*Tells Senate President “The way you were elected was the way we were elected”
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
More dramas are characterising the sixth democratic dispensation of the Fourth Republic from right, left and centre as events believed to be unprecedented are evolving against it from Executive, Judiciary and, the latest, the Legislative Arms.
This was as an uproar sounded in the Senate on Tuesday November 21, 2023 after the Senate President, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, announced Abba Moro of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the new Senate Minority Leader.
Akpabio also announced Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) as the Minority Whip but the announcement drew the anger of the Labour Party caucus in the upper chamber as they accused Senate President of not carrying them along.
According to Akpabio, 41 minority senators signed the document endorsing Moro as minority leader while 30 backed Ngwu for the minority whip seat.
The Labour Party senators argued that the PDP should not have taken all the minority positions, as they were also entitled to such. While some of them hauled verbal assault at Akpabio, others were ready to engage in physical assault with him for denying them one of the minority seats.
Senator Okechukwu Ezea protested the absence of his party in the minority leadership, describing the arrangement as an injustice against other minority parties.
Another LP Senator, Tony Nwoyi, Anambra North, accused Akpabio of picking minority leaders for the opposition parties.
‘’How can you be choosing minority leaders for us? Are we your slaves?” Nwoyi tackled Akpabio
In his defence, Akpabio said he only announced the names given to him by the minority senators, of which the PDP had the majority. According to him, all that was needed to produce a leader was a simple majority, saying that “41 minority senators signed for Abah Moro and 30 signed for Osita Ngwu.” Meaning they have the majority.
“It will be unfair for me not to announce them after getting a majority of support. My job is not to work with individual opinion but with the majority of positions,” he said.
It will be recalled that in what was generally believed to be connivance with some political elements working with the Executive, the Court of Appeal in Abuja sacked the Governor of Kano State, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf, only for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to state something different five days after.
The appeal court judgment’s CTC, contrary to the pronouncement in the court room on Friday November 17, later showed on Tuesday that the court actually set aside the Tribunal’s zoom judgment of September 20 sacking the governor while affirming that Abba Yusuf was validly election governor in the March 18 elevti9n in Kano State.
The happenings are generating serious concerns as to the ability of the electoral system to ensure sustain the Nigeria’s ongoing democracy and integrity of the judiciary to unite the country through untainted justice delivery system.
