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Tag: crisis

  • UNIOSUN’s unending crisis

    Despite the White Paper upheld by the government, parties in the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) crisis have yet to sheathe their swords. They are still brawling. Those indicted have asked the government to review its decision to uphold the White Paper. The review panel is expected to submit its report this week, report  ADESOJI ADENIYI (Osogbo) and ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA.

    •Review panel’s report expected this week

    Osun State University (UNIOSUN) started with a lot of promise eight years ago. Today, the institution is under threat from an internal crisis. The governing council and the management have been engaged in a battle of wits for months, leading to the constitution of a visitation panel by Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The white paper on the panel’s report rather than settle the crisis, seems to have stoked the fire. Those punished for their roles in the crisis are not satisfied with the white paper which was upheld by the government last month.

    A panel, it was learnt, has been raised to review the white paper. The panel is expected to submit its report this week. It will consider the petitions of the principal officers the Vice Chancellor (VC), recommended for sack by the Visitation Panel.  They are: Prof Bashir Okesina, Deputy Vice-Chancellor-elect Prof. Siyan Oyeweso; Registrar Dr. Faniran Olusakin; Bursar Alhaji Lasisi Adebayo.  It is also expected to consider the prayers of others, like Prof Wasiu Gbolagade, who have been barred from holding positions of responsibility in the university.

    OKESINA
    OKESINA

    Okesina was recommended for sack, following his suspension by the governing council for alleged professional and administrative misconduct, fraud, nepotism, neglect of university infrastructure, delay in starting distance learning programme, misuse of official car, incitement of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) against the council and inflation of contracts, among others.

    Oyeweso was recommended for sack for: his “negative roles in the crisis; his ambition-driven over-influence over the vice-chancellor which contributed immensely to the VC’s irredeemable mistakes in the administration of the university; and for attending two rebellious meetings against the council held in the Vice-Chancellor’s house with other principal officers.”

    The sack of the registrar and the bursar by the governing council was upheld by the Visitation Panel. Prof Gbolagade, provost of the Post-Graduate College, was barred from holding any position of authority in the university for his “roles in the crisis and for attending the two clandestine meetings against the Governing Council held in the VC’s house with other principal officers of the university.”

    Others like Prof B. R. Olorede are to be disallowed from holding positions of responsibility in the university for the next five years. Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU-UNIOSUN chapter) Dr. Oluseye Abiona was relieved of his appointment as Coordinator of the Centre for Renewable Energy.

    The paper also recommended that the bursar (Adebayo), Prof. Kizito Folorunso, Prof. Gbolagade and any other person yet to refund the money paid to them as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) proceeds should make the refunds with immediate effect. It equally recommended the dissolution of the Prof Gabriel Olawoyin-led Governing Council.

    The affected principal officers and others petitioned the government not to implement the recommendations, which they termed as unfair.  They claimed the allegations against them were false.

    In his June 27 petition to  Aregbesola, Oyeweso faulted the claim that he negatively influenced the VC.  He argued that as an adult, Okesina with his academic and professional attainment was not a robot to be pushed around.

    •Oyeweso
    •Oyeweso

    Oyeweso, who claimed that he was not given fair hearing, described his sack as premeditated, “a subtle attempt at targeting him for persecution, harassment and intimidation.”

    Defending his role in the crisis Oyeweso said: “I have always canvassed mediation, negotiation, discussions, mutual respect and round-table dialogue as useful tools for conflict resolution.”

    He warned that implementing the white paper recommendations would not help the university.

    “I am deeply convinced that the termination of my statutory appointment or relieving of appointment of principal officers, and banning some professors from holding university appointments, without sound rational justification, will not provide an enduring solution to the UNIOSUN crisis. It is an ill-wind and a seed for future troubles. The recommendation of the Visitation Panel that my appointment be terminated – a position accepted by the government of the State of Osun, needs a critical review and reflection given my antecedents in Osun State University in particular and Nigerian university system in general.”

    Rejecting their sack, the registrar and bursar, Olusakin and Adebayo, in their joint letter to the visitor, said they should not be victimized because of the crisis between the council and the university management.

    “We have put in substantial number of years of services and it will not augur well for our career to be destroyed when we have only two years to leave the service just because of disagreement between council and management. Our plea is for you to reconsider the position of government on the termination of our appointments,” they said.

    They were silent on the allegations of misappropriation of funds, for which the council suspended them.

    They also faulted the panel for not recommending the dissolution of the council, which is involved in the crisiswhile it asked that the management team be punished.

