Election Sequence: Senate suspends Omo-Agege for backing Buhari

By Musa Adamu and Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Senate yesterday suspended Senator OvieOmo-Agege (APC, Delta) for 90 legislative days.
The Senate also resolved that Omo-Agege should withdraw a case he instituted against it. It further asked that a group, Parliamentary Support Group, be disbanded forthwith.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, found the Senator guilty of a comment considered offensive to the privileges of his colleagues.
Sen. Omo-Agege had accused his colleagues of targeting President Muhammadu Buhari with its election reordering agenda.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions was instructed to commence the investigation after a petition by Senator Dino Melaye, drawing the attention of the Senate to a comment made by Senator Omo-Agege published by a national daily.
The report by the Committee, which was considered at the plenary yesterday, found the lawmaker guilty, despite his apology, and handed down 181 legislative days suspension to him, but was cut down to 90 days on Senate president’s plea.
Ruling on the resolution, Saraki who accused the pro-Buahri group of being holier than thou, said there was no Senator more qualified to be considered pro- Buhari than himself.
He said: “I think in this chamber, if we want to talk about who has the right to say he is Chairman of a Parliamentary Support Group for Mr. President both by action and by what we have done, I think that I have the right to lead that — more than anyone else here.
“Those of us that understand politics, understand that because of our own peculiar interests, sometimes some people decide to act like they are holier than thou or more committed—at the expense of others. This is not something that we should tolerate; and I believe that in an institution like this we must show discipline, but at the same time we must also show compassion.”
By this suspension, Senator Omo-Agege will only resume sometime in February next year.
The Senate also in yesterday’s plenary rolled out names of Committees yet to submit their reports on budget to the Committee on Appropriation.
Expressing his displeasure at the development, the Senate president said this was despite a directive to that effect.
He said that although as a policy the Senate refrains from listing out names of defaulting committees, he regretted that the Senate would make an exception this time, so that Nigerians might know those holding them back.
Saraki listed these Committees to include Defence, Army, Air force, Navy, FCT, Industry, Capital market, FERMA, Cooperation and Integration.
According to him, others are State and Local Government, Cuture and Tousirsm, Niger delta, Works, Downstream, Upstream, SDGs, Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases, Health, Tertiary education and TetFund and Power.
The President of the Senate, therefore, directed that these Committees must submit their reports unfailingly by Friday (Today).