RINGTRUE with Yemi Adebowale: Email: yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com; cell phone: 07013940521
Ihave always maintained that most of our federal lawmakers, whether PDC
or APC are just after their selfish/sectional interest and clearly not
the interest of the nation. Most of them play bread and butter politics.
But honestly, I need to amend this position a bit by adding that the
APC guys are more useless. I became more convinced about this amendment
after watching Senator Kabiru Marafa pummeling Senator Tayo Alasoadura
on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting called by APC senators to
deliberate on the remaining principal positions in the Senate - Senate
Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Senate Whip and Deputy Senate Whip. On
this shameful day, some other senators also exchanged blows, which
resulted in the effort to end the crisis between the warring factions of
the party ending in a deadlock. Alasoadura could have been killed in
the process as he was dazed and almost fell. Some other guys had to
quickly rescue him. The scene left me depressed. They simply behaved
like touts. I am sure that many other Nigerians were also depressed by
the scene.
The last four weeks have been horrendous in the Senate with supporters
of Bukola Saraki (Senators of Like Minds) and that Ahmed Lawan (Unity
Group) throwing caution to the wind. The Lawan group became extremely
violent and desperate after losing the battle for the Senate Presidency
to Saraki. From the fire I saw in the eyes of the pro-Lawan members,
these guys are really desperate and capable of doing anything to achieve
their aims. Many will understand what I mean by taking a second look at
how an angry Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi stormed out of the venue (midway
into the meeting) on Tuesday and threw the doors open to journalists.
The emergency meeting called by the senators failed because of the hard
line posture of the two factions on the remaining principal positions.
For the Saraki group, The Majority Leader has to be Ali Ndume and the
Chief Whip has to be Senator Roberts Boroffice. The Lawan group is
insisting on Ahmed Lawan as Majority Leader and Sola Adeyeye as Chief
Whip.
This drama during the APC senators’ peace meeting was replicated in the
House of Representatives during plenary on Thursday. The faction loyal
to Femi Gbajabiamila set the House on fire over the vacant principal
offices. The Dogara group wants the four positions; but the Gbajabiamila
group won’t let go. As a result, the legislators battled each other
like Lagos Motor Park touts. Speaker Yakubu Dogara narrowly escaped
being lynched.
APC’s zoning arrangement for these principal offices failed because the
party’s NWC and NEC also failed to do the needful. The leaders of the
party could not enforce the zoning arrangement because they have
obviously compromised. They have allowed personal and sectional
interests to over-ride party and national interests. They are thinking
more about their pockets than the nation. Above all, the stock in trade
of majority of APC members is obviously treachery. I guess they are
reaping the reward of treachery. Clearly, the party is a time bomb
waiting to explode. This party of strange bedfellows looks certain to
put Nigeria in a bigger trouble than the PDP. There is clearly no party
discipline. The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun
has also lost it. I am sorry to say that Oyegun is just a passenger in
the bus. He has failed to provide effective leadership, especially over
the leadership crisis in the National Assembly. I don’t think he has the
ability to lead the party. This national Chairman takes instruction
from vested interests that want to maintain their stranglehold on the
party’s structures. Oyegun has no moral right to remain in office.
Back to the recalcitrant APC lawmakers. Let’s face it; a lawmaker does
not have to be a Principal Officer of the National Assembly to
contribute meaningfully to the development of this country. A lawmaker
does not have to be a Principal Officer to make meaningful contribution
to lawmaking. A lawmaker does not have to be a Principal Officer to
motivate quality legislations. It should not be a do or die affair. The
APC legislators are apparently after these principal positions for
material gains. They are thinking more about the windfall that comes
with it. They are thinking more about the influence that comes with the
positions; the power to be used for their selfish interest. The truth be
told, APC legislators have brought great disrepute to these hallowed
chambers. They have consistently defiled the Senate and the House in the
last four weeks. It goes to show that APC legislators are incapable of
managing power. They can’t be trusted to rise above sectional and
personal interests. They do not regard the interest of the masses of
this country as being uppermost. For them, it is just about money, power
and positions. Their lust for power is already weighing down the
National Assembly. So, this is the Change they promised Nigerians? May
Allah save us from these hypocrites masquerading as progressives. But I
must add a caveat here. Few of the APC legislators are really patriots;
but too few to impact on the majority who are rascals. Some of the few I
consider patriots are Lanre Tejuoso, Shehu Sani, Razak Atunwa, Adamu
Aliero, David Umaru and Gbenga Ashafa. They should take steps to call
his colleagues to order.
