Race for Speakership: PDP, Reps in dirty schemes – How David Mark made his way back
As soon as his team entered the compound, all the members of the House relishing the festivity rose, rushed in his direction, hailing, cheering, chanting: “Speaker! Speaker!! Speaker!!!” In spite of the long-drawn battle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the members of the House, the event at the farewell predicts what is likely […]
As soon as his team entered the compound, all the members of the House relishing the festivity rose, rushed in his direction, hailing, cheering, chanting: “Speaker! Speaker!! Speaker!!!” In spite of the long-drawn battle between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the members of the House, the event at the farewell predicts what is likely to happen in the Green Chambers of the National Assembly tomorrow.
From the writing on the wall, and in spite of alleged, intimidations and inducements to members by the ruling party, the House of Representatives members are likely to disobey the PDP, as they cast their votes for the position of Speaker tomorrow.
The party has zoned the Speakership to the South-West geopolitical zone where only four members of the PDP, all from Oyo State, won re-election into the lower legislative chamber. But some of the party’s MPs, especially those from the North-West and South-East, are not comfortable with the plan”. Though the lawmakers consider the party’s design as odd, in the Presidency, it is not, because the South-West States, except Osun State, voted overwhelmingly for President Goodluck Jonathan at the polls on April 16, 2011. His fortune in the South-West is considered as a master-stroke that enabled him to knock out the waves of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), whose Presidential flagbearer, General Muhammadu Buhari, created an upset at the elections. But, that was for Jonathan, not for the lawmakers.
Rep Musa Sarkin-Adar (PDP, Sokoto) who is leading the anti-zoning members said what the PDP did by allocating the fourth most important position in the country to the South-West amounted to injustice. He argued thus: “How can a zone which rejected the PDP as a party now get the Speaker of the House of Representatives? Then, we’re being forced to accept that. We will never allow it to happen.”
The North-West MPs are aggrieved that of the 92 members from the region, 57 are of the PDP, whereas only four PDP members are from the South-West. The PDP had endorsed Rep Muraino Ajibola (PDP, Oyo) as the next Speaker, but members were not comfortable with him partly because they believe that he was single-handedly picked by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It is suspected that the position, if it sails through, would be a big pay-back for the man who successfully frustrated and finally killed the probe into the $16 billion power probe report. The report is believed to have indicted former Presidnet Obasanjo, and would have led to his prosecution if the investigation had been followed to its logical conclusion. With Rep Ajibola’s intervention, the report was later watered down and scandalously thrown into the dustbin by the House.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which has the majority of Reps members from the South-West had, also, rejected Rep Ajibola’s bid for Speakership for reasons not far away from the Obasanjo factor. They rather endorsed a female lawmaker, Rep Munirat Adeola-Akande, also from Oyo State. A ranking member, Rep Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Plateau) told Sunday Trust that President Goodluck Jonathan favours zoning of Speaker to the South-West because ‘he wants to run an all-inclusive government in which every part of the country will be equally represented.”
WHAT IS FIRST LADY PATIENCE JONATHAN’S ROLE?
Many members are not also comfortable with the candidature of Rep Munirat because of reports that she was the candidate of the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan. The president’s wife is an apostle of 35% Affirmative Action for women, and may have cashed in into the Munirat project in order to prove her commitment to his campaign during the elections. In its reaction to this dimension, a group which goes by the name Liberal Democrats for Good Governance, in a statement signed by Mr Wilson Ibhawa, its National Coordinator, said: “Is the House of Representatives an appendage of the First Lady’s office which is unknown to the Nigerian Constitution of 1999? The acting National Chairman of our party, Dr Bello Haliru, was quoted by a newspaper of Friday June 3, as saying that “it was the position of the PDP that whenever a female and a male were locked in a contest for a political office, the woman is backed in line with the party’s belief in Affirmative action,” Mr Wilson Ibhawa National Coordinator Liberal Democrats For Good Governance added in a statement in Abuja.
In a related development, worried by the reported interference by the presidency to determine holders of the leadership positions in the forthcoming seventh session of the National Assembly, a human rights and pro-democracy group has condemned the trend and warned of the consequences of undermining legislative freedom and independence.
