Nigerians condemn House of Reps’ free-for-all

By Taye Obateru
Jos — Nigerians have continued to condemn last Tuesday’s show of shame at the House of Representatives with some describing it as a betrayal of the trust Nigerians bestowed on them through their mandate.
Speaking in Jos, a former member of the House of Representatives who was also a commissioner in the Joshua Dariye Administration, Mr. Aminu Zang, said the free-for-all stood condemnable, saying the matter should have been handled more maturely instead of the resort to muscle flexing.
According to him, “the National Assembly, at whatever level, is rightly supposed to be a bastion of decorum where matters are handled with utmost decency. The matter on hand does not call for muscle flexing when weighed against other issues begging for urgent attention.
“As it were, there are decent ways of handling the matter without recourse to that show of shame. To say the least, the action stands condemnable.”
Action disgraceful — Don
Also speaking, a political scientist and lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Mr. Ezekiel Adeyi Major, viewed it as disgraceful when the nation had just celebrated 11 years of democracy and is about marking 50 years of independence
“The fracas in the chambers is a most uncivil way to mark the country’s 50 years of independence. Thugs should not be allowed to represent us if our democracy is to be sustained. This is a setback and a danger signal for coming elections”, he said.
This is a big irony—ERN
Also reacting, North Central Coordinator Electoral Reform Network, Gad Peter Ameh, regretted that dishonourable behaviour seen some years ago over allegations of corruption over the former speaker, Mrs Patricia Etteh, is replaying itself.
“This is a big irony because if the members of the House had charged the Progressive 11 for bringing the House into disrepute, it should have conducted itself in a manner that shows that it cares about the reputation of the House. It sound so funny that a House that raises concerns over happenings in the country on issues of violence condescended themselves to a level of resorting to violence.
“The right thing the Speaker and the principal officers should have done is to subject themselves to a probe so as to douse the tension and clear their names. It is, therefore, our opinion that the speaker and the principal officers of the House should resign for failure to deliver good leadership, and all government bodies charged with the duty to investigate such crime should probe the activities of the House.
“We condemn in totality the act of the members of the House of Representatives as we say in strong terms that this is a slap on the face of the nation. This unruly act of the legislators, no doubt, has a negative impact on our youths who look up to them as role models.
“We also want to condemn the brutality meted on the pressmen in the House by some security operatives who took advantage of the uproar and urge that, that should also be investigated too,” he said in a statement.

by vanguardngr.com