to continue the good service to the country,”.

Also speaking was former President of the Senate, Adolphus Wabara, a ranking member of the PDP BoT, he said,: “I speak as a victim of executive interference in the legislature. During our own time, there was not the kind of unity being exhibited by the Senators today. I want to commend and salute you all for that. The last time the two Presiding Officers went to court, as I watched on television, I was moved to tears. The court was on vacation, and no one had the courtesy of informing them before hand.

“The time they would have used to attend to the nation’s task, was wasted, going to court. It is high time the executive realizes that the era of executive interference was over,” Wabara, added.

Senator Ekweremadu responding to the BoT members expressed gratitude for its show of solidarity and support, which he said showed that it was not only the conscience of the PDP, but also of the country as well.

He said: “Today, I believe and I am speaking the minds of my colleagues, that so many members of the National Assembly from the other parties are prepared to return to the PDP because they have seen that they made a mistake in the last election by voting APC and they are also seeing that PDP remains the biggest, greatest and the most focused party in Nigeria.”

TALKING POINT: Dino Melaye Is Not A Coward?

By Rotimi Fasan

WHEN last week I was writing on the recent preoccupation of the Senate under Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, namely the determination of the so-called ‘Like Minds’ senators, all supporters of the troubled duo, to hobble the Muhammadu Buhari presidency for what they consider its hostile attitude to the legislative arm of government.

As I was writing on this latest act of perfidy against the Nigerian people, I had no idea of what was already brewing within a closed-door meeting at the Senate.

There was no way I could have known that less than 24 hours later one of the most outrageous confirmations of my position on our inept Senate would occur and become public a day after. I speak here of the unseemly verbal attack and threat of physical violence by Dino Melaye against his female colleague, Mrs. Remi Tinubu. In the said commentary in this space, I had questioned the wisdom in the threat of the senators to shut down the Senate and all legislative activities as a prelude to their rumoured plan to commence impeachment proceedings against President Buhari. Their grievance is the ongoing trial for forgery of Senate standing rules of Saraki and Ekweremadu.

The threat was the latest in the series of proxy skirmishes being prosecuted by members of the Senate against President Buhari and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress party that the aggrieved senators hold responsible for the trial of their leaders. They choose to see their trial as an attempt to subvert the activities of the Senate and compromise its independence. The cowardly nature of the proxy battles is too obvious to be denied even when senators in the ‘Like Minds’ group choose to believe the contrary. They keep on speaking from both sides of their mouths making subtle and not-so-subtle attacks on the Presidency and the leadership of the APC while at the same time saying they would accept no change in Senate leadership. In all this, the senators speaking always ensure their names are not put in print. Yet their boasts of an imminent showdown and their readiness to take on the imagined adversaries in their shadow boxing never wanes. You can see them launching attacks, docking and throwing jabs all around. But all the while they hide, in their press wars, behind the anonymity of being sources who didn’t want their names mentioned.

You can then imagine one’s surprise when after one such behind-the-scenes skirmish it emerged that Dino Melaye who is renowned more for his childish display of unearned wealth has advocated for the ostracism of any member of the Senate supporting the ongoing trial of the Senate leaders if they don’t withdraw their support. He was taken on by Mrs. Tinubu and the result of that encounter is the outrageous threat of sexual violence, to wit: instant rape and physical walloping of his female colleague if she didn’t know her limits. This was after calling her ‘stupid’ and wanting to know from her if she took him, Melaye, for one of the party sidekicks that grovel before Senator Remi Tinubu’s husband.

All of this happened during a session chaired by Bukola Saraki himself even if there is no consensus on whether he gave approving nods or not to the antics of Melaye. Melaye has hinged his attack on Mrs. Tinubu on the fact that he is not a coward and had to react to her unflattering comments about him. Of course Melaye cannot be and is not a coward or he wouldn’t threaten to beat up and rape his older female colleague. But if Melaye is not a coward, then what is he?

I need not worry too much as to what Melaye claims to have said in his encounter with Senator Tinubu. What he said and did thereafter says more than he has admitted transpired inside that Senate session. He has denied threatening to impregnate (read rape) Senator Tinubu, wondering how he could have threatened to beat as well as rape her at the same time, as if both activity are mutually exclusive. In Melaye’s brave thinking one of the actions doesn’t imply the other obviously. But then he goes on to say that he couldn’t even have impregnated Senator Tinubu as she was past menopause. How Melaye knows this fact of Senator Tinubu’s life remains to be explained.

