About 19 years into the return of the country to civil rule, the perception of Nigerians about the legislative arm of government is still skewed. Despite being the face of democracy, there are many misgivings about the legislative arm and legislators in the country.
While the constitutional responsibilities of the legislative arm are law making and oversight, the thinking among the generality of Nigerians is different. Unlike the legislature, the judiciary and the executive arms had been on ground even during the military era.
From 1999 to date, the country has had seven Senate Presidents starting with Chief Evan Enwerem who became the number 3 citizen on June 17, 1999. He was edged out in November of the same year by Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, who manned the office until August 2000.
From August, 2000 when Okadigbo was sacked till June 2003, Anyim Pius Anyim occupied the number one lawmaker’s seat in the country. Between 2003 to 2007, the duo of Adolphus Wabara (July 2003 – April 2005) and Ken Nnamani (April 2005-June 2007) reigned. In June 2007, Senator David Mark emerged as Senate President and reigned for eight years. Aside being the longest serving Senate President, he has been in the Senate since 1999, representing Benue South senatorial district.
Mark was succeeded by Senator Bukola Saraki who emerged on June 9, 2015. His emergence paved way for an opposition lawmaker, Ike Ekweremadu to clinch the number two seat at the Upper Chamber, a record breaking feat.
From Enwerem to Saraki’s era, each and every tenure at the Senate had its own defining moment and corruption scandal. For instance, the allegations against Enwerem were that he falsified his name and caused a controversy as to whether his real name was Evan or Evans.
Similarly, Saraki is standing trial for alleged false assets declaration while he was Kwara State governor but his supporters say the charges were orchestrated as part of APC’s internal fight. Similar fate is dangling over Ekweremadu.
