The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is an otherwise distinguished arm of government whose function of law making is at the very heart of our democracy.
Senators of the republic are not called distinguished for nothing. Once a senator you are a senator for life. Such is the high esteemed with which a Senator is held.
However, of recent the hallowed chambers of the Senate is being desecrated by the activities of some of our Senators who are only distinguished in name but not in image and antecedent, they have abandoned their core legislative duties in pursuit of inanities and self-aggrandizement, they have embarked on an ego trip that has brought nothing but public spite to the hallowed chambers of the Senate of National Assembly. They have abandoned the national interest in pursuit of the political interests of entrenched interest within its ranks.
The squabble to grab power is as much within and outside the chambers of the Senate and at the heart of it all is the Senate President Bukola Saraki who is leading the orchestra of shame.
By joining issues with and flexing muscles with a minor in the executive arm of government the Senate has only succeeded in doing lasting damage to itself and standing. Should the Senate be reminded that it is an arm of government co-equal by constitutional provision to the Executive? By degrading democratic principles and dragging itself in the mud with a “mere” individual who happens to be the Inspector General of Police, who ordinarily should be answerable to the Minister of Interior the Senate as an arm of government has embarked on a journey of self-immolation for which it has been mortally bruised and bloodied.
This time around the Senate has chosen a fight of blame in an obvious attempt to protect one of its own. The police have detailed a case of criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearm against Senator Dino Maleye, rather than encourage the senator involved to answer to the charges preferred against him, the senate would rather employ diversion, intimidation and appeal to emotion in its attempt to extricate Dino Malaye from answering to the allegations leveled against him.
The Senate of the Federal Republic in recent time has been exhibiting suicidal dispositions, and appears prepared to commit parliamentary and collective suicide, thinking that such an act would pass and be accepted as a demonstration of patriotism and preparedness to sacrifice itself to defend Nigerians from the antics of a totalitarian, barbaric and intolerant Executive.
The unfulfilled and painful expectation of Nigerian is that the senate should have risen beyond this pettiness and checkmate the excesses of the Executive frontally, because equally dangerous is an executive arm of government who would use its institutions to fight a proxy way with another arm of government.
The Senate ought to know that in the eyes of the people they are their true representatives and the closest representation they have at the Federal level. To be involved in what seems more and more like autocracy and an unnecessary power tussle with the Executive lowers the estimation of the Senate in the eyes of the public.
In all these shenanigans, it must be said that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris is no different. He is an aspiring autocrat. However, like it is said in a local adage, when you see a bird dancing in the middle of a foot path, the drummers can’t be far away. IGP Idris is only playing a role scripted and directed by the executive.
Nevertheless, both men by their actions have shown a total disdain and disregard for democratic norms and together are a danger and an existential threat to our democracy.
Saraki by this actions has demonstrated that he cares less about the institution of the Senate. He presents himself as a narcissist who wants to gather power for personal gain and self-gratification. He cares little for the specifics or long term outcomes of his actions. Right from the day he plotted to become Senate president irrespective of the wishes of his party to his battles with the Code of Conduct Bureau, he has always been engrossed with the accumulation of victories that he can boast about.
Same can be said of the Inspector General of Police. He is entrenched and seemingly untouchable irrespective of charges of corruption, incompetence and insubordination. He has had running battles with a former police officer and now Senator, Isah Misau who has leveled serious charges of corruption against the IGP for receiving money from oil companies and other VIPs for whom police officers are assigned to provide security and for having affairs with two police women whom he has given special promotion contrary to the provision of the police Act. The IGP by his own admission flaunted the orders of the President in the Benue massacre. In all of these the IGP has come out unbruised. While his reputation takes a nose dive, crime and criminality has seen an upward swing under his watch. His cocky spokesman once referred to a sitting governor as a drowning man!
The constant display of alpha-male ego and dominance is central to an understanding of the character and persona of the duo of Senate President Bukola Saraki and IGP Ibrahim Idris.
This Senate has done remarkable well when one take into consideration the number of bills and constitutional amendments that has gone through it mills, in the last three years or there about. However it suffers low credibility in the eyes of the public as a result of the ego trip of its principle officers.
The Senate under the leadership of Saraki it must be said abuses its power to summon. There was a time when political office holders dreaded summons by the National Assembly. Today public office holders have scant regards for a National Assembly that would summon on a flip and whimsical reason, often in an effort to pump up its inflated ego as if the legislative arm of government is seeking relevance outside its constitutionally assigned role of making laws for the good governance of the country and over sighting the executive
The trivialization of summons as a result of ego involvement is what has brought opprobrium and distain to the once hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.
The Senate has the power to checkmate the Executive if they feel the Executive is overreaching itself which it had obviously being doing half-heartedly. The recent case of Tucano aircraft the NNPC saga and the ongoing unappropriated fuel subsidy payments are enough grounds to launch an impeachment proceeding against the president and removal if necessary. However the same senate that often cry of executive highhandedness are the bulwarks protecting Buhari from a wide range of areas where he should be held accountable. If they wanted to they could push and really push for the president to set his affairs right.
But this cannot happen because many among our distinguished senators have eaten sour grapes and their teeth are set on edge. If they dare point a finger at Mr. President they very soon realized that four fingers are pointed back at them.
The executive quite aware that the senators are standing on clay feet have played on this advantage to disregard the senate at every turn and even setting them up to be humiliated for which they cheaply fall for.
As things stand IGP Idris and Senate President Saraki have implicitly made a devil’s bargain which enables them to remain in power and gives them a free hand to indulge their kleptocratic and autocratic tendencies in detriment of democratic ethos.
