Constitution review: Senators, Reps beaten up …As constituents allege poor representation

Some federal lawmakers had a raw deal in the hands of their constituents at the public hearings organized by the Senate and the House of Representatives Committees on Constitution Review (CRC). The names of the legislators are withheld by us.

The two chambers of the National Assembly organised series of public hearings in a bid to ensure participation by the citizenry as well as garner input from all Nigerians on the fresh amendment of the 1999 Constitution. The sessions took place on November 10 and 17, 2012 across the country.

The lawmakers did not bargain for the raw deal they got at some of the public hearings. National Assembly sources told Daily Sun that some Senators were slapped, kicked and shoved by aggrieved constituents who seized the occasion to vent their anger over what they claimed was “non-representation.” In other cases, the politics of 2015 played a significant part in the venting of anger on some of the senators.

For instance, a first-term Senator from the North-west was reportedly dealt some slaps with his police orderly fleeing from the scene of the attack. The Senator was said to have defeated a political heavyweight to clinch the ticket during the primaries in the run-up to the 2011 election. The incident occurred during the town hall meeting organized by the House of Representatives member from the senatorial zone.

Eye-witnesses said, “the Senator was manhandled, slapped and shoved by the people as they accused him of abandoning them after helping him win the election. “Some pointedly accused him of sitting back in Abuja to enjoy the perks of office without recourse to his constituency. In fact, the boys were happy that he showed up for the public hearing.

While the slapping incident lasted, the Senator’s police orderly was nowhere to be found.” Also, a senator, from the North- Central, reportedly got the same treatment during the national public hearing organized by the Senate at the International Conference Centre in Abuja. The perceived ‘sin’ of this Senator was that of “being partial. He preferred to empower a section of the constituency to the detriment of others; yet, we all worked to put him there.

We are waiting for him in 2015 to come back and ask for our votes,” the source said. Efforts to confirm these beatings failed as some of them contacted denied being involved. In Delta State, the Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, who represents Isoko constituency, Hon. Leo Ogor, was said to have fought with the youth leader in the area, Mr Ogaga Egbuwokwu. Although, Ogor denied that there was a brawl between him and the youth leader, he said that one of his aides had a misunderstanding with Egbuwokwu.

He said: “I didn’t fight with the youth leader, I could not have done such a thing, I don’t know who is spreading the falsehood.” In Kano and Jigawa states, two members of the House of Representatives were said to have been stoned by their constituents.

The lawmakers(names withheld) were not allowed to address the constituents who gathered for the public session. Ironically, suspended chairman of Adhoc committee on fuel subsidy probe, Farouk Lawan, was given a hero’s welcome by his constituents in Kano.

Source: Sun