The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Sunday Karimi, absolved President Bola Tinubu of blame on Nigeria’s economic challenges.
Two other stories from the National Assembly (NASS), were also reviewed for your reading delight.
1. Karimi’s claim on Tinubu’s economic battles
On April 1, Senator Karimi declared that Tinubu inherited the worst economy in Nigeria’s history saying, among others, “The government of President Tinubu inherited a bad, in fact the worst situation, so far…”
He spoke at Igbaruku Day in Igbaruku-Okeri, Yagba West Local Council, Kogi State.
Karimi’s statement seems typical of the usual political theatrics aimed at absolving present administrations of blame. The immediate past government of Muhammadu Buhari wallowed in the same strategy of fiddling with excuses while the country suffered.
Could the Senator’s claim be a desperate clap back on critics of the young Tinubu-led administration? Perhaps, yes! Whether Karimi was right or wrong, for sure, his damage control measures may amount to shooting his party in the foot. After all, was Buhari of a different political hue? No! He led APC for eight uninterrupted years.
NASS MEMORY LANE
Who said;
“Just few weeks back, the Federal Government discontinued the criminal charge filed against Omoyele Sowore by the Federal Government. I am also aware that the Federal Government has allowed Sunday Igboho back home. It is so painful that when it is the turn of an Igbo man, the story is always different.”
Answer: See end of post
Two other stories
2. Impeaching Akpabio
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour Employment and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang, on April 2, dismissed the insinuation that there was a plan to impeach the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
READ ALSO:NASS REPUBLIC: As Northern Senators decry insecurity. Two other stories, and a quote to remember
“When there are issues, you raise them for a rethink and future correction. Nobody will remove the Senate President; he is stable,” Plang said when he spoke to Journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The reported talks, and insinuations on Akpabio’s impeachment make up the beauty of a thriving democracy, and could be symptomatic of the several battles for political supremacy in the Red Chamber.
Pang’s preachment on national stability not withstanding, therefore, the heart of the discourse is whether bad leadership should be sacrificed on the alter of compromise.
3. Akpabio’s take on divisive influence of religion
On April 1, Senator Akpabio asserted that religion could not divide Federal Lawmakers, and other Nigerians belonging to different faiths.
Akpabio spoke Monday at Iftar, a Muslim rite for breaking of fast, saying, “Religion cannot divide us. It was not a mere coincidence that the Christian Lenten and Muslim Ramadan periods came up again at the same time.”
Akpabio’s speech attempts at building political bridges where religious intolerance and tribalism have combined to keep Nigerians polarized.
What, perhaps, is hidden from Akpabio’s remarks is that Nigerian politicians are the worst culprits in fanning the embers of intolerance, playing the ethnic and religious cards to harness votes when it suits them.
Akpabio and his ilk must walk the talk!
Answer: Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere
Ugochinyere made the statement on March 19, 2023, when he called on President Tinubu to invoke Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to discontinue the trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He represents Ideato Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