In a statement denouncing the alleged meddling by the presidency in the ongoing lobbying for the formation of the next hierarchy of the National Assembly to be inaugurated on Monday, the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), said it was a constitutional breach of the principle of the separation of power if indeed it is true that President Jonathan sought to impose his choice candidates as Speaker and Senate President in the next session of the National Assembly.
HURIWA in a media statement by its National Director of Media Affairs, Ms. Zainab Yusuf, said competence, merit and patriotism should supersede the mundane arrangement of zoning in determining the best candidates to emerge as leaders in the coming National Assembly. The rights group, which endorsed the decision of a ranking member of the federal House of Representatives and a former reputable leader in the nation’s organized civil society community Rep Tambuwal to vie for the vacant position of the next speaker tasked the incoming legislators to defend the integrity of the constitutional principle of separation of powers in Nigeria by not caving into undue external pressure concerning the shape and nature of its hierarchy.
NORTH-EAST’S POSITION
This, however, does not in any way mean that Tambuwal is going to have an easy ride tomorrow because some members from the North-East geo-political zone are opposed to it. With the PDP’s zoning arrangement, the region would produce the Deputy Speaker, and already the party has endorsed Rep Yakubu Dogara (PDP, Bauchi) for the position.
Speaking on how the zone perceive the furore over the Speakership, Rep Jerry Manwe (PDP, Taraba) said: “We stand by the position of the party on zoning and we will fight it to the end because we are loyal party members; we are not anybody’s slaves. Any threat to zoning will be resisted. I am speaking as the most senior MP from the North-East.”
He called on his colleagues from the region “to beware of a grand plan to alienate us from the scheme of things. We should resist it because we contributed our quota to the development of this country. Elected members should know that they have only that zone to think of, not any other.”
Rep Manwe also refuted media reports that the North-East had endorsed Tambuwal, saying, “It is not true. We have never sat down to take that decision we stand by zoning.”
In spite of this opposition from the North-East, Tambuwal has a strong support base from the South-East region, which initially was angling for the Speakership but later piped down, following the appointment of former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The region is now fronting Rep Emeka Ihedioha (PDP, Imo) as the Deputy to Tambuwal.
In order to save itself of embarrassment by the MPs, the PDP had adopted many strategies in checkmating them, which include threat to expel Tambuwal from the party, but the idea was later dropped after the lawmakers threatened to leave party.
Another strategy allegedly being used by the PDP and the Presidency is that of lodging newly-elected members in a five star hotel in Abuja in an apparent move to gain easy access to them.
An elected member who does not want his name in print told Sunday Trust that, “monies were being offered to them to influence our votes tomorrow, but we won’t give in to that. We will collect the money, but we will vote secretly for a candidate of our choice.”
More so, the opposition political parties seem to have thrown their weight behind the Sokoto-born lawmaker, as announced by Rep Suleiman Abdurahman Sumaila (ANPP, Kano). He told newsmen at the weekend that they had uncovered a plan by the PDP and the Presidency to induce and intimidate members. “We, in the opposition constitute 46 percent of the membership of the House because we are 158 in number so will not allow anybody to be imposed on us. We believe in the House Project which is delivering Tambuwal as Speaker.”
Just last Friday pro-zoning lawmakers lost their bid to stop the amendment to the House standing Rules which now provides for an open-secret ballot system of voting when the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, threw out the application for exparte motion brought before him by Reps Jerry Manwe and Bitrus Kaze, seeking to set aside the May 17th amendments effected to Order II Rule 3, F1 and F2 of the House Rules.
THE LEADERSHIP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NEEDS
Speaking on the hue and cry over the election of a Speaker tomorrow, outgoing spokesman of the House, Eseme Eyibo (PDP, Akwa Ibom) said: “The 2011 elections were free and fair and was so acclaimed by local and international observers. However, if there is impasse in the election of leaders into the National Assembly, there will be crisis in tenures; the tenure of an imposed Speaker would not be long; we will not enjoy peace and there will be crisis of confidence that will prevent the kind of synergy between the chambers and the Executive to achieve the kind of transformation President Jonathan talked about in his inauguration speech on May 29.”
He added however, that it would be difficult to determine who becomes Speaker ahead of the elections tomorrow because most members were independent-minded. But he added that the Reps must note three things as they vote in the Chambers: “We should create a larger picture of the society we desire, and this should reflect in our voting. We need to create a synergy, even if our views are different from those of other political parties, and heating up the polity is not necessary at this moment.” He said the position of Speaker would be keenly contested in the chambers.
