Ekweremadu: APC, beware of tortoises and pregnant women

Many were taken aback when Senator Chris Ngige, APC chieftain, said on the pages of the Vanguard newspaper of 27th June, 2015, about Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, the following: “You know, there are many ways to kill a rat. You can decide to go and kill it manually, you can go and put […]

Many were taken aback when Senator Chris Ngige, APC chieftain, said on the pages of the Vanguard newspaper of 27th June, 2015, about Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, the following: “You know, there are many ways to kill a rat. You can decide to go and kill it manually, you can go and put it in hot water, and you can use poison. We are back to the drawing table because it poses a problem for us.” Then on the 18th November of 2015, same Ekweremadu escaped an assassination attempt. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not waste time to indict the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the dastardly act – a hasty action if you ask me. And the APC, too, returned verbal fire.
However, beyond the brickbat, lies some lessons, which we cannot wish away. There is this Bini folktale about the tortoise and the pregnant woman. The tortoise said he would trample his cantankerous pregnant neighbour to death should there be a stampede in the market square. Behold, there was a stampede one hot afternoon and the pregnant woman died. The tortoise was held responsible. Even though his legs were so tiny it could hardly hurt a grasshopper, he was judged by his words and attitudes. This is why the Binis look in the direction of the witch if she cried at night and the child died in the morning.
Thus, it is better not to even imagine what the death of Chief Ekweremadu, even in his sleep, could spell today. As the Bini people would say, we can only thank God the poisonous mushroom did (not) germinate, for where would we have found the basket to cart them away? With the bourgeoning pro-Biafra protests in the South East, the well-known anti-Ekweremadu sentiments within the APC as captured by Senator Ngige above, and the perceived bias of the current administration towards the South East, how do you tell them and PDP that their only palm nut suddenly disappeared from the fire in dastardly circumstances?
While one would certainly not join the PDP in its point-blank accusations, there is no doubt that ever since Senator Bukola Saraki and Senator Ekweremadu emerged the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, respectively, neither the Senate nor the duo of Saraki and Ekweremadu have rested.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commissionm (EFCC) has invited Saraki’s wife. The Senate Unity Forum (group of Senators ‘loyal’ to the party leadership) has alleged forgery of Senate Standing Rule that produced Ekweremadu and Saraki; they called in the police, an executive agency to harass the National Assembly management and meddle in the affairs of the legislature against all known conventions; they also sued the National Assembly and Senate to court.
The resentment and hate for Ekweremadu within the APC circles is so palpable that a group of Senators staged a walkout on the day Ekweremadu presided over the 8th Senate for the first time.  They did not stop there; they issued a statement vowing never to attend plenary on any day Ekweremadu presides. The problem, according to them is that they could not bear a situation where a minority party presides over the APC majority.
Meanwhile, examining APC’s grouse, Nigerians have not ceased to wonder why there is a  brouhaha by APC over Ekweremadu’s emergence as Deputy Senate President. It is all hogwash, broad daylight hypocrisy because only yesterday, just October 2014, APC were all over the place defending the constitutionality of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal’s defection to APC, celebrating it to the high heavens.
Indeed, Section 50 (1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “There shall be: (a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves”. Consequently, the current APC Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly (ironically Senator Akume’s State) as well as his Plateau counterpart was elected Speaker in PDP majority House. So, on what constitutional or moral grounds are the APC and some Senators threatening fire and brimstone?
Indeed, President Buhari should call his errant party men and women to order. He, and his party’s leaders, must also desist from any body language that tends to suggest to their members that Ekweremadu is occupying their seat. That seat is Nigeria’s. Besides, there is nothing the PDP is enjoying in Ekweremadu today that the APC did not first enjoy in Tambuwal and are still enjoying in Plateau and Benue State Assemblies.
The President must also ensure that the security agencies get to the root of the attempt on Ekweremadu’s life. From Chief and Mrs. Barnabas Igwe to Chief Bola Ige, Ogbonnaya Uche, Harry Marshal, Funso Williams, Ayo Daramola, Aminosari Dikibo, Andrew Agom, and Dipo Dina, etc. etc., Nigeria’s list of unsolved political murders is too long to trivialize Ekweremadu’s matter for political reasons. As postscript, however, I commend Buhari’s statesmanship in hosting all Senators to a dinner. This was what should have been done long before now. However, I hope it is not Obasanjo’s kind of dinner with ominous consequences.
Osahon is a Lagos-based political analyst.