Kalu’s Conviction: no senator can stop people of Abia North from having voice in Senate-Ohuabunwa
Senator Mao Ohuabunwa has said that no senator can stop people of Abia North from having voice in Senate. Ohuabunwa, who made the call while answering questions from journalists in Umuahia yesterday, said the upper chamber of National Assembly had not said anything about the vacant seat of Abia North in the Senate.
Recall that Senator Kalu, who is the Senate Chief Whip of the 9th Assembly, and the incumbent senator representing the people Of Abia North, was found guilty by a federal High Court in Lagos on fraud charges and remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Center. He was convicted and sentenced to 12 years after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed N7.65billion fraud charge against him.
Senator Mao said the red chamber would respond when the people of Abia North stood up and said that they wanted their voices to be heard in the Senate. He said the Constitution is very clear on when to declare the seat of a Senator vacant.
“The case of Orji Uzor kalu is different from the case of Senator Joshua Dariye and if the people of Abia North stand up today and say they want their voices to be heard in the Senate, definitely, the Senate will speak. But if, as a senatorial district, we keep quiet, we will be taken for granted. The construction is very clear, following the amendment of the Constitution, which gives 60 days if you don’t attend sitting, your seat should be declared vacant.
“Most of the things we do in the Senate is about voice. It’s about lobbying, it’s about integrity and contact. It’s not about me. It’s about the people of Abia North. When the time comes, they know what to do, no senator can stop the people of Abia North from having a voice in the Senate, while he or she is there speaking for their own people, the same Constitution, says every constituency must be represented,” he said.
Anietie Udobit