SENATE PRESIDENCY: HOW MARK SCHEMED HIS WAY BACK
Barring last minute surprise, Senator David Mark is set to ascend the exalted seat of President of the Senate for the second time. The inauguration of the National Assembly is scheduled for tomorrow and lawmakers have engaged in various strategies and political manoeuvrings to assume important roles in the bi-cameral legislature. The intrigues that trail campaigns for the offices of presiding officers and principal officers of the two chambers reached climax over the weekend. Supporters of the candidates have intensified moves to ensure that their favoured candidates emerge during the voting. It is a race for political survival for both the candidates and the supporters because it is a case of winner takes all. Those of the victorious camps will benefit from sharing of the booty in terms of juicy committees and assignments while losers may be subjected to neglect for the entire four years.
The tale is of two extreme ends for the two chambers. While in the Senate indications are that it is going to be a smooth ride for Mark and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu to return, contrast is the case with the lower chamber. Members of the House of Representatives are still sharply divided along lines of allegiance to particular camps gunning for the speakership and deputy speaker positions. The bickering between zoning and anti-zoning members in the House has reached a frightening height with possibilities of a rancorous first session looming large by each passing day. In the Senate only Mark has indicated interest in the Office of Senate President while Ekweremadu is the only candidate seeking to be his deputy. But in the House, there are three ranking members, namely, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Ajibola Muraina (Oyo) and the only female aspirant, Alhaja Mulikat Adeola (Oyo).
THE MANOEUVRING IN THE RED CHAMBER
The aspiration of Senator Mark to return as President of the Senate dates back to pre-election period. It was one of the reasons he campaigned vigorously to clinch a fourth return to the Senate. Sources have revealed that prior to the polls; Mark had already struck a deal with President Goodluck Jonathan on the need to maintain the stability that reigned in the Senate since 2007.
Consequently, the campaign for Mark two terms began long before the elections but was intensified soon after the process. In a bid to retain his seat, Mark worked hard within the hierarchy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure that the zoning arrangement was maintained. The earlier zoning by the PDP which saw the emergence of Mark from North Central as President of Senate in 2007 was in view of having a President from the North West in the person of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. At the demise of Yar’adua and emergence of Goodluck Jonathan from South South as President, the arrangement was to rotate the Senate Presidency back to the southern part of the country.
However, in a bid to satisfy the interest of Mark, the party zoned the office to the North Central. By so doing, all other senators elect from other zones that may be nursing the ambition of occupying the exalted office were sufficiently blocked. There were senators elect such as Alhaji Muhammed Danjuma Goje and Aisha Alhassan both from the North East zone who nursed the ambition of contesting for the position. But as party loyalists, they have no choice than to obey the resolution. Zoning of the seat narrowed down the contest to a few. While Goje and Alhassan were knocked off, the aspiration of former Kwara State governor and now senator elect, Bukola Saraki stared Mark and his men dangerously in the face. Bukola is also from the North Central and there was the talk of a need for religious balance in the leadership of the three arms of government.
With that realisation, Mark’s camp in the Senate decided to hurriedly find a solution to possibility of another senator from the North Central posing a threat in realising their ambition. The camp hurriedly hatched the idea of amending the Senate Standing Order to place emphasis on the issue of ranking (seniority) in election of Presiding and principal officers in the Senate. Though a similar clause existed before the amendment, it was weak and was easily ignored in 2007 when Senator George Akume, then a first term senator was allowed to contest against Mark who was then a third term senator. To avoid such rude shocks, Mark decided to build an absorber into the Senate rules.
The new rule now specifies on qualification to contest for leadership positions in the Senate and effectively shut out fresh senators. The rule provides that “nomination of senators to serve as presiding officers and appointments of principal officers and other officers of the senate or on any parliamentary delegations shall be in accordance with the ranking of senators;
“(b) In determining ranking the following order shall apply: (i) senators returning based on number of times re-elected, (ii) senators who had been members of the House of Representatives, (iii) senators who have been members of a State House of Assembly or any other Legislative House; (iv) Senators elected as senators for the first time.” By the order, Mark as a fourth term senator is the most qualified to contest for the office of Senate President. Mark shares seniority only with Senator Bello Hayatu Gwarzo from Kano state. Gwarzo is disqualified by PDP zoning.
