Senate Shuns Mass Rally led by Prof Wole Soyinka, Bankole Heckled

Senate President David Mark yesterday shunned the Prof. Wole Soyinka-led Save Nigeria Group (SNG), reportedly insisting that the Senate would not address the issue of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s health as the matter is already before the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who eventually turned up towards the end of the rally could not address the crowd because of the deafening chants of “No! No!! No!!!” by the crowd when asked by Soyinka if they were ready to listen to Bankole.
The group is asking, among other things, that Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan should assume the position of acting President following the prolonged absence of the President from the country, as well as a probe of the President’s health by the federal lawmakers.

When the group arrived at the National Assembly at about 12.05 pm, emissaries were sent to the Principal Officers of both chambers to address the protesters.
The Senate, it was gathered, sent back words that it would not discuss the issue of Yar’Adua’s health as the matter was subjudice.

However, Bankole, who eventually came out to address the rally, was not allowed to address the protesting crowd.
As he came out, the Pastor of the Family Worship Centre, Pastor Sarah Omakwu, was addressing the crowd.

As Bankole wanted to collect the microphone from her, the crowd shouted the speaker down. Soyinka intervened and asked the crowd: “Do you want to listen to somebody?” and the crowd roared back with a deafening no. He asked the question thrice and the response was negative.

Soyinka then said: “This is democracy. Since this is your wish that you do not want to listen to anybody, I bring this meeting to a close.”
The protesting crowd dispersed and urged Bankole to go in to the chambers and do what is right.
Soyinka said that he hoped that the President had recovered and prayed that if he had, he should use his “miraculous recovery” and “new found energy” to turn the country around for the remaining part of his tenure.

Addressing the crowd earlier, Falana said the Senate had refused to discuss the health of the President as the matter is in court. According to him, “they did not go to court, but are using our case as example to abdicate their duties on how to ensure constitutionalism.”
Before then several speakers had addressed the rally on why Vice-President Jonathan should assume office as the acting President, stating that Nigeria does not want an “off-shore President”.

Falana said: “Enough is enough of absentee president. We are not a colonial or a conquered people. This rally is a wake-up call that Nigerians are free people who fought for this rickety democracy. We were told that the President has spoken to the BBC, we question that interview, and we want him to speak to the Nigerian people. We need a live broadcast. The country is sick, there is collapse of social infrastructure.

“The Chief Law Officer of the Federation and Minister of Justice said that the President can rule from any where, but when the Oyo State House of Assembly impeached former Governor Rasheed Ladoja from a House room, the Supreme Court faulted the impeachment that the lawmakers cannot operate from a hotel room, but here is the President signing the budget from Saudi Arabia”.

According to Falana, “if the ECOWAS would be searching for a replacement of the chairman of ECOWAS, because they don’t want an absentee president, why not Nigeria.”
He announced that protest rallies would take place simultaneously on Friday in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia and other major cities of the world.

The spokesman of the Buhari Organisation, Mr. Buba Galadima, cautioned against seeing the protest rally as against the North.
According to him, “We are all one Nigeria and the problem demands a Nigerian solution, which means that the Vice-President should be empowered to act constitutionally as the President, pending when the President is back and fit to rule Nigeria.”

The Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, also addressed the rally. According to him, “issues at hand are more than viewing it from the prospective of Christian and Muslim. What is happening is to bring sense to the senseless cabal illegally ruling this country against the principles of the rule of law.

It is not that we are campaigning for the Vice-President, but let him assume office as stated in the constitution that governs this country. We want the constitution to take place. Enough is enough, leadership vacuum is dangerous.”
Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, and Prof. Pat. Utomi billed to address the rally were absent.