Buhari’s Tale of Empty Treasury
When President Barack Obama of the United States assumed office for his
first term, he inherited $3 trillion debt, a collapsed banking sector
and mortgage industry from George W Bush. Rather than making noise,
Obama hit the ground running to tackle the crisis. This has not been the
case with our dear President Muhammadu Buhari who has wasted the last
one month doing nothing. It has been one excuse after the other. He is
now telling the nation stories about the “virtually empty treasury” he
met. From Yakubu Gowon to Olusegun Obasanjo, has there been any new
government that admitted inheriting a glowing treasury? The story has
always been the same. Buhari knew quite alright that the financial
situation of the country was not rosy before he contested. He even said
it on many occasions during his campaigns that the nation’s economy was
in tatters. I thought he had a good idea about how to turn things
around. That was why Nigerians voted for him. Please, Buhari, Enough of
excuses. Get down to work. In this part of the world, new governments
often do not speak well of their predecessors. How can Buhari say that
the treasury he inherited was virtually empty? What about the $2.78
billion in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and over $1 billion in the
Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)? These are part of our treasury. It seems
Buhari is just out to criminalize and paint Goodluck Jonathan as a
pillager of Nigeria’s treasury.
The most frightening aspect of Buhari’s remarks about the Jonathan
administration was saying federal civil servants were being owed
salaries. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia
Nwaobia on Tuesday in Abuja stated emphatically that no single federal
civil servant was being owed salary. Nwaobi declared: “There is no
agency or ministry owed by Federal Government.” Yes, the Jonathan
administration did not meet the expectations of Nigerians in many areas.
Yes, there were so many alleged cases of corruption during his tenure.
However, I think Buhari should stop exaggerating the limitations of the
Jonathan administrations. He should get down to work.
We need to remind Buhari that he has wasted the four weeks. Four weeks
after assumption of office, his administration still lacks policy
direction. He is yet to come up with a blue print on how to tackle
challenges in different sectors of our economy; something that ought to
be in his bag even before commencing campaign for the Presidency. He is
still struggling to make basic appointments after almost one month in
office. We need to remind him that Boko Haram terrorists are still very
much around, killing and maiming Nigerians daily; Buhari promised to
eliminate them within “few months.” We are still waiting for him to hit
the ground running as promised. I hope we won’t have to wait for four
years for this to happen.
Governors Should Cut Security Votes/Ludicrous Appointments, Not Salaries
Some governors across the nation have been grandstanding about the cut
they authorised in their salaries. They create the impression that by so
doing, they are being prudent and reducing the cost of governance. This
is obviously a cosmetic action when compared to the billions of Naira
they take home as Security Vote. Okezie Ikpeazu and Nasir el-Rufai are
some of the governors that have slashed their salaries. One of the
things eating deep into the purse of our states is this unconstitutional
Security Vote. Imagine a governor who pays himself N500 million monthly
as Security Vote, turning around to say that he has reduced his monthly
salary by a miserable N500,000. They should simply cancel security
votes, stop frivolous contracts/expenditure and reduce travels.
These governors who claim to be interested in cutting cost of
governance have started making all sorts of ludicrous appointments. All
sorts of aides are being appointed just to satisfy their cronies.
Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State has already appointed a
Special Adviser, Religious Affairs. I don’t know how this will impact on
the traumatised people of Akwa Ibom State. Okezie appointed three media
aides. Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima appointed four media
aides, including two for social media. Shettima also has two Special
Assistants for Special Duties. The Borno governor went further to
request for 40 Special Advisers, but the Borno State legislators reduced
it to 20.
Mike Okiro and Citizen Kaase
For those who have not been following the story, citizen Aaron Kaase, a
staff of the Police Service Commission recently wrote a petition
bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office against Mike Okiro,
Chairman PSC and former Inspector General of Police. Kaase alleged
“certain misrepresentation of facts to the Bureau of Public Procurement
(BPP) with a view to swindling the government to the tune of N275.5m
through PSC” by its Chairman.” Okiro has since been quizzed by the
anti-graft agency. For now, citizen Kaase’s petition remains an
allegation.
The news now is that Kaase is alleging that his life is under threat
because of his petition and has written to the current Inspector General
of Police and the DG of DSS to save his life. He alleges that an aide
of Okiro is responsible for the threat. Citizen Kaase wants special
protection. IGP Solomon Arase should swiftly investigate Kaase’s
complain and provide him maximum security. As clearly stated by his
lawyer, Kenneth Achabo, “there are so many unresolved murder cases in
the country and Kaase is not ready to be part of the statistics.”
Citizen Kaase must not die.
A Word for Abiola Ajimobi
Oyo State is fast turning into another failed state in the South-west.
As at yesterday, the state’s civil servants were being three-month
salaries. Just like Osun State, Oyo workers are gradually turning into
beggars. Obviously, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has not shown any ingenuity
in the management of the state’s finances. Oyo has no business owing
civil servants if this state is well managed. Its IGR can fund at least
50% of its budget if properly pursued and the fraud in the collection
drastically reduced.
This is another clear case of mismanagement. This governor has been
unjust to the people. Most civil servants in the state go to bed without
food. I am sure that the governor has excess of food and drinks on his
table. This is wicked, irresponsible, insensitive and unjust. He must
make payment of salaries a priority as directed by FAAC before funding
his grandeur projects. It is pertinent to remind Ajimobi that
sovereignty belongs to the people. Ajimobi has to shape in or be shipped
out.
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