The Anioma people of the Delta North senatorial district of Delta State have rebuked Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, their representative in the Senate, over what his attempt to disarm the Code of Conduct Tribunal currently trying Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Senator Nwaoboshi had sponsored a bill that pushed for the amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, a move widely seen and condemned as an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s anti-corruption effort.
In a statement issued today, the Anioma Voice Worldwide Inc., the official medium of the Anioma people, disowned Mr. Nwaoboshi’s agenda. Mr. Akamesike Manuel O’coney, Mr. Iroroh Frank, Mr. Emeka Igbe, Mr. El Geoff and Mr. Roderick Okolie signed the statement. The group noted the “recent embarrassing outing of Senator Peter Nwaoboshi in his attempt to scuttle our collective effort at ridding our country of the evil plague of corrupt practices.”
According to the statement, Mr. Nwaoboshi, who was then the Delta State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had mobilized support across the state to actualize their dream of having one of their own, Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, elected as the state governor, with the support of voters from other parts of Delta.
“As a mark of appreciation, the good people of Delta North Senatorial Zone then went on to compensate Peter Nwaoboshi with all support to enable him [to] clinch the Senate seat. This was a gift on a platter of gold and with the collective mandate of the Anioma people of the Delta North Senatorial Zone being given to Peter Nwaoboshi, now a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said the Anioma group, adding, “what we expected from him was nothing short of a firm and visionary representation.
The group lamented that, close to one year later, Mr. Nwaoboshi “has remained a sleeping ‘oracle’ on the floor of the Senate.” The signatories stated, “While some issues were being deliberated upon on the Senate floor, our sleeping ‘Oracle,' Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, never deemed it necessary to consult his constituents or brief his constituents on these national issues. However, it is worthy of note that it took the recent travails of Senator Bukola Saraki to wake up our sleeping ‘Oracle’. Why would it have to be so?
“Did the dust raised by the Code of Conduct Tribunal sitting remind our Senator Peter Nwaoboshi that some skeletons needed clearing from the cupboard? This no doubt was the reason and motivation for Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and his co-conspirators to put forward and push for the so-called Amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Bill. We the Anioma people, Delta Senatorial Zone, are well cultured and will always stand to uphold equity, fairness, justice and truth. We have never been known to support any act fashioned to further perpetrate a crime or subjugate the course of justice.”
The Anioma group stressed that Senator Nwaoboshi never consulted with or received the support of the Anioma people in his bid to thwart the course of justice. The statement suggested that the senator’s rash and reckless action perhaps arose from growing criticism from his people over his inability to make their voices heard on the floor of the National Assembly.
They decried the senator’s decision to gut anti-corruption legislation, adding that Mr. Nwaoboshi’s action did not reflect the expectations of the Anioma people. The statement pledged the Anioma people’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts to curb corruption.
Disavowing Mr. Nwaoboshi’s actions, the group warned him against using “our collective mandate to make submissions on sensitive national issues without consulting our people.” They praised Nigerians for setting aside their political differences to stand in unity against the obnoxious bill aimed at entrenching corruption. It commended the National Assembly “for the courage to discontinue with the bill as a result of the nationwide condemnation of it by Nigerians.”