In Nigeria’s political scene, almost anything is possible. However, should one anticipate that a Nigerian Senate President will be removed from office due to his name? Yes, as it did to Evan Enwerem back in 1999.
Due to a committee’s uncertainty about whether Senator Evan Enwerem’s real name was Evan or Evans, he was removed from his position as the Senate’s first president during Nigeria’s fourth republic.
During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian administration in 1999, Evan Enwerem’s case developed into the first significant political scandal. At the time, Obasanjo, a former military leader, was the country’s president. The military had just ended its rule over the nation.
Enwerem was chosen to represent the Imo-East Senatorial Zone in the Nigerian Senate in 1999. Sen. Chuba Okadigbo, Enwerem’s main opponent, was defeated on June 3, 1999, to win the Senate’s top office.
Enwerem easily defeated Okadigbo with 66 votes to Okadigbo’s 43 votes thanks to the backing of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s allies in the governing parties and two Nigerian opposition parties.
Evan Enwerem, who claimed that his name was simply a typographical error, did not realize that his victory would not last long because he only held office for five months before being removed.
But given that he became Senate president under some dubious circumstances, some analysts were not shocked by his removal.
How Evan Enwerem was removed from office.
When Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, the country’s then-head of state, lifted the ban on political activity in Nigeria in the 1990s, Evans Enwerem served as the chairman of the Nigerian Airports Authority (NAA) from 1980 to 1983 before being chosen as the governor of Imo State.
Enwerem was elected to the Nigerian Senate in 1999 as a senator representing Imo East at the start of the fourth republic by Obasanjo in June of that year.
He started making moves to seize the Senate’s top position (president of the Senate) because he wanted more than that. His troubles and those of the Senate began when he ran against a stronger opponent for the Senate president position, Chuba Okadigbo.
The preferred candidate for the role of senate president was Okadigbo, a politician from Anambra State who had previously worked as the political adviser to President Shehu Shagari during the second republic.
Before the Senate convened in 1999, Okadigbo quietly canvassed nearly every senator-elect to solicit support for his bid to become Senate president.
Okadigbo Chuba
Okadigbo was confident of winning because his party, the dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had a “overwhelming majority” of senators. However, days before the election, reports claimed Obasanjo had started a campaign against him, using two opposition parties and a few senators from the ruling PDP.
Enwerem defeated Okadigbo on election day in June 1999 by a margin of 66 to 43 votes. In defiance of the majority’s wishes, he was elected Senate President.
dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had a “overwhelming majority” of senators. However, days before the election, reports claimed Obasanjo had started a campaign against him, using two opposition parties and a few senators from the ruling PDP.
Enwerem defeated Okadigbo on election day in June 1999 by a margin of 66 to 43 votes. In defiance of the majority’s wishes, he was elected Senate President.
The volatility that would define the Senate and National Assembly throughout the eight years Obasanjo governed as president was presaged by that election, according to the Vanguard.
Enwerem did not conceal his support for Obasanjo while serving as Senate president, and soon concerns were raised about his suitability to occupy the position going forward.
It all began with a TELL magazine article that was published in Lagos. It claimed that Enwerem had changed his name and personal data in its issue from August 1999. A Senate committee was formed to look into Enwerem after he was later charged with corruption.
There was a protracted argument over whether his name was Evan or Evans during this time, with Okadigbo’s supporters arguing that he had purposefully fabricated his name and age “for an uncertain gain.”
Enwerem insisted that it was a typo, but he was dismissed from his position on November 18, 1999. On the day that he accompanied Obasanjo and his entourage to the airport to see the president off on an international trip, he was fired. According to reports, Okadigbo’s associates gathered signatures to oust Enwerem as Senate president while he was away.
However, he was permitted to continue serving as Imo East’s ordinary senator until the conclusion of his term in 2003.
Okadigbo, who succeeded Enwerem as Senate president, was initially well-liked but soon came under suspicion for corruption as well. In 2000, he was impeached but remained in the Senate as the Anambra North senatorial representative.