DEATH IN DA HOUSE: ETTEHGATE SCANDAL CONTINUES

ETTEHGATE: Logjam continues at the House of Reps as Speaker refuses to step down, one member dead!

It can't get any more tragic than this as Ettehgate scandal continues! Logjam continues at the House of Reps as Speaker refuses to step down, pro-Etteh lawmaker collapses and dies. The Nigeria's lower legislative chamber went into a deadlock for the second day as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh refused to resign her position due to earlier corruption indictments against her.

The house resumed on Wednesday after a short adjournment on Tuesday as members opposed to her continued stay in office staged protests and stalled a planned debate of a panel report which accused the speaker of corruption in the award of contracts for the renovation of her official residence. The cost of renovation put at N638 million were approved without due processes and laid down procedures.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Madam Speaker Patricia Etteh refused to vacate her seat so that a temporary speaker could conduct the debate, she insisted that she was eligible to judge her own case. Her stubbornness led to a second day of rowdy session and total chaos in the house.

House of representatives leaders said they had earlier agreed to resolve the issue of her stepping down so that a "Speaker Pro-tempore" can take her place by tomorrow when house activities resume, but Mrs. Patricia Etteh reneged on the agreement and staged a carnival-like entry to the chambers today. It was apparent that there doesn't seem to be any truth in the majority support from House of representatives members standing by her as claimed by the Speaker and her supporters, which include former president Ole Baba Jaguda (OBJ) and his erstwhile former domestic assistant, Emmanuel Andy Uba.

Meanwhile, tragedy struck at the house of representative today as a member of the house who was part of Speaker Etteh's carnival upon her defiant entry to the chambers died of congestive heart failure. 46 years old Aminu Shuaibu Safana was a member of the PDP representing Batsari/Danmusa/Safana Federal Constituency in Katsina State, he suddenly fell ill during the rowdy session and was pronounced dead at the National Hospital few minutes later.

The announcement of his death did nothing to move the speaker from her seat until members shouted on her to leave the chambers to honor the dead member.

It took the death yesterday of Hon. Aminu Safana, ironically the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Health, for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rein in on the Speaker to step aside. In a seeming volte-face, PDP asked Speaker Etteh to step aside for the consideration of the Hon. David Idoko panel report saying the Speaker could not be a judge in her own case.The party also lamented the death of Safana, a pro-Etteh lawmaker, describing his death as unfortunate and incredible.

Is it only unfortunate and incredible? One wonders why our Nigerian Politicians; Madam Speaker Etteh being a poster child, would throw all sense of decorum to the winds and engage in petty politricks rather than taking the honorable path to resign if they'd been found to have abused their exalted office? Beats me!