About two weeks ago, an attempt was made by some alleged hoodlums, allegedly led by suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to ‘overthrow’ a branch of the federal government of Nigeria. Not only that, they equally disrupted Senate plenary and seised the symbol of authority of the Upper Legislative Chamber – the mace. In this report, KEHINDE OSASONA and ROSEMARY MORIBIRIN seek legal implications on the incident
It’s contentious and a condemnable act – Francis Iyayi It is contentious and I considered it an affront to the Senate. It is a situation we should all frown at, it is not something we should smile at. It is a condemnable act, highly reprehensible and perpetrators of such heinous act should not be allowed to go scot-free. Everything should be done to see that justice takes its course.
Come to think of it, taking the mace, a significant symbol which represents the country is like telling us that the country is no more in existence.
It’s more like taking ‘Nigeria’ herself away. Don’t also forget that the law that is being legislated in that House derived its validity from that mace. And if that mace is not there, any action or decision taken in the floor of the House is voidable or void ab initio.
Legislative duty must be taken seriously – Adeyeye Adeyemi There were series of here and there stories as to what led to the invasion of the house and what led to the mace being taken. The mace symbolises authority. The legal implication is that; without the mace, the House can neither seat nor take any binding decision; it means that the House is not properly constituted.
The question to ask is; how did someone who is not in any way affiliated to the House got away with the mace? I think it is very laughable. I also think that legislative duty must be taken seriously by those saddled with such responsibility. They should save us all these drama.
It’s heinous, treasonable – Ayo Oshile The mace is the symbol of authority and stamp to the effect that no decision is made in the course of dispensing legislative duties without that symbol.
That means that there can be no decision that can be made by the National Assembly without this symbol being present. Worst still, a suspended Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege was alleged to be the mastermind of such unruly invasion. Don’t you see a conspiracy theory playing out from the high echelon of government? One begins to wonder how those people got access to the chamber without being interjected. So, if we now have some hoodlums who had stormed the Senate chamber to commit such heinous crime, then, they have by that dastardly act desecrated the hallow chamber and a very important aspect of government; which is law-making.
As important as the mace is to our nascent democracy, anybody that perpetrates such an act should be seen as treasonable felony committer if apprehended. It brings us to a realisation that our heads of governments at all levels should be serious and must do the right thing to forestall a re-occurrence of this type of national embarrassment. I saw on the screen myself some group of people, who, in a very carnage manner, stormed the Senate and carted away the symbol of authority. They were desperate and appeared unstoppable.
This goes to show that there is a lacuna and glaring laxity in our security system which must be rectified. Imagine Nigerians now talking about self-defense. Of course it has come to that because our security apparatus has obviously broken down.
Invaders violated Section 7 of the criminal code – Friday Iburu My views in respect of the invasion of the House by alleged thugs is that; it is unconstitutional, unlawful and an act of criminality. Reasons being that on no account should such invasion be allowed to just die down like that. The embattled Senator who was on suspension should have approached the court to help determine whether the action taken by NASS was good or not. But taking laws into one’s hand is criminality in the face of law. The suspected Senator has committed an illegal act and he should be charged alongside his accomplices in line with section 7 of the criminal code.
They are unauthorised visitors, trespassers – Bob James The law that regulates the parliamentary sitting stipulates that if you have no business in the House, you should not be there. So, for those who invaded the House, it was a violation of the law. As far as the law is concerned, they were trespassers. If it is true that somebody masterminded the invasion within the House, then the person becomes a conspirator and equally liable. In essence, they were all guilty of disrupting the House proceedings when they did.\
Perpetrators must face wrath of the law – Ejike Ojukwu The perpetrators of such act must be punished as prescribed by the law. For an insider to be involved, a sitting Senator, makes it more complicated. In fact, it is unheard of to connive with other people to steal the mace. It is shameful to both the House and the Nigeria State. Police, DSS and other security agencies should do their work in order to make the criminals face the wrath of the law.
Judiciary is culpable – Michael Okorie What happened in the Senate was shocking and embarrassing as it were. But, it is more embarrassing that up till today, nothing has been done to checkmate further recurrence of such invasion or to even apprehend the culprits behind it. More worrisome is the fact that the judiciary is culpable.
Reason is not far-fetched; they have restrained the security agencies from arresting or questioning the prime suspect, Senator Omo-Agege. It portrays a failed state. Federal government should convince Nigerians of its non-complicity and obey the rule of law.
It’s murder of our democracy – Ezekiel Ameh It is both an assault and desecration of the highest order. It’s a murder of our democracy and it showed clearly how porous our security system is. Not only that; it also exposed the level of corruption in the country. More importantly, it showed the breach of cooperation between the executive and the legislative arms of government. A country which is predicated upon a conflict of interests, biased mind and corruption, cannot stand.
Until we allow the rule of law prevails, things like this and other occurrences happening in the country would continue.
It’s lawlessness – Donald Nwankwo Mace, as it stands, is a symbol of authority of every legislative House. Without a mace, every law that is made is considered null and void and does not have force of law. So, stealing of mace in the National Assembly is an abuse of process and an affront to the House and Nigerians as a whole. If such act is permitted to continue, laws made by the House could lose its force of law, and worst still could plunge the country into lawlessness. In a nutshell, such attitude is highly condemnable and legally wrong