Ekweremadu, a third-time Deputy Senate President, who represents Enugu West Senatorial district in the National Assembly, could be described as a cat with nine lives. Ever since his emergence as the Deputy Senate President in the current 8th Assembly, he has been subjected to endless litigations and what his supporters alleged as “harrowing official intimidation.”
The recent siege to his residence on a day similar siege was laid at the residence of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in apparent ploy to prevent them from presiding over the upper legislative chamber and possibly forestall the defection of some All Progressives Congress (APC) senators to the main opposition party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – was one too many.
Ekweremadu attended and left primary school as the teachers delight. He proceeded to St. Dominic’s Secondary school, Ugiri, Imo State and Boys Secondary School, Umueze Awkunanaw and obtained a Grade 1 in West African School Certificate. He pursued a course of study in Law at the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and earned LLB and LLM; and a BL from Nigerian Law School, Lagos. He also attended the Harvard, USA and the Oxford University for further trainings.
Based on his stellar pedigree, he was appointed the Chief of Staff, Government House and subsequently the Secretary to the Government of Enugu State. He ennobled the two offices with remarkable skill, exceptional diligence, elegance and panache. He demonstrated an extraordinary acumen in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In 2003, Ekweremadu was elected a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent Enugu West Senatorial District on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), re-elected in 2007, 2011 and also in 2015 when he was faced with a fierce incumbent governor Sullivan Chime whom he later humbled via the instrumentality of power play.
A peculiar South-East enigma each election recorded less resistance than the previous one. In the Senate, he was elected the Deputy President of the Senate in 2007, 2011 and also in 2015. He was also elected the First Deputy Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament in 2007 and Honourable Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament in 2011. A prodigy in Parliamentary practice, Ekweremadu has several motions and bills to his credit. Furthermore, he is the Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the 1999 Constitution Review. The widely acknowledged free and fair election of 2011 owes its credibility to the Electoral Reform facilitated by the Constitution Review Committees of the National Assembly. He is a detribalized patriot whose love, dedication, sacrifice and passion for Nigeria are legendary.
A classic public speaker, whose incisive contributions in the Senate engenders responsibility, nation building and hope. At the ECOWAS Parliament, Ekweremadu savours with deep emotional attachment that he was unanimously elected as the Speaker, hence the unprecedented unity of purpose in the Parliament. He presides over the Parliament with finesse, statesmanlike verve, diplomatic élan and consummate consensus. He embodies the aspirations of the members. For instance, he has pursued the Enhancement of the Powers of the Community Parliament; Rehabilitation of the Parliament building; provision of office accommodation to all members of the Parliament; institution of Award for Good Governance; Protocol for punishment of coup plotters in the sub-region even after office; capacity building for both the Parliamentarians and staff etc.
To the Parliamentarians, it is a major paradigm shift. Ekweremadu’s quality representation resonates resoundingly with his constituency. He has parlayed his cognate experience into monumental achievements in Enugu West Senatorial District and beyond. He has transformed his constituency beyond the rust and tarnish of even the least charitable. He has converted his Senatorial District into a huge construction site with road rehabilitation and construction, rural electrification, solar lights, water supply schemes, health care service delivery, libraries, computer centres, youth development centres etc. In human resource and capacity building, the Ikeoha Foundation which he founded in 1997 as a council chairman, complements his constituency outreach through scholarships to indigent students, micro-credit and widowhood support schemes, adult literacy centres, quiz and Ikeoha Football Cup competitions among others.
Inspite of all these however, he has been unable to break free of his detractors and the strong political forces chasing him since his upward mobility began. Never has it been so clear than the present, no thanks to the ruling party. No, not because he defied all odds to become the Deputy Senate President while with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), much as it is a display of cross-party acceptance and political sagacity. It is mainly because it appears that there is an entrenched guiding paranoia, as far as this government is concerned.
They have tied all manner of millstones around his neck but, like a typical cat with nine lives, the Enugu-born lawmaker, lawyer, author and professor has, so far, refused to drown. After things appeared to be getting rosy between the Executive and Legislature, though, after the furore caused by recent disagreements in the media, the FG filed a Motion Ex-Parte for forfeiture of assets allegedly not declared by Senator Ekweremadu.
The Senator has, however, insisted that he declared all his assets. He accused the Okoi Obono-Obla-led Special Presidential Panel on the Recovery of Public Property of relying on petitions by the dismissed former Chief Judge of Enugu State, now late, Justice Innocent Umezulike. Ekweremadu had earlier accused Umezulike of stealing, and doctoring his will in connivance with some politicians, inserting imaginary properties. He accused the panel of refusal to undertake a “thorough and independent investigation” because it was more out on a smear campaign spurred by the politics of 2019.
Without prejudice to the responsibility of the FG to fight corruption, there is something that is called common sense and public perception. One, the petitions by Umezulike were written in 2016. Why did the FG have to wait till now that the politics of 2019 is already heating up? How come a government, which sees anti-corruption as a priority couldn’t conclude an independent investigation (as admitted by the FG), thus resorting to Motion Ex-parte? Why did the current move have to come just on the heels of Ekweremadu’s recent unsparing criticism of the executive excesses by the FG and some APC states like Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, etc., which he warned could truncate our democracy?
It is easy to agree with the posers raised on the current travails of Ekweremadu. Why rush to court when FG admitted it was yet to complete investigation, whereas functionaries of the government indicted by the National Assembly and even panels constituted by the president himself or his ministers are yet to be prosecuted? PDP cited the examples of the former Secretary to the Government, Babachir Lawal, Ikoyigate scandal, and those responsible for the reinstatement and double promotion of Abdulrasheed Maina.
One can easily agree with the PDP that: “Now that the FG has gleefully inundated the public with the imaginary assets of the Deputy Senate President, it should also publish the full assets of President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo and its ministers and governors, who have all failed to make public their assets as promised during the 2015 election.” This is how to come to equity with clean hands.
I also wonder whether it is auspicious at a time efforts are on to smooth the rough relations between the two arms, which have stalled a lot of things, such as the budget, presidential nominees, etc. It could be viewed as further effort by the executive to intimidate and undermine the legislature. The House has already passed a resolution to probe the legality and operations of the Obono-Obla-Presidential Panel. It argued that the Obono-Obla panel arrogated to itself the constitutional responsibilities of the Code of Conduct Bureau. Ekweremadu severally referred to the panel as “so-called panel” in his reaction to the forfeiture suit too.
Meanwhile, it suffices to add that Ekweremadu’s travails can best be understood against the backdrop of the emergence of the leadership of the 8th National Assembly. Rebuking APC Senators over Ekweremadu’s emergence, APC’s spokesman at the time, Lai Mohammed, said: “there can be no higher level of treachery, disloyalty and insincerity within any party”.
The party also insisted that: “Senator Bukola and Hon. Dogara are not the candidates of the APC and a majority of its National Assembly members-elect for the positions of Senate President and House Speaker…. The party is supreme and its interest is superior to that of its individual members”. Obviously, the party failed to consider Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution and the multi-party nature of the National Assembly. It assumed an absolute and divine right to hand-pick the leadership of the legislature. The party also forgot the role it played in opposition to thwart the emergence of Hon. Adeola Akande (South West) as Speaker and ensure the emergence of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal (North West) against PDP’s zoning arrangement.
Its position on Ekweremadu is also soaked in duplicity when some pre-2015 events are replayed. On the 29th October 2014 when Tambuwal defected to the APC, retaining the speakership, Lai Mohammed said: “I must say that this historic development means that our democracy is growing by the day and it is dynamic…. 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,” Muhammadu Buhari said, “We will like to thank Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal for what he did yesterday. We were overwhelmed”, Act one, scene two.
But the same Mohammed told the media on Ekweremadu that: “If you understand how the National Assembly works and the kind of power the leadership has, you will understand the danger of what happened then. For instance today, we can no longer talk about having leadership caucus in the National Assembly because the leadership is made up of both the PDP and the APC”. Dr. Chris Ngige, then said the APC had many ways of killing a rat.
Ever since, there has been no respite for Ekweremadu. On 17th November 2015, the nation was shocked to hear about a failed attempt on Ekweremadu’s life in Abuja, although he never accused the APC, anyway. He recently alleged that the security agencies were yet to investigate the matter despite his full reports to them.
On 27th June 2016, he was arraigned alongside Saraki over alleged forgery of Senate Standing Rule. Curiously, the police report (itself a subject of litigation), which the FG relied on, neither mentioned, let alone indict Ekweremadu or Saraki. The same government eventually withdrew the charges in October 2016 because it was a road to nowhere and exercises in futility.
On 27th May 2017, the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Squad raided Ekweremadu’s official guesthouse in Abuja. The police initially denied it, but eventually admitted it and blamed whistleblowers. To save face, one Ahmed Echoda was docked for “wrong information”. He was granted bail at the next hearing; end of Act one, scene three.
So, who would blame many Nigerians, who have described the current assets palaver as a continuation of an endless, absurd drama or another trick from the magician’s bag? But, the question remains: should a man whose house is aflame chase rats? The answer is as good as everyone’s guess.
