Pandemonium broke loose on the Senate floor Wednesday when Bauchi Central Senator Abdul Ahmad Ningi stormed the chamber fuming that his lone police orderly was yanked away at dawn — while ministers, governors, business tycoons, and even “singers” still cruise Abuja with full convoys.
President Bola Tinubu had ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to withdraw all VIP police orderlies nationwide and redeploy them to fight bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists. But senators say the directive is being applied with glaring favouritism — and they are the scapegoats.
“I woke up this morning and my only orderly gone,” Ningi thundered, raising a point of order.
“I saw two ministers yesterday with convoys longer than a funeral procession. I saw Chinese businessmen with police escorts. I saw sons and daughters of big men with orderlies. I even saw singers with full compliments! But a senator of the Federal Republic one orderly withdrawn? This is selective punishment!”
He demanded an immediate probe: “Let it be across the board or not at all. The National Assembly will not be used as scapegoats.”
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, presiding, tried to calm the chamber but let the cat out of the bag: Senate leadership had already held emergency talks on Tuesday night and is lobbying the Presidency to exempt lawmakers from the policy.
“We have a listening President,” Barau assured angry colleagues. “By the grace of God, he will save us from this order which was given in good faith.”
The uproar echoes concerns first raised on 26 November when senators like Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto North) and Tahir Monguno (Borno North) warned that stripping lawmakers of security at a time of record kidnappings and killings was “dangerous and poorly timed.”
“Our lives are in danger,” Wamakko had said. “Kidnappers now target anyone wearing agbada.”
With senators openly admitting they are begging Aso Rock for special treatment, the irony was not lost on watchers: the same lawmakers who routinely pass tough-on-crime bills are now pleading for their own police escorts while ordinary Nigerians face bandits without a single uniform in sight.
For now, the orderlies remain withdrawn for most senators — and the lobbying continues behind closed doors.