But this little bit more than anything else he has said on the matter at hand can tell anyone that Melaye lacks discretion and must have said more than he is prepared to admit to. Which gives the lie to his claim of not being a coward. Melaye is indeed a coward, a bully and a braggart in equal measure. His blustering outburst is just what it is: a waste of breath from an agbero touting passengers for his bolekaja. He is a squirrel who pretends to be a street toughie. His language both during and after his fight with Mrs. Tinubu betrays him. Even his promptness to deny any plan by him or others to fight President Buhari proves my point last week that the Senate is full of cowards fighting proxy battles.

This is not to say that Melaye would be doing anything brave by admitting that he expressed a desire to rape his colleague. Not at all. But in this man’s warped mind the one is the same as the other. Admitting to saying that he threatened to ‘impregnate’ Senator Tinubu is for him the same as being brave. Which would explain why he would travel to Lagos days after he was reportedly ‘banned’ from the South West by some APC stalwarts in the zone following his attack on Mrs. Tinubu and deciding to post pictures of himself on Lagos streets, including one allegedly on Bourdillon Street where Chief Bola Tinubu lives. What can anybody make of this childish act from a Nigerian senator? An act of bravery? What really is Melaye’s legacy as a legislator? His fighting bouts memorialised by that image of his torn, raggedy clothes after a pummelling in his time at the House of Representatives? This National Assembly where a female member was once slapped by her male colleague is infamous for its disdain of women. It needs rehabilitation and psychiatric test ought to be mandatory for members.

I Will Not Apologise To Tinubu’s Wife Melaye Tells Senate

Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, who allegedly threatened to beat up and impregnate Mrs Tinubu during a closed-door executive session last Tuesday said he will not apologise to his colleague and wife of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

The Kogi Senator claimed she called him a dog and a thug, which angered him to use abusive words on her.

And during today’s executive session at the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly, Senator Dino while addressing his colleagues who asked him to apologise to Mrs Tinubu in a bid to douse the tension so far generated, refused saying, “great minds don’t dwell on issues; they act and move on.”

PETITION: Sen Tinubu Writes IGP, Demands Police Protection

Senator Remi Tinubu, the lawmaker representing Lagos Central Senatorial District in the Senate, in a letter has petitioned the acting Inspector-General of Police, requesting for police protection over alleged threats to her life by Senator Dino Melaye.

The Senator in the letter said that her request became necessary following Senator Melaye's history in the House of Representatives where a brawl allegedly led by the latter resulted in the death of a lawmaker.

Signed by Senator Tinubu, the letter titled: Request for Police Protection reads: ‘’I am Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central Senatorial District of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. During the proceedings of the Senate on Tuesday, July 14, 2016, I had cause to contribute to a matter of national importance. Apparently dissatisfied with my contributions Senator Dino Melaye threw caution to the winds, resorted to vulgar abuse of my person and wanted to assault me.

‘’It was the timely intervention of a number of colleagues which prevented Senator Melaye from unleashing a physical attack on me. However, as the leadership of the Senate did not call him to order in the circumstance, he proceeded to threaten my life without any provocation whatsoever.

‘’In view of Sen Melaye’s antecedent particularly in the House of Representatives where a brawl led by him led to the untimely death of a member, I have decided not to ignore his threat to my life. Therefore, I am compelled to urge you to use your good offices to provide me with adequate security.”

BREAKING: Saraki, Not Senate On Trial, Says Lawyer

Mr Remi Agwuezie, a Legal practitioner on Tuesday in an interview in Calabar, called on the Nigerian Senate to face the business of law making rather than dissipate energy on the trial of Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki.

Agwuezie said, "They should allow the Senate President to face his trial as an individual not as Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"We have 109 Senators and when one is facing trial others should continue to make laws for the country.

"Instead of causing confusion among their colleagues they should face the real business of law making, which is the main reason why they are there.

"They should stop making the trial a major issue, ‘’ he said.

``It is not the senate as an institution that is on trial but Saraki as an individual; so, the law should be allowed to run its full cause, while the senate as an institution moves on, ‘’ he said.

"We should learn to build strong institutions rather than strong individuals, ‘’ he said.

"The wrought has been on for too long; and Mr President must be commended and supported to rid the country of this mess, called corruption, ‘’ he said.

12 IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NIGERIAN SENATE IN 12 MONTHS BY ABANG DOVE

By Abang Dove

As the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari marked one-year in office on May 29, 2016, so is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria marking her one-year anniversary as the 8th Senate today being the 9th of June, 2016.