The dual provisions of PDP zoning and the seniority rule in the Senate effectively makes Mark the sole candidate qualified to stand election tomorrow. No senator can contest except if he declines his nomination.
THE MYRIADS OF ENDORSEMENTS
Since the beginning of the Mark two terms campaign, it has been endorsement galore from both within the Senate and from groups outside the National Assembly. Of significance are endorsements from majority of those that are going to vote during the election. At the last count, all zonal caucuses in the Senate with the exception of the South West have endorsed the candidature of Mark and Ekweremadu.
On the issue of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) controlled South West, coordinator of the Mark Campaing, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said majority of senators elect from the zone have endorsed Mark. He said “We have interacted with several senators from the south west and we have their support.” While briefing newsmen on the issue, Lawan said the campaign already has about 100 senators that have appended their signatures in support of Mark.
AND GOJE THREW IN THE TOWEL
Danjuma Goje was the only senator elect perceived to be ready to challenge Mark. As a senator from the North East, Goje is expected to draw his core support from his home zone. However, the last blow that broke his back came from his own immediate constituency. By morning of last Thursday, members of the North East caucus including 16 senators and senators elect declared support for Mark. During the media briefing, Senator Lawan said senators from the zone were not aware of Goje’s aspiration for the Senate Presidency.
With the clear indication of a looming failure and humiliation if he stands for the election, Danjuma Goje smartly withdrew from the race leaving Mark now as the sole candidate for the office. It is now clear that the Senate Presidency is a done deal for Mark.
JOINT TICKET WITH EKWEREMADU
At first, there were reports of some south east senators attempting to topple Ike Ekweremadu from returning as deputy senate president. But when Mark declared at an event in honour of Ekweremadu that his resolve is to run a joint ticket, the endorsement process became double barrelled. All those that endorsed Mark also passed a vote of confidence on Ekweremadu.
As for the DSP, his endorsement comes as reward for successfully leading the Constitution amendment process. As chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Amendment process, Ekweremadu midwife the first ever amendment to the 1999 Constitution which was hitherto a jinxed affair. During the exercise several sections of the Constitution were amended which ushered in reforms to the country’s electoral process. His ability in leading that exercise exposed his leadership qualities and endeared him not only to his boss but also to several senators.
Aside from amending the Constitution, the Ekweremadu committee was able to amend the Electoral Act and provided the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the necessary legal framework to conduct credible election in the country. The Electoral Act 2010 as amended has yielded results by improving on the electoral process with the conduct of the 2011 general elections adjudged to be credible. Aside from these tasks, Ekweremadu also played a key role in the stability of the Senate leadership by exhibiting high sense of loyalty to his boss and other senators.
JONATHAN’S INTERFERENCE WITH THE LEGISLATURE
The much cherished Separation of Powers has been endangered in the emerging scenario. The independence of the legislative arm of government is being put into grave jeopardy by the Presidency under President Goodluck Jonathan. The Aso Rock Villa is involved in determining who occupies virtually all the presiding and principal offices in the National Assembly. Erroneously, the Presidency does not stop at allocating the offices to geo-political zones; it goes ahead to naming specific individuals that should occupy the seats. Sunday Trust gathered that the Presidency has made a list of composition of the presiding and principal officers and is not ready to budge. Negotiations usually breakdown if any of its favoured candidates is not to be carried along.
For instance, in the Senate, though there may be no contest for the two presiding offices in the Senate, there are however grumblings over who becomes the Senate Majority Leader. The North East PDP having dumped the aspiration of one of its own (Goje) in support of party position, wanted to be compensated with the position of Senate Leader. However, President Jonathan is said to have endorsed Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (Cross River State) to emerge as Leader and will not shift ground. The North East senators elect especially those of the PDP are not happy by that position and have vowed to create problems for the Senate.
As it stands, Mark and Ekweremadu seem to be riding on a roller coaster back to the offices they vacated last Thursday. The difficult task that would be confronting them though is how to reward all of the senators that have supported them. With only 53 committees, many senators will certainly be disappointed. But Mark must find a way to pay back all the goodwill, after all to whom much is given, much is expected.