John Ameh, Abuja

The joint Committee of the Senate/House of Representatives, which investigated the April 18 invasion of the Senate by thugs, has called for the suspension and prosecution of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for complicity in the attack.

Omo-Agege, according to the panel, should be prosecuted for treasonable felony and conspiracy to steal, while his suspension should be for “180 legislative days.”

The committee also recommended that six other persons, who carted the mace away, should be prosecuted along with the senator.

The House of Representatives considered and passed the recommendations of the committee on Tuesday, awaiting the concurrence by the Senate.

The consideration and passing of the report took place after the Co-Chairman of the committee in the House, Mrs Betty Apiafi, relayed to members the circumstances of the incident.

The Lead Chairman was Senator Bala Ibn-Na’Allah.

One of the key recommendations read, “The immediate suspension of Sen. Ovie Omo- Agege for 180 Legislative sitting days in line with Section 14(2) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2017.”

The House also endorsed the following recommendations, “Immediate prosecution of Senator Omo-Agege and the six other suspects for treasonable felony, assault occasioning harm, conspiracy to steal and actual theft of the mace, the symbol of authority of the Parliament.

“That Senator Omo-Agege be prosecuted for incitement and breach of peace in the Chamber of the Senate and contempt ex-facie.

“The prosecution of Senator Omo-Agege and the six others for obstructing and assaulting officers of the National Assembly in the course of their duty, contrary to section 14(1)(C)  of the Legislative Houses ( Powers and Privileges), which states ‘Any member of a Legislative House who assaults or obstructs any officer of the Legislative House while in the execution of his duty shall be guilty of contempt of Legislative House’ and should be dealt with in accordance with the provision of the law.

“That the Nigeria Police’s preliminary investigation on the issue should be concluded to allow for prosecution.”

Some of the recommendations directed the bureaucracy of the National Assembly to overhaul the security system of the complex and the procurement of equipment for the Sergeants-at-arms to be able to perform their duties effectively.

The recommendations stated further, “That the Management of National Assembly should, as a matter of urgency, review the existing security operational procedure and indeed the entire security architecture with a view to improving the capacity of the Sergeants-at- arms to enable them to take the lead in providing security and encouraging synergy among other agencies to assist in complementary roles.

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