Senate Suspends Omo- Agege For 90 Legislative Days
The Senate on Thursday suspended Senator Ovie Omo- Agege, APC, Delta Central for ninety legislative days.
Senator Omo- Agege has also been asked to withdraw his suit against the Senate from the court.
The Senate has also mandated that Parliamentary Support Group( Senate) for President Muhammadu Buhari must be disbanded immediately.
Decisions of the Senate were subsequent to the report of Senator Samuel Anyanwu, PDP, Imo East led Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which investigated the Senator.
Earlier, the Committee had recommended that Senator Omo- Agege be suspended for 181 legislative days for dragging the upper chamber to court and to serve as a deterrent to others, but following pleads from Senate leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan and Kabiru Marafa for leniency and in the spirit of one family, Senate President Bukola Saraki reduced it to 90 legislative days.
It will be recalled that the Senate had last month, asked the Committee to summon Senator Omo- Agege over his comments that the new amendment to the Electoral Act regarding election sequence in the 2019 general elections was targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who presided then, referred the matter to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to refer back to the Senate at plenary in two weeks.
The decision of the Senate was sequel to a point of Order raised by Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West who drew the attention of his colleagues to interview granted by Senator Omo- Agege that the lawmakers came up with such arrangement of voting process because of President Buhari.
Senator Melaye who came under Order 14, said that it was a very weighty statement for a Senator to conclude that decisions taken by the Lawmakers was against the backdrop that they were teleguided.
According to him, there was no way the Senators Including him, will target the President when he travelled with him to all the states to campaign when as at that time, Senator Omo- Agege was ” labouring in Labour Party.”
Senator Melaye had said, “I am heavily worried. President Muhammadu Buhari is not only my party man. He is a president we all laboured to vote for. My colleague, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege addressed the media last week. He said the decision taken by this Senate is targeted at President Buhari.
“I cannot be part of any group of persons. I swore on oath on the 9th of June 2015. If decisions in this Senate are now being teleguided and targeted at any particular person, then that is no longer democracy. That statement to me is weighty.
“I personally campaigned and followed the President to 35 states of the Federation. The only place I did not follow him to, was Yobe where we did not even go throughout the campaign. When I was following Buhari to campaign to become the President of this country, Ovie Omo-Agege was labouring in the Labour Party.
