About seven months after his emergence as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta) is yet to preside over plenary, our correspondent reports. Omo-Agege was elected on June 11 last year when the ninth Senate was inaugurated.
He was elected after Senator Ahmed Lawan emerged as president of the Senate. Recall that Omo-Agege was enmeshed in a mace theft controversy in the last assembly.
A probe panel was constituted by the two chambers of the National Assembly but he narrowly escaped being suspended. Omo-Agege, however, denied having any involvement in the incident.
The ad hoc committee recommended that the lawmaker be suspended for 180 legislative days. It also called for the immediate prosecution of Omo-Agege and six other suspects on charges of treasonable felony, assault occasioning harm, conspiracy to steal and theft of the mace.
His emergence as Deputy Senate President was devoid of twists and turns such as characterized that of his predecessor, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the eighth Senate.
Daily Trust reports that since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, Ekweremadu was the first lawmaker from a minority party to serve as a presiding officer in the National Assembly.
Omo-Agege’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), adopted him for the post after “wide consultations with President Muhammadu Buhari, party stakeholders, including APC governors”, and to avoid a repeat of Ekweremadu’s episode, the party got its members in the Red Chamber to rally round its adopted candidate and ensure his victory.
With his party’s support, Omo-Agege defeated Ekweremadu 68 – 37 to clinch the position.
But about seven months after his inauguration as Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege has not had the chance to preside over the plenary. It could be recalled that despite coming from different political parties, Senator Bukola Saraki gave opportunities to Ekweremadu to preside over plenary.
The constitution stipulates that the deputy Senate president presides over the chamber in the absence of the Senate president. Section 53 (1a) of the 1999 Constitution is explicit on the office of the deputy Senate president.
It states thus: “In the case of the Senate, the President of the Senate shall preside, and in his absence, the Deputy Senate President shall preside.”
Similarly, the Senate Standing Orders 2015 is also clear on the position of a deputy Senate president. Order 27 of the said document reads thus: “In the absence of the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President shall perform all the duties and functions of the President of the Senate.”
The terrain is smooth for Omo-Agege to sit on the Senate president, Ahmed Lawan’s seat because their party has a majority in the Senate. However, the opportunity has not been created as Lawan sits firm on the coveted seat and is always on hand to steer the affairs of the Red Chamber.
Our correspondent observed that, before the Senate went on recess, plenary that was supposed to start at 10:00 am usually got delayed to 12 noon because the Senate president had to attend to other engagements before the commencement of the session.
Fielding question on why Omo-Agege has not presided over plenary, the spokesman of the Senate, Godiya Akwashiki, said the Senate president was always around to preside. He said the delay in starting the plenary was due to engagements with key Ministries, Departments and Parastatals (MDAs) as agreed by the Senate for the betterment of the country.
“Also, the deputy Senate president was always with the Senate president to declare the round table discussion open and leave the DSP to take care of the discussion,” he said.
He noted that the delays recorded were before the recess and assured that plenary will commence its sessions timely, as usual. However, it was a different scenario in the House of Representatives as the deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, has presided over plenary several times in the absence of the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
It was observed that, whenever the speaker has another engagement to attend, he allowed his deputy to preside over the plenary, including when important motions and bills were debated or resolutions were taken by the House.
Wase presided over many plenaries from beginning to the end, while in some instances, he was called upon to continue if the speaker had to leave the chambers to attend other functions.
An aide to the deputy speaker who spoke on condition of anonymity said, although he could not recall how many times the speaker presided over plenary, but the deputy speaker had presided either full or part of about half of all the plenary sessions held by the House since inauguration.
“Honestly, I cannot give you the exact number of times he has presided over plenary, but I can tell you that, he presided over a substantial number of the sittings. That is a good sign that the speaker and indeed all other members have confidence in him,” the aide said.
Many believed the speaker and deputy have a very cordial relationship and understanding of the need to work together in the interest of the House, members as well as Nigerians who expect dividends of democracy.
Meanwhile, even as the nation awaits when Omo-Agege will have the opportunity to preside over plenary in the Senate, the senator is enmeshed in another controversy over allegation that he was convicted of perjury while practicing as a lawyer in the United States in 1998. Omo-Agege has denied that he was convicted for the said offence.
“For the umpteenth time, we would like to reiterate the fact that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was cleared of all charges in the said case and he was never a convict in the USA as being alleged. Till date, he travels freely to and within the country without any hint of harassment,” a statement by his Media Adviser, Yomi Odunuga, said.
Meanwhile, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Bwari on Wednesday dismissed a suit seeking the removal of Omo-Agege as deputy Senate president over the allegation.
The suit, instituted by Incorporated Trustees of Patriotic Youth Organisation of Nigeria, had asked the court to void Omo-Agege’s election on the grounds that he submitted false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
