Posted by BY Bassey Bassey Calabar on
The indictment of the former Head of State's daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, over an alleged N3.5billion contract deal by EFCC has nothing to do with the senate, a senator has said.
The indictment of the former Head of State's daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, over an alleged N3.5billion contract deal by EFCC has nothing to do with the senate, a senator has said.
Senator Ndoma-Egba representing the Central Senatorial District in Cross River State, told journalists in Calabar that the lady should be able to sort herself out on the contract issue with the EFCC.
He said that since the transaction was carried out before the lady became senator, they cannot dabble into it in any form.
'She should be able to sort herself on the issue, moreso, when the contract in question was carried out before she became senator. We cannot push ourselves into matters that don't concern us directly," Senator Ndoma-Egba said.
On the leadership of the senate, Ndoma-Egba who is the Deputy Senate Leader, said that anytime leadership is foisted on the senate, there is always instability, but that when such a leader is unanimously elected by the senate, there will be stability.
Ndoma-Egba advocated the need for the executive to give the senate a free hand to choose its leadership. He mentioned past instances where the senate president was imposed on senators by the executive and how their tenures did not last and the trauma they passed through with other senators.
'Foised leadership doesn't survive. Look at the present leadership of David Mark - we have stability because he was picked by us," the senator said.
He described the senate leadership as the most traumatized amongst the three tiers of government because any administration can either suspend or erase their existence.
'The military were the most guilty. They will suspend the legislature immediately they come to power. Definitely, there will be no continuity, whereas in the United States and Britain, lawmakers stay for many years representing their people. Such gives room for effective representation," Ndoma-Egba said.
In a related development, Senator Ndoma-Egba has insisted that the controversial Bakassi, ceded to Cameroun is constitutionally still in Nigeria .
The senator who spoke to journalists in Calabar, said that elections could still be conducted in Bakassi because the territory is yet to be constitutionally ceded to Cameroun .
He said that Nigeria merely submitted to the judgement of the World Court because it is bound by the agreement it signed as a member of the court many years ago.
The major issue now, he said, is that of human factor - that of settling those displaced in the process of the ceding of the territory.
To fully implement the judgement, the country has to go domestic, meaning that the agreement has to be embedded in the constitution and ratified by the National Assembly, the senator said.
The Nigerian constitution, he said, needed to be amended to accommodate many issues that are controversial which have defied solutions.
To do this, he said, the states will be required to contribute their quota in terms of the two-thirds majority from the various houses of assembly.