TheCable

Ibrahim Idris, inspector-general of police (IGP), is reportedly under pressure to release Ovie Omo-Agege, senator representing Delta central.

A source told TheCable that some top persons in the presidency and the national assembly have been asking the IGP to release Omo-Agege.

The senator was arrested after he and some suspected thugs disrupted plenary and made away with the mace on Wednesday.

The senate had to suspend activities and only reconvened after a “spare mace” was brought.

Last week, Omo-Agege was suspended after he took the chamber to court in a bid to restrain it from suspending him over the comments he made on the election reordering bill.

He had alleged that the attempt to amend the election timetable was targetted at President Muhammadu Buhari, an allegation the senate denied.

The source said Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), is also torn between filing charges against the suspended senator or letting the matter go.

“People in the presidency and senators close to the presidency have been calling the IG to release him,” the source said.

“The IGP is torn between allowing due process to be followed, or releasing an ally of the president. The AGF is also torn between filing charges against him, or allowing it to just slide.”

The source added that one of the reasons Idris is under pressure to release the suspended senator is because “four of the people that participated in the attack are officials of the Department of State Services (DSS).”

When contacted, Garba Shehu, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissed it as “rumours”.

“If there are facts, come to us. If not, leave us out of it,” he told TheCable on Wednesday evening.

Jimoh Moshood, spokesman of police, neither answered his calls nor replied the text messages sent to him on the issue.