Ex-governors the problem of the Nigerian Senate – Donald Duke

A former governor of Cross River State has said the Nigerian Senate may not be peaceful until former state governors stop becoming lawmakers after leading their states.

Donald Duke, also in the running for the Nigerian presidency, said the Nigerian Senate has become a “retirement home” for the former governors.

“The Senate won’t find peace until former governors stop making it a retirement home,” Duke tweeted.

The senate won’t find peace until former governors stop making it a retirement home.

— Donald Duke (@Donald_Duke) August 8, 2018

There are about 20 former state governors in the Senate, including Senate President Bukola Saraki, who was a two-term governor of Kwara State.

Until his resignation on Tuesday, Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State was the minority leader.

Other former governors in the Senate include Adamu Abdullahi, who leads a pro-Buhari caucus, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Jonah Jang, George Akume, Joshua Dariye, who was recently convicted of corruption, and Aliyu Wamakko.

The Nigerian Senate has been mired in unending controversies, with the Nigerian Presidency accused of spearheading a few of them.

In April, thugs invaded the Senate chamber and made away with the mace, a symbol of the Senate’s authority. A pro-Buhari senator Ovie Omo-Agege was accused of bringing in the thugs. But the senator, suspended earlier by the Senate for suing it, denied any involvement.

The mace was found near Abuja city gate a day later.

Last month, the Senate President and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu were prevented from leaving their residences in Abuja by men of the Nigerian police.

The most recent of the controversies that have rocked the Nigeria Senate is the siege by Masked operatives of the Department for State Services on the National Assembly who prevented federal lawmakers and journalists from entering the lawmakers’ complex.

Opposition lawmakers accused the APC government of being behind the invasion. But the party and the Nigerian government have denied prior knowledge of the blockade.