Trying to state the obvious, the\u00a0 \u00a0former Vice President and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, said \u201c the law is clear and leaders must lead by example\u201d.
\nAtiku relived those words as his own way of expressing disaffection over the recent alleged ungodly\u00a0 attitude of a serving senator,\u00a0 Elisha Abbo,\u00a0 as demonstrated in a video circulating in the social media.
\nA video of Senator\u00a0 Abbo assaulting a woman in an adult shop in Abuja had gone viral, causing outrage.The lawmaker representing Adamawa north senatorial district has consequently admitted his fault and apologised for his action.
\nHowever, report from Premium Times indicates that the lawmaker,\u00a0 elected on the platform of the PDP,\u00a0 appeared on Monday, July 8, at the chief magistrate\u2019s court, Zuba.
\nTherefore, it is\u00a0 now evident that\u00a0 the police have filed charges against him.\u00a0 No doubt, the charges may have been\u00a0 sequel to\u00a0 examination into the conduct of the senator\u00a0 in the viral video according to the explanations\u00a0 of Anjuguri Manzah,\u00a0 \u00a0the spokesperson of the police.
\nReactions on air suggest that the former vice president isn\u2019t the sole hurt in this apparent display of animalistic tendency by a personality purported to be equal to the nation \u2018s ambassador by virtue of his status as a senator.
\nMany Nigerians are of the view that the insult is not only on the assaulted woman but on the nation as a whole given the status of the personality involved in the act.\u00a0 \u00a0They have continuously called on the law to prevail on the culprit.
\nPerhaps, other exalted individuals in the country may have indulged in similar\u00a0 misdemeanor in the past\u00a0 unnoticed,\u00a0 \u00a0such act of lawlessness and callousness as exhibited in the video, coming on the hills of the commencement of the 9th Assembly, is actually a test for the capability of the senate to take the country to the next level.
\nI see the integrity of the Nigerian legislature about to be tested. Meanwhile,\u00a0 we must not forget that the public is aware that legislators,\u00a0 along with their public employees counterparts, are billed to face severe consequences for violating the public trust.
\nThe\u00a0 penalties, however, range from\u00a0 censure, removal from office, permanent disqualification from holding any state position, restitution, to decades in prison, and fines up into\u00a0 hundreds of thousands of dollars.
\nAlthough not all ethics violations are treated equally.Punishments correspond to how bad an instance of misconduct is viewed in the eyes of a state and in consideration of the harm a violation may cause.
\nBut\u00a0 if the truth be told, like\u00a0 the Chairperson\/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa tweeted, \u201cthe footage is enough evidence. He deserves to be in prison\u201d.
\nSuch violence as displayed by the Senator\u00a0 is recognized as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women, reflecting the pervasive imbalance of power between women and men.This experience of violence\u00a0 affects\u00a0 women in a myriad of ways that are often\u00a0 difficult to quantify.
\nCategorically, the 1999 constitutional amendment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided and mainly focused on triumphing the basic human rights to all citizens, and thus, allotted no place for gender discrimination within the country\u2019s spheres.
\nThe action of Senator Abbo as shown in the said video doesn\u2019t depict him as a first timer in women\u2019s rights violation issues. This calls for the expediency of thoroughly scrutinizing our would-be leaders,\u00a0 to ensure that they are not only worthy in learning, but in character as well.
\nHowever,\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that the Nigerian Senate has a place for women\u2019s right violators in an era when the world is calling for an absolute protection of the rights of women.
\nI rather\u00a0 suggest a\u00a0 corresponding punishment on the erring senator as a way of absorbing the 9th Assembly of such character assassination smear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying to state the obvious, the\u00a0 \u00a0former Vice President and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar, said \u201c the law is clear and leaders must lead by example\u201d. Atiku relived those words as his own way of expressing disaffection over the recent alleged ungodly\u00a0 attitude of a serving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n