The Nigeria House of Representatives has said that there is strong indication that the Senate is being haunted by demonic forces. The House also asked the Federal Government to conduct full investigation into allegation by the Senate of the existence of a fifth columnist working to scuttle amendment of the 1999 Constitution as well as to derail the nation’s democracy.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, stated this yesterday at a press conference in Abuja. The House spokesperson said that in order to save the Senate from satanic influence, the House had gone into solemn moment to “join the Senate to pray for the eclipse of Satan in the chamber of the Senate as admitted by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu that there is Satan in their chamber.”
He said that other Nigerians should also join the House in praying that Satan should be very far away from the Senate so that the upper chamber could realise the need to team up with the House to strengthen and deepen democratic process in the country. He added, “We believe very truly that Satan does exist there and that was why budget 2009 was passed in 2008 after which virement for 2008 was brought and passed too. I don’t know whether that has to do with 21st century management of Appropriation.
“Within the extant law we have, it is very unusual for a budget to be passed after which a virement is released for that same financial year. A new budget is passed when the expenditure for that particular year has not been technically concluded. “So we believe that it is the handiwork of Satan and demonic influence. All of us should join them in saying that Satan should be very far away from our Senate so that we will be able to work together because the House of Representatives cannot do it alone.
“We need a Senate to do it together with us. The presence of the God of the Nigerian people in the House of Representatives should help us extend the hand of goodness in the Senate so that we will be able to work together.”
Eyiboh described the allegation of security breach reportedly made by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Senator Ayogu Eze, as weighty and urged the Federal Government and security agencies to investigate it without further delay.
He said, “You and I are aware of very serious issue which has to do with the sovereignty of this country, which has to do with national security, which has to do with our democracy and which has to do with security breach when a very distinguished citizen of this country and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria alerted Nigerians that there is existence of a fifth columnist with the intension not only to scuttle the constitution amendment but also to derail our democracy.”
He noted that though the House would have dismissed the allegation as a joke or blackmail, but that they were taken aback due to the quarter the allegation came from and the personality of the spokesperson of the Senate.
He said that the House decided to take the matter seriously because Eze also alluded to the fact that he is in possession of security information that there is a threat to democracy.
In his words: “One would have thought that it would have been proper for the spokesperson of the Senate and indeed the Senate to have drawn the attention of the national security agencies to this discovery. We want to believe that because he was so sure of his facts, it is very likely that he must have drawn the attention of security agencies and nothing was done about it hence he decided to raise the alarm.”
The House, he said, believed that for the Senate to have raised such alarm, it should be taken seriously by security agencies.
“So we are now formally drawing the attention of the Federal Government and all security agencies that proper investigation should be conducted so that the distinguished senator and members of the Senate should assist this country for one moment. If they are patriotic as that alarm portends, they should be able to give more information in order to protect our democracy and protect Nigerian people from the siege of military mentality,” he added.
He noted that full investigation of the allegation was necessary considering the fact that the country recently transited from civilian to civilian government successfully. Security agencies, he said, should rise to the occasion and protect democracy in the country by investigating the alleged existence of fifth columnists working to scuttle democracy.
On amendment of the constitution, he said that the House was only trying to take proactive measure considering the fact that a member of the constitution review committee from the Senate flew a kite that there should be third term seven year tenure for the president.
According to him, “When it started some time ago in the previous attempt to review the constitution, we all thought it was a rumour but when a member of a constitution review committee from the Senate is flying such a kite it is very fundamental that there is the need for checks and balances.”
He warned that the position of the House “is still very strong and we are not going to succumb to any blackmails on issue of the constitution that are not of general application.”