The lawmaker’s snide contribution to a motion on insecurity has been deemed divisive.
Senator Remi Tinubu (Lagos Central – APC) has been the target of some online anger after she appeared to politicise Nigeria’s ongoing struggles with insecurity.
Nigeria’s troubles with crime was the major focus of Senate plenary on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 after Senator Sani Musa (Niger East – APC) raised a motion on the activities of bandits and Boko Haram terrorists in Shiroro and Rafi Local Government Areas of Niger State.
The state governor had recently raised alarm that terrorists have taken over Kaure in Shiroro, just less than two hours drive from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
While contributing to Tuesday’s motion, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West – APC) described the widespread criminal activities in Nigeria as the worst instability the nation has ever faced.
“In fact this is worse than the civil war,” he said.
His contribution was mildly interrupted by Senator Tinubu, sitting beside him, who seemed to suggest only a member of the opposition should say something like that.
“Are you in PDP? Are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing?” she asked Adeyemi who simply ignored her interruption and continued with his speech.
The two lawmakers are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but Adeyemi has also been a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the past.
Tinubu’s comment has been widely criticised by many Nigerians on social media as divisive, and deeply political to the detriment of thousands of Nigerians who are being kidnapped and/or killed all over the country.
The lawmaker, 60, wife of 2023 presidential election hopeful, Bola Tinubu, did not contribute to Tuesday’s motion that had a lot of her colleagues heated about the insecure state of the nation.
Adeyemi was particularly charged in his contribution to the motion, suggesting that the National Assembly be shut down if lawmakers cannot find a lasting solution.
“We cannot pretend that we are capable of confronting the issues we are facing. Let us shout and call for foreign support,” he said.
Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North – APC) warned that the nation is witnessing internal insurrection that is rapidly snowballing into war.
Senator Gabriel Suswam said the President Muhammadu Buhari led government has demonstrated that it is too incompetent to deal with insecurity, and Senator Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti South – PDP) said the government has not displayed enough political will to handle the issue.
“We must know what government wants to do about insecurity and this Senate must insist and find out what they want to do,” Olujimi said.
Amidst a list of other prayers passed on Tuesday, senators resolved to call on the service chiefs to immediately deploy troops to defend and restore security to affected communities.
They also called on the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials and medical support team to the people recently displaced from 50 communities in Niger State.
President Buhari was also urged to order the massive recruitment of Police and military personnel, provided with necessary equipment, in order to combat insecurity.
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