By AMECHI.P, Renowned Columnist.
The Nigerian Senate, once envisioned as the hallowed chamber of deliberation and representation, is increasingly resembling a battlefield where loyalty is demanded, dissent is crushed, and the judiciary is wielded as a weapon of political retribution.
The latest salvo in this unfolding drama comes from former Senator Elisha Abbo, whose travails have peeled back the curtain on what he describes as a troubling reign of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
If Abbo’s claims are to be looked into, the 10th National Assembly is no longer a democratic institution but a cult-like assembly where allegiance to Akpabio—and by extension, his ties to President Bola Tinubu—determines a senator’s fate.
Abbo, who once represented Adamawa North, has emerged as a whistleblower of sorts, indicating that Akpabio has turned the Senate into a personal fiefdom.
His narrative is chilling: a late-night visit to his hotel room at 2 a.m., a plea from Akpabio to “work for him,” and a cryptic promise in a chapel that five dissenting senators would be ousted.
True to this alleged prophecy, Abbo counts himself among the casualties, his election nullified by the Court of Appeal in October 2023. This wasn’t no coincidence but a calculated purge orchestrated by Akpabio, leveraging his influence over the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to punish those who dared defy him.
The implications of Abbo’s assertions are profound that really as being widely speculated Akpabio has weaponized his position as Senate President, bolstered by his proximity to the presidency, to enforce a rigid code of obedience.
Senators who toe the line are rewarded with the promise of survival come 2027; those who don’t are dispatched through judicial or electoral machinations.
This is not leadership—it is coercion dressed up in the garb of legislative authority. The National Assembly, meant to be a counterweight to executive overreach, risks becoming a rubber stamp for one man’s ambitions, with the judiciary and INEC as complicit enforcers.
Let us not be naive. Nigerian politics has long been a game of power and patronage, where institutions are bent to serve the powerful.
Yet, Abbo’s revelations—mark a new low. The idea of a “cult assembly” where defaulting members are ritually excised is a far cry from the democratic ideals enshrined in our constitution. It evokes memories of darker days when political vendettas dictated the fate of elected officials, and the judiciary was less a guardian of justice than a tool of the highest bidder.
Abbo’s stated it in clear terms, his refusal to bow to Akpabio’s bidding led to his ouster, and that others like Senator Orji Uzor Kalu are next in line, paints a picture of a Senate gripped by fear rather than principle.
Akpabio, for his part, has dismissed these allegations as the rantings of a bitter ex-lawmaker, insisting he respects judicial independence. His media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, has pointed to Abbo’s own retraction in 2023, when he admitted his initial accusations were premature. But the damage is done. The stench of suspicion now clings to the 10th Assembly, and Akpabio’s denials do little to dispel the unease. Why, one wonders, does the pattern of judicial interventions—Abbo’s removal, the ousting of others like Simon Mwadkwon and Abubakar Ohere—seem to align so neatly with political fault lines within the Senate? Coincidence stretches only so far before it snaps under the weight of skepticism.
The broader question is this: what does this mean for Nigeria’s democracy? If the Senate, the upper chamber of our legislative arm, is reduced to a cult of loyalty where dissenters are purged, then the voices of millions of Nigerians are silenced by proxy.
The judiciary, meant to be the last hope of the common man, becomes a pawn in a game of thrones. INEC, tasked with ensuring free and fair elections, risks being seen as a mere instrument of political housekeeping.
And the 2027 elections, already looming on the horizon, threaten to be a referendum not on the will of the people, but on the whims of a few power brokers.
Some critics citing of past personal squabble with customer service girl in Abuja. Yes, Abbo may not be a saint—his past, the infamous assault in an Abuja shop. This incident belongs to personal life box outside legislative roles. But even a flawed messenger can carry a truthful message. His warnings demand scrutiny, not dismissal. Nigerians must ask: who benefits from a Senate where dissent is a death sentence? Who gains when the judiciary and INEC are allegedly deployed to settle scores? The answer, it seems, points to a Senate President whose ambition may outstrip his mandate, and a presidency whose silence could be mistaken for complicity.
As a nation, we cannot afford to shrug off these allegations as mere political noise. The 10th Assembly must be held to account, not just by its members but by the electorate it serves. Akpabio must prove that his leadership is rooted in democratic values, not dictatorial impulses.
The judiciary must reclaim its independence, and INEC its neutrality. Otherwise, the National Assembly risks becoming a hollow shell—a cult of control where the only law is loyalty, and the price of defiance is exile. Now we know, as Abbo has laid bare. The question is: what will we do about it?
