• As Reps resume, swear in by-election winners
There was confrontation on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday as Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, Obi Aguocha, clashed over the deteriorating health condition of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
During the plenary session and rising under personal privilege, Aguocha accused the Speaker, President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney-General of the Federation of ignoring letters he wrote in August seeking urgent intervention in Kanu’s worsening medical condition.
The lawmaker said multiple medical assessments, including one ordered by the Federal High Court and carried out by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), had confirmed that Kanu was critically ill, suffering from organ deficiencies and dangerously low potassium levels.
“Mr Speaker, my constituent, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is on the verge of death. Three medical evaluations, including one by the NMA, have all confirmed the same. The court itself stated that only a man who is alive can stand trial.
“This is not politics. It is a fundamental human right. Many others facing trial have been allowed to travel abroad for medical care; yet Kanu, who has not been convicted of any crime, is being denied that right.”
But Abbas faulted the lawmaker’s approach, stating that the issue should not have been brought under privilege and could have been resolved through direct engagement with his office.
“I find it intriguing that you would come by way of privilege to demand action. If a letter was written to my office, a phone call or a visit could have addressed the matter. This is not the kind of issue that should come under privilege”, Abbas said.
The exchange quickly turned tense as Aguocha insisted he had made several attempts to meet the Speaker without success, saying, “Mr. Speaker, it is a matter of life and death. Please, guide me. Please do not shut me down.”
Abbas repeatedly cautioned the lawmaker. He insisted that House rules were being misapplied, but Aguocha and maintained that the severity of Kanu’s health crisis warranted immediate parliamentary attention.
But calm returned after the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, intervened.
While acknowledging the seriousness of the matter, Kalu stressed that due process must be followed, promising that the matter would be properly brought on the floor of the House.
Responding, Abbas said he was not against the substance of the matter, but the procedure.
The confrontation took place as Reps yesterday, after a two-month recess, with the swearing-in of three newly elected members who emerged victorious in the recent by-elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, administered the oath of office on Igbinedion Omosede Gabriella, who will represent Ovia South-West Federal Constituency of Edo State; Rabiu Mukhtar, representing Garki/Babura Federal Constituency of Jigawa State; and Felix Joseph Bagudu, who won the Chikun–Kajuru Federal Constituency by-election in Kaduna State.
