At plenary last Tuesday, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe representing Abia South moved a motion saying there was a vacuum in government because Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was not in the country at the time. Abaribe’s motion described by many as a “coup attempt” was seconded by Kabiru Marafa representing Zamfara Central.

Speaking on the motion, Abaribe said, “I simply want to bring to the attention of this chamber and all Nigerians and to ask the question, the acting president is the person who is at the head of government now, but we have a serious problem in Nigeria today. We have nobody in Nigeria who is at the head of the government.”

He added, “The law and the procedure and all the laws in Nigeria states that you cannot have a vacuum. Today the acting president is outside the country and so there is a vacuum.”

On his part, Marafa said, “Mr President, my distinguished colleagues, it is the abuse of out sensibilities and that of Nigerians everywhere to make the assertion that there is no head of government in Nigeria and that there is a vacuum in the leadership of Nigeria.

“The constitution is very clear. If the president is out of the country, the constitution is clear as to who is the head of government. If the acting president is out of the country, the Senate president is the next in the line of succession.”

The motion was ruled out by Senate President Bukola Saraki. The attempt by Senators Abaribe and Marafa to ‘stylishly’ remove Osinbajo is distasteful and should be dealt with thoroughly.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu dropped to the tenth position in the week under review. Ekweremadu’s slump was due to his statement on the floor of the Senate over the recall process of Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye. Speaking on the matter, Ekweremadu described it as “a precious waste of time”. As much as Ekweremadu is entitled to his opinion, he should no play with the sensibilities and desires of Kogi West constituents.

Senate President Bukola Saraki also dropped out of the top five for corroborating Ekweremadu’s claim that the recall process was an attempt in futility.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege took the top spot in the week under review. Omo-Agege raised brought the attention of the Senate to what he described as a monumental recklessness and financial waste in the Nigerian Ports Authority. Agege’s motion was adopted as the Senate resolved to investigate the dreading activities of the Nigeria Ports Authority and to investigate the activities of Lagos, Bonny, Calabar Channel Management Limited.

See our top ten below:

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See full ranking here

*The YNaija Effectiveness Ranking is a perception index based on perceived‎ levels of effectiveness of public officials, as determined by correspondents assessment, news reports and opinion surveys.‎