Ex-Senate President Nnamani speaks on Senate mace theft

A former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, has called for a high-level investigation into the invasion of the Senate chamber and taking away of its mace by suspected thugs.

The plenary session of the Senate was disrupted on Wednesday whenthe thugs invaded the chamber and took the mace away.

The incident happened a few seconds after a suspended senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, entered the chamber.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview, Mr Nnamani asked the federal government to immediately set up a panel to investigate the incident with a view to ascertaining the role played by the security agencies and bringing the perpetrators to book.

“There should be a high-level investigation. Is there any complicity? What happened to the police guarding the place? What about the SSS?” he said.

“One person could have planned this thing. They came in, took the mace and left. Did they disappear with helicopter? What were the police doing? What were the security agencies doing? We should set up a high-level investigation before apportioning any blame.”

Mr Nnamani, who was senate president from 2005 to 2007, wondered why the country’s polity had degenerated to a level where thugs would break into the chamber of a legislature.

He described the mace as the symbol of authority of the National Assembly, which should not be desecrated.

He said, “From the little information I got what I can see is that we have degenerated to a level of grave indiscipline.

“The mace is the symbol of legislative authority. If you see people bowing down in the Senate, it is the mace they are bowing down to and not the occupant of the office of the Senate President. We have got to the level where the people disregard the mace?

“I have never seen anything like this before. It is like the day the Chibok girls were abducted in the full glare of the security. There are so many security (personnel) in the National Assembly and so how did they get in?

“If you are going from Onitsha to Enugu, there are so many security checkpoints there. Checkpoints are mounted in places where they are not required.

“I am aware that before people are admitted into the chamber, somebody has to move a quick motion to allow the person in.

“So how did these people go into the chamber to do that in the day time even with excessive coverage?,” said Mr nnamani, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress.