Former Senate President Ken Nnamani yesterday told the All Progressives Congress(APC) that it cannot enforce party supremacy on the floor of the Senate.
Nnamani, who spoke at the public presentation of the book: Nigeria’s Fourth Republic National Assembly: Politics, Challenges and Media Perspectives”, written by Dr. Austin Uganwa, said the events of Tuesday, June 9, occurred because the party misread the issue of party supremacy.
He said once Senators are elected, they become Senators of the Federal Republic, noting that once a Senate President emerges, he becomes the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, dumping the partisan toga.
Senator Nnamani also noted that it was wrong for the APC to have scheduled a meeting at the same time when the Senate was to convene.
“When we talk about independence of the legislature, it also delves into what happened on June 9. That day, a group of people handling government decided to hold a meeting but, one would have expected that they should be the one to take the floor since we are practising a bicameral legislature, but they did not.
“They gathered at the International Conference Centre (ICC), which is so far away from the vicinity of the National Assembly. At least, they should have been the ones to be there first, to make sure they lead their people inside. But they did not do that, and now they are paying the price for that.”
The former Senate President added: “Now, today, we are grappling with the issue of party supremacy. Party is ephemeral and the legislature should stand for democratic governance for Nigerians.”
He said Nigerians should attempt to document occurrences in the political sphere like Dr. Uganwa had done, since a number of actors often want to re-write history.
