NASS Chaos: Why I went to House of Reps – Senate President, Mark

Original Post By http://thecallng.com/

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, on Friday provided insights into his visit to the Green Chamber of the House of Representatives in the heat of the pandemonium that occurred in the National Assembly on Thursday.

Already, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State have appealed to Mark to tamper justice with mercy and forgive Hon. Abdul Malik Usman Cheche (PDP-Niger), who assaulted him on the floor of the House on Thursday.

In a statement from his office, Senator Mark explained that he was in the House “to ascertain the safety of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and his colleagues having received reports that canisters of tear gas were targeted at the lawmakers.

“I also went to confer with Mr. Speaker on the need to suspend plenary in both Chambers in order to restore sanity to an environment that had turned restive and becoming uncontrollable.

“My intention was to safeguard the sanctity of the hallowed Chamber and to guarantee the respect of the legislature.

“I consider the unwarranted and needless attack on my person by Hon. Abdulmalik Usman Cheche as a prize and sacrifice for leadership.

“It is a sacrifice I am prepared to accept.

“I bear no ill feeling. AbdulMalik is my colleague. I have forgiven him.”

“I believe we can continue to work together in the interest of peace and sustenance of democracy.

“Like I have repeatedly said, I will do anything necessary to keep the sanctity of the parliament as an institution and safeguard the respect of every legislator.

“I therefore urge all political actors to always remember that we must first have a nation before we can achieve our various individual ambitions.

“We must at all times restrain ourselves from actions that cannot add value to our hard earned democracy.

“We should remain guided by the rules no matter how strongly we perceive our positions to be the most appropriate.”