•Mandates ECN to pay staff 8-year salary arrears
By Haruna Salami
In a decisive move against institutional impunity, the Senate on Thursday directed the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to immediately evacuate a private property in Port Harcourt and return it to its rightful owners.
During the same plenary session, the apex legislative body ordered the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) to immediately pay eight years of withheld salaries and restore the promotions of a wrongfully suspended staff member.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio declared that the resolutions must be enforced swiftly, affirming that the National Assembly remains “the last hope of the common man.”
The directive to the Nigeria Police Force followed a petition filed by legal counsel Samuel C. Uweme on behalf of the Kalango family. The petition accused the police of “lawlessness, impunity, and illegal occupation” of Plot 2, Presidential Housing Estate, Phase III, Circular Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Senate investigations unraveled a clear history of ownership: 1982 -the Rivers State Government officially allocated the land to Captain Dairio Kalango.
Captain Kalango fulfilled all legal and financial requirements, establishing absolute ownership for the Kalango (Kalabari) family.
Though police representatives admitted before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions that the Force did not own the land, they failed to act. Despite being granted a three-week window in July 2024 to either vacate or negotiate a lawful purchase with the family, the police simply stayed put.
The Senate has ordered the Police Force to pack up and leave without further delay.
It noted that if the Force still wishes to acquire the land, it must first vacate the property completely and then approach the Kalango family for fresh, lawful negotiations.
The second case of institutional high-handedness involved an ECN staff member, Mr. Kingsley Nwaji.
Nwaji was suspended without pay in 2015 after being arraigned before a Federal High Court on allegations of criminal trespass, breach of trust, and embezzlement of funds belonging to the ECN Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
However, the Federal High Court in Abuja eventually struck out the case due to the Commission’s failure to diligently prosecute it—effectively clearing Nwaji of all charges.
While the ECN officially recalled and reinstated Nwaji, they refused to pay his salary arrears or restore his deferred promotions spanning from 2015 to 2022
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