NASS REPUBLIC: On Akpabio, Abbas’ rise to power. Two other stories, and a quote to remember

Newly inaugurated Federal Lawmakers, on Tuesday, elected Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Hon. Tajudeen Abbas as the Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 10th National Assembly, respectively.

Two other stories from the National Assembly were also analysed within the week under review.

1. On Akpabio, Abbas’ rise to power

On June 13, the former Akwa Ibom State governor, Akpabio, polled 63 votes to defeat former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, who got 46 votes, to get elected as the Senate President.

Abbas, on the other hand, garnered a majority of 353 votes to defeat Hon. Ahmed Wase, and Hon. Sani Jaji to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The emergence of Akpabio, and Abbas speaks to the uniqueness of the Nigerian democratic experiment where the president is adjudged so powerful that he literarily selects who should head the legislature.

It may be safe to argue, therefore, that the rise of both men to positions of authority primarily signals that the 10th Assembly may retain the rubber stamp badge boldly ascribed to the 9th Assembly.

This, therefore, challenges Akpabio, and Abbas to prove Nigerians wrong, and lead an Assembly that would constructively check, and balance the dealings of the executive.

NASS MEMORY LANE

Who said;

“Peter Obi deflowered the virgin innocence of political patriotism and nationalism in Nigeria. He fed our people with the sacred apple and Nigeria may never be the same again. What was in whispers and hush-hush tones, Peter proclaimed loud in decibels in Cathedrals and Holy Sepulchres.”

Answer: See end post

Two other stories

2. Kalu’s tears

On June 10, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu broke down in tears, and maintained that he was not a thief, at the Senate valedictory session in Abuja.

“Before I came into politics, I could buy anything money could buy. I’m not a thief. Those who put me in prison know the reason. They took over my businesses and wanted to kill me, yet I survived it, and I’m in the Senate with you,” he lamented.

READ ALSO:NASS: Tinubu ‘sneaked out’ to canvass support for Akpabio, Abass – Ndume

Kalu’s emotional outburst, no doubt, serves as an attempt to redeem his image. On the flip side, it may not be unconnected with his losses in the jostle for leadership of the 10th Assembly.

Cry as much as he could, Kalu’s seeming theatrics would do little to sway the views of many Nigerians who still recall the rigorous judicial process that threw him into jail, and how he had escaped ‘technically’ at the behest of Supreme Court justices.

3. As Okorocha nudges Lawan

Senator Rochas Okorocha, on June 10, jokingly asked Senator Lawan to teach him how he returned to the Senate after losing the APC presidential ticket with him.

“I did not contest for Senate this period. I only contested for the Office of the President. You are a very smart politician. How you came back is another chapter in our political history that we need to discuss. I was there in the field with you running for President. I never knew how you were able to meander, leaving some of us. Next time you must teach me how to do that,” he said, during the valedictory session of the ninth Senate.

Okorocha’s sly remarks are a subtle query of Nigeria’s judicial processes which lately have come under severe knocks by critics who allege corruption and manipulations of the institution by the executive arm of government.

Indeed, it indirectly calls attention to serious gaps in the country’s body of laws and the need for urgent reviews to prevent politicians from contesting different political positions in an electoral season.

Answer: Senator Chimaroke Nnamani
Nnamani made the statement on April 2, 2023, in a statement reviewing the activities of this year’s general elections. He is a former governor of Enugu State.

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