In less than a year, the Ninth Senate under the Presidency of Senator Ahmad Lawan, has had three different spokespersons at different times. Taiye Odewale examines the circumstances warranting the high turnover.
9th senate and spokesman’s history
In the history of Senates in Nigeria from the First Republic to the current Fourth Republic, the 9th Senate which was inaugurated on June 11, 2019, may end up with the highest number of spokespersons within the statutory legislative life span of four years .
While most of the previous Senates from the first to the Eighth, which adjourned sine die on June 6, 2019, had just a spokesperson throughout their respective life spans, the current 9th Senate, had recorded three different spokespersons at different times, in less than a year.
Three on the saddle
For example, in recent time, while the position of spokesperson or image maker of the Senate was occupied by Senators Ayogu Eze in the 6th Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe in the 7th Senate and Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi in the 8th Senate, being chairmen of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs at the different sessions, the chairmanship of the committee, had been allocated three different times, to three different Senators in the current 9th Senate.
Along comes Adeyeye
First to occupy the position when the 69 standing committees of the 9th Senate were constituted by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan on the 30th of July 2019, was Senator Adedayo Adeyeye who represented Ekiti South senatorial district on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), before nullification of his mandate by Appeal Court on the 6th of November, 2019 .
Adeyeye’s ouster from the 9th Senate and by extension, his chairmanship position of the Committee on Media and Public Affairs , arose from electoral litigation slammed on him by Senator Biodun Olujimi who contested against him in the February 23, 2019 National Assembly election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) .
Though Adeyeye was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), however, Olujimi on the strength of Tribunal and Court of Appeal rulings, edged out Adeyeye from the Senatorial seat.
Akwashiki takes charge
Consequently, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, directed Senator Godiya Akwashiki (APC Nasarawa North) to step into the position in acting capacity being the Vice Chairman of the Committee.
In an exclusive chat with the Blueprint in his office on Tuesday, 19th November, 2019 after his first media briefing at the Senate Press Centre, Senator Akwashiki said he reluctantly accepted to occupy the position.
“Aside being saddened with the ouster of Senator Adeyeye from the 9th Senate and by extension, from this position via a Court ruling, I don’t want media related position as a grassroots politician.
“I vehemently rejected the offer when the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan , told me to step in , in acting capacity few days after the ouster of Senator Adeyeye.
“My reluctance and earlier rejection of the offer, made the process of filling the vacuum created by Adeyeye’s ouster to tarry for about two weeks today being Tuesday, 19th November , 2019 , which is 13 or 14 days after the painful court ruling .
“Since there can be vacuum in governance, I eventually succumbed to pressures from the President of the Senate by accepting to occupy the position in acting capacity “, he said.
Expectedly, months after months on the job between November last year and April this year, Senator Akwashiki later developed passion for it to the point of no longer being seeing as acting chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs but rather, the substantive chairman.
Akwashiki out
However, like a shocker, last week Tuesday, at plenary, the President of the Senate announced Senator Ajibola Basiru (APC Osun Central), as the new chairman of Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs and moved Akwashiki to the Committee on Labour , Employment and Productivity as chairman, in filling the vacuum, created by the death of Senator Benjamin Nwajumogu who was named the Chairman of the Committee in July last year .
The new Senate spokesperson and third, in the 9th Senate , was during the entire standing committee composition in July last year, assigned the Chairmanship position of Senate Committee on Diaspora , Civil Society Organisations ( CSOs) and NGOs , which is now given to Senator Biodun Olujimi ( PDP Ekiti South) .
Senator Basiru had penultimate Sunday at exactly 11:55pm tacitly announced himself as the new Senate Spokesperson by tweeting resumption of plenary held by Senate last week Tuesday.
Senator Basiru’s tweet to that effect sent different signals to members of the Senate Press Corps who wondered why such a piece of information came from such quarters at that time when Akwashiki was still believed to be Senate spokesman .
Though no reason was officially given for removing Akwashiki from the position but feelers from among the Senators indicate, non satisfactory performance in terms of putting in proper perspectives, the position of the Senate on ranging issues in the land.
Little wonder that Senator Basiru assigned to replace Senator Akwashiki is somebody well grounded in legal matters being a Doctoral Degree holder in law.
