Nigeria senate mace theft sparks tensions
The sceptre, a symbol of authority, usually lies on the table before the senate president
Asuspended senator led armed men into Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber in a plenary session, stealing the mace in a dramatic twist that could signal political turmoil ahead of presidential polls in 2019.
“This speaks to the kind of fractures that we’re going to see as 2019 approaches,” independent political analyst Chris Ngwodo said by phone from Jos, in central Nigeria.
Omo-Agege, a ruling All Progressives Congress party politician seen as a loyalist to President Muhammadu Buhari, was suspended by the senate for claiming that lawmakers’ move to amend the Electoral Act and reverse the sequence of elections was motivated by anti-Buhari sentiment. The president, who will seek reelection, refused to sign the proposed bill into law.
The mace, a symbol of authority, which usually lies on the table before the senate president, was recovered, the police said in a statement early yesterday. The senator was arrested shortly after the attack the previous day, according to the senate president’s spokesman, Yousuf Olaniyonu. Omo-Agege didn’t answer an email seeking comment.
The incident serves as an illustration of the state of Nigerian politics, where parties are merely a means to power and wealth, and politicians propelled neither by ideology nor principle. Known locally as “cash-and-carry politics”, success is often measured by gaining access to the treasury and dispensing patronage.