Senate Joins Reps, ECOWAS Parliament To Seek Leniency For Ekweremadu

The Nigerian Senate is seeking leniency for the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice, ahead of their sentencing in the United Kingdom (UK).

The decision of the upper legislative chamber followed a motion sponsored by the Senate Minority Whip, Chukwuka Utazi.

The lawmakers asked the UK court to temper justice with mercy in the sentencing of the lawmaker which is scheduled for Friday at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London.

Recall that the senator representing Enugu West was convicted for attempting to harvest an organ from a 21-year-old for the treatment of his daughter, Sonia Ekwereamdu.

While speaking on the floor of the senate, on Wednesday, Utazi said the upper legislative chamber is not contending the verdict but asking the UK court to be lenient in its sentencing.

He recalled that Ekweremadu was a former Deputy Senate President for 12 years and the former Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and has made enormous contributions to the development of democracy in Nigeria, West Africa, and beyond.

He added that Ekweremadu and his wife are first-time offenders with no previous criminal records and that since the matter is in the United Kingdom, a novel approach in sentencing be adopted by tempering justice with mercy.

Utazi said though not an excuse in law, Ekweremadu might have been ignorant about the organ transplant process in the western country, adding that the publicity already given to the trial is enough warning to the lawmaker and his family in the future.

The motion was adopted after it was put to a vote by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who said Ekweremadu has contributed a lot to parliament in Nigeria.

The move by the senate came about a day after ECOWAS parliament and the House of Representatives made an appeal to the UK government and parliament on Ekweremadu’s behalf.