60 Senators who may not return
Near empty chamber worries Senate President
Senate spokesman best to respond – SP spox
Close to sixty senators of the 9th Assembly will most likely not return in 2023, our correspondent, Ikechukwu Okaforadi writes on how this ominous sign is negatively affecting legislative output and functions in the red chamber.
The trend has continued unabated, where experience and competence in legislation are continually sacrificed on the altar of politics. In what started like coincidence, but gradually became a norm, the aspiration of every Governor is to retire to the Senate.
Instances abound of governors who may not wish to go to the Senate, but will frustrate senators from their states, just to leave no one in doubt over where political superiority lies.
They do this with great ease, given that party structures at state levels are at their beck and call, hence no time is wasted to shove senators away. This has earned the nation’s bastion of democracy the status of retirement ground for ex governors.
There are equally cases where some governors sacrificed brilliant senators just to make space for their wives, kids and cronies, despite such beneficiaries lacking the requisite competence and interest to do the job of lawmaking for the nation.
Unfortunately most times, it is the best brains that fall victim in the course of this ignoble power play and this has come at an unforeseen and most times, unnoticed huge cost to the nation’s fledgling democracy.
An example of this is when the Senate Leader in the 7th Assembly, a refined lawyer, Ndoma Egba, was booted out of the Senate by his Governor, Liyel Imoke, despite interventions by David Mark and even President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also, APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, prevented Senator Olorumbi Mamora from Senate to accommodate his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, just as in Ogun and Kwara, another fine lawmakers, especially in area of health, Senators Ibrahim Oloriegbe and Olarewaju Tejuoso were sacrificed by their governors to settle political interest at the 9th and 8th Senate, just to mention a few.
Ahead of the 2023 general election, Governors of Kano, Kebbi, Abia, Enugu, Jigawa, Sokoto, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Cross River, among others are already warming up to replace their respective Senators.
Pundits claim in the very near future, no one may become a senator without first being a governor. This will not be in the nation’s interest given that the upper chamber is supposed to be a technical ground where legislations that deepen and consolidate democracy are initiated and produced, and for this reason, it requires special competence to do the job.
However, the reverse is the case. Gory images of sleeping senators, mostly former governors, had emerged in the public spaces. Analysts believe this is a clear indication the interest is neither about capacity nor the will to serve Nigeria, but the pecks that accompany such senatorial offices.
The ongoing political throat slitting ahead of the 2023 general election has spared no one through different circumstances; high and mighty have fallen victims, including the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket, but lost to former Lagos Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Lawan has vast experience in the National Assembly spanning over twenty years, but all that is to be lost from all indications because he, like over fifty six other senators, may not return to the Senate in 2023.
Aside Lawan, other senators who may not return to the chamber in 2023 include: Hadejia Hassan Ibrahim (Jigawa North East), Sankara Danladi Abubakar (North West, Ahmed Baba Kaita (Katsina North), Bello Mandiya (Katsina South) and Abdullahi Barkiya Kabir (Katsina Central), Lawali Hassan Anka (Zamfara West).
Others are: Mohammed Hassan (Zamfara Central), Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna Central), Senator Danjumah La’ah (Kaduna South), Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano Central), Nora Ladi Daduut (Plateau South), Dimka Hezekiah (Plateau Central), Gyang Istifanus Dung (Plateau North).
Also not returning to 10th Assembly are: Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West), Yakubu Oseni (Kogi Central). In Niger State, while the fate of Senate Bima Enagi (Niger South) is not known yet, the Deputy Whip of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North) lost out.
Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe (Kwara Central) and Orker – Jev Emmanuel Yisa (Benue North West), Haliru Jika (Bauchi Central), Lawal Gumau (Bauchi South) and Bulkachuwa Adamu Muhammad (Bauchi North) lost out.
Senators Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba South) and Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (Taraba Central) are not returning, while Senator Amos Bulus Kilawangs (Gombe South) lost out, Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North), Ayo Akinyelure (Ondo Central) and Nicholas Tofowomo (Ondo South) are not returning.
In Lagos State, Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) is not returning, while in Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun Central) is not returning, Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo Central), senator Francis Alimekana (Edo North), and Matthew Urohgide (Edo South) are not returning.
Similarly, Senators Sandy Onor (Cross River Central) and Gershom Bassey (Cross River South) are not returning, just as Ovie Omo – Agege (Delta Central) and James Manager (Delta South) are out, Bassey Albert Akpan (Akwa Ibom), Senator Gorge Thompson Sekibo (Rivers), Betty Apiafi (Rivers), are not returning.
Rochas Okorocha (Imo West), Ezenwa Francis (Imo East), among others are not returning either.
From this figure, it is clear that the 10th Senate will certainly witness the highest level of turnover of legislators. The consequences are already manifesting in their apathy towards legislative businesses. The chamber is nowadays less than 10 percent occupied by the supposed number of Senators.
In manifestation of lack of interest, most of them breeze in, fill attendance and vanish, while a few that stay in the chamber hardly make any contribution as bills are being considered. There were cases where the Senate President presided over the plenary session with less than ten Senators in attendance.
To this end, Lawan is therefore forced to either swim and sink with the prevailing despondency or do the consideration alone. Many times, when critical Bills are already laid for consideration, he suddenly adjourns plenary to a letter date hoping for better attendance.
Some important bills have been considered with less attention they deserve and the consequences will only become evident in the future when implementation begins.
Sources in the Senate revealed that many committee works, including oversight functions, public hearing, executive and private member bills which were before now receiving robust legislative attention, are abandoned due to apparent lack of interest by the sponsors or chairmen of the committees.
Over the past six months, contrary to practice at its inception, the Senate now resumes as late as 11:30am and most times adjourns by 1pm. This is despite the fact that since Covid-19 era, it convenes for plenary only two times in a week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays).
The economic loss, both in resources and time, which accompanies this
laid-back disposition by the senators could only be imagined.
Most of the Senators who are not returning in 2023, as expected, may find no more reason to report for work, just as those who report, may not be willing to go the extra mile for a system which they may have perceived as unrewarding and unappreciative.
Even the enthusiastic disposition of the Senate President Ahmed Lawan towards coordination of legislative activities when he was initially sworn in, has grossly waned, likewise his bipartisan grip on his colleagues, which today is steadily losing momentum.
A clear case was the last threat by senators across party lines to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over worsening insecurity in the country. Before now, such moves could not be imagined in Lawan-led Senate, but for even APC senators to openly participate in such threats reveals, perhaps, that the centre cannot hold as it used to do.
The signs are clear; APC senators are now disavowed, no one listens to Lawan again. Even Lawan is injured and cannot, like before, fight and defend Buhari, despite his notorious ‘same page’ principle.
Peoples Daily made efforts to get response from the Senate President’s Media Adviser, Ola Awonoyi, over the sudden dampened moral and lackadaisical attitude and disposition to activities in the red chamber, but he referred the questions to the Senate spokesman, Ajibola Basiru.
He said “Glad if you can direct your questions to the Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru. He is in the best position to provide answers to your questions. Sorry about that.”
Further prompting him did not however yield any different results, as he insisted “In my view, the issues are better addressed by him”.
However, the spokesman of the Senate, Senator Ajibola Basiru did not respond to messages sent to him at the time of filing this report, just as his number could not be reached.
Also, when the Senate Minority Leader, Philip Aduda was contacted, he did not pick his calls, even text messages sent to him by our correspondent on the issues under consideration were not answered as of the time of filing this report.
