Penultimate Friday, Ndigbo resident in Enugu, made a very loud statement of their grievances over the travails of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.
From the Akanu Ibiam International Airport to his Independence Layout, Enugu, residence, they trouped out in their thousands to literally shut down Enugu in solidarity with the Senator on his first visit to the Coal City since the siege to his Abuja residence by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and hundreds of the men of the Nigeria police force.
Ekweremadu is not above the law, but when a handshake goes beyond the elbow, sensible people will certainly be disturbed, especially given the precarious situation of the Igbo under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Even though Ekweremadu, as the highest ranking son of Igbo had issued a personally signed statement on 7th April 2015 upon Buhari’s victory, assuring that Ndigbo would “give him all the support to succeed because he was elected as the President of Nigeria, not president of the APC or any section of the country in particular”, Buhari has not hidden his determination to alienate Ndigbo courtesy of his 97 percent and 5 percent formula. Not only did he exclude Ndigbo from his kitchen cabinet and Grade A appointments, the headship of almost all the armed forces and paramilitary agencies were concentrated in one region, with Ndigbo, one of the three major tribes, totally excluded. For Ndigbo, therefore, the providential re-election of Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as permitted by Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution, remains a consolation. And although a patriot with national outlook, Ekweremadu’s ability to stand up for his people in the face of what they perceive as apartheid against them has further endeared him to them. The Igbo solidarity with Ekweremadu was succinctly captured by the President of the Enugu State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo during the solidarity march. He said: “The highest person the Igbo have in government today is Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and ever since he took up the office of the Deputy President of the Senate by election by his fellow senators, he has faced a lot of persecutions.
“We trouped out in our thousands to welcome him because we want the powers that be to know that Ekweremadu has a constituency. We want to let them know that anything that happens to him, Igbo will not take it lightly”. Meanwhile, whereas the APC sees Ekweremadu’s re-emergence as an anathema and haven’t hidden their determination to undo him to recover their “birthright”, Nigerians wouldn’t easily forget that a few days to Ekweremadu’s re-election as Senate’s number two man, Hon. Terkimbi Ikyange and Hon. Peter Azi of the APC, were elected as Speakers of the Benue and Plateau Houses of Assembly, respectively, even though they were of the minority in both Assemblies. In 2014, APC justified former Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s retention of the speakership position upon his defection from the PDP. Lai Mohammed, APC’s spokesperson at the time saying: “With this defection, APC has now taken the leadership of one arm of the national legislature. We think that having the head of the legislature from the opposition party makes for a balanced setting in government and it’s good for democracy”. Addressing party faithful at the Eagles Square on October 29th October 2014, Buhari, said: “We will like to thank Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal for what he did yesterday. We were overwhelmed. Taking such a remarkable risk and sending everybody on holidays till December is an achievement”. So, why must Ekweremadu be crushed? First, there was an attempt on Ekweremadu’s life inside Abuja on 17th November 2015. Second, Ekweremadu and Dr. Bukola Saraki were arrainged like common criminals over trumped up and laughable charges of forgery of Senate Senate Standing Rule. Yet there was not a single mention of their names in the contrived police investigation report. But they prevailed. Next, there was alleged plan, according to Ekweremadu, by the EFCC to plant foreign currencies in a building associated with him in April 2017. Though denied it, policemen drawn from the Inspector-General of Police’s special squad invaded and ransacked his official guest house at Maitama, Abuja, in May 2017 supposedly in search of caches of arm. Earlier this year, the Presidential Panel for Recovery of Public Property chaired by the Special Assistant to the President on Public Prosecution, Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla, circulated in the media a suit seeking the forfeiture of alleged undeclared assets by the Senator both within and outside the country. Ekweremadu alleged political witch-hunt, having declared his assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau, and challenged the panel in court. Armed hoodlums also invaded and carted away the mace on the day he was presiding. While he is still in court with the Obono-Obla Panel, EFCC and hundreds of policemen laid siege to his home on 24 July 2018 ostensibly to invite his to their office over the same assets petition. This 6am incident happened at the same time the police also laid siege to Saraki’s home invitation in what many see as a bid to hold them hostage, impeach them, and stop the defection of APC Senators. To cow him and cover government’s shame, the EFCC is still on his neck. Ekweremadu must be commended for being a true son of his father and refusing to me intimidated. He told the momoth crowd in Enugu: “There is no way you can continue to harass and chase and institution of government and expect peace to thrive. That is not possible. Or if you are ensuring that any part of Nigeria is cut off from government, we will have problem. Nigerians are entitled to their rights, their freedoms, they are entitled to the principles of democracy. “Unfortunately, those of us, who are asking that the correct thing be done, are being hounded by the government. So, that is where we have the tragedy of the whole situation. “However, I refuse to be intimidated. I am 56 years old now. I have taken more than average life expectancy in Nigeria. I know it is not over, but I psychologically ready to go through this trauma”. Unfortunately for Nigeria, which has become a laughing stock with this initmidation, harassment, and persecution of Ekweremadu and oppostion, Babachir Lawal of the grass-cutting scandal, Okoi Obono-Obla of the forged WAEC result scandal, Kemi Adeosun of the NYSC certificate scandal, Tukur Buratai of the Dubai mansions, Abba Kyari of the MTN fine scandal, and Abdulrasheed Maina and numerous friends and memebrs of the administration ‘have no questions to answer’. Nsofor writes from Nsukka
Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/08/when-enugu-shut-down-in-solidarity-with-ekweremadu/