    They urged Aregbesola  to dissolve the council since many of its members are party to the crisis.

    • Olawoyin
    • Olawoyin

    They said: “This recommendation that the Council led by Prof Olawoyin ‘should be tasked to commence and complete the process for appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Bursar; and have an approved Conditions of Service for all categories of Uniosun staff within a maximum of six months, after which it should be dissolved’… is no other thing than a miscarriage of justice. Where then is the avoidance of a party winning and another losing? It is unjust, unfair, pre-meditated and an attempt to cause confusion.”

    •Gbolagade
    •Gbolagade

    In his defence, Gbolagade said allegations that he attended anti-council meetings allegedly held in the VC’s Lodge with other principal officers of the university were inaccurate as some council meetings usually held outside the campus.

    Gbolagade also warned that the panel’s recommendation that he should not be allowed to hold any position in UNIOSUN for the next five years could backfire as the institution does not have enough professors.

    “For your information sir, we have about 13 permanent professors in the whole university that are on ground. Out of these 13 professors, two have gotten Council approval for their Sabbatical leave. One will be going on leave of absence to Centre for Black Culture very soon. There will now be 10 professors left, out of these 10 professors the three most senior professors have been indicted not to hold any post in the university. It remains seven professors to occupy all the administrative positions in the university. How will these not affect the seamless running of the system sir? Our university is young and fast growing and I appeal to you to kindly temper justice with mercy.”

    How will this crisis be resolved for the university to grow? Members of the university community, including lecturers, non academic staff and students shied away from commenting. Some of them believe the dissolved council, particularly its chairman, who just resigned, was high handed. He has been replaced by Prof. Obafemi Ajibola, a member of the council. They said he had not spent enough years as a manager in the university to understand how the system works.

    Other stakeholders said the university has been “heavily politicised” by some people.

    But, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) UNIOSUN chapter chairman, Mr Lekan Idiat, told our reporter on phone that such backlash should not be seen as strange. As a body,  SSANU , he said, has since moved on.

    “That is a normal thing.  Anytime such a situation occurs, there is no way people would not react. However, for SSANU, we have to move on. Government has taken its decision. SSANU is only interested in peace and justice. Our interest is in the overall development of the university,” he said.

     

  • Social sciences and the crisis of relevance in Nigeria

    Social sciences and the crisis of relevance in Nigeria

    I commenced this discourse with philosophy as a discipline; I then enlarged the argument to embrace the humanities. With my town and gown lecture at Covenant University’s Faculty of the Social Sciences in April, I applied the disciplinary relevance dominant argument to the social sciences (which dominant arguments are paraphrased in this piece) and, at the UI department of political science public lecture in honour of professor emeriti Adekanye and Ayoade, I took on my specific domain, political science, as a discipline. This has simply been a strictly intellectual reflection to address concerns that are indeed global, but more relevantly, germane to Nigeria’s specific policy concern to address graduate unemployment and the gradual emasculation of the HSS and the great danger it portends for a nation that needs to hurry to achieve real development with sense.

    The social sciences constitute the third in the disciplinary tripod consisting of the natural sciences and the humanities. Its fluid theoretical boundary allows it to straddle the natural science in terms of methodology and the humanities in terms of substantive issues relating to the study of man and the society. The social sciences evolved from the attempt to reproduce the methodological successes in the natural science to the study of the human society, institutions and social behaviour. Yet, like the humanities that we have had about three occasions to x-ray so far, the social sciences are equally caught in the predicament of pedagogical relevance, especially in a situation, like Nigeria’s, where all that seems to matter is getting a certificate.

    At a recent Town and Gown Seminar at Covenant University, Sango Ota, I had an occasion to initiate a critical appraisal of the stature of the social sciences as an academic field, and their perceived role and relevance in national development in Nigeria. At that auspicious occasion, I argued that the endemic questioning of the relevance of the social sciences derives from a justified albeit jaundiced perception of their prospect in the formulation of life-plans and future purposes: What will you do with Sociology/History/Psychology/Geography/Political Science? How, for instance, in common sense reflection, can the discipline of political theory or anthropology enable me to make sense of my life in a manner that Accountancy, Engineering or Human Resource Management or Medicine can if I am not an academic? And indeed, how many graduates of the HSS can the academia retain? What income level can political science as professional calling generate in Nigeria? This questioning is only a manifestation of a deeper dynamics. There are two broad factors that are responsible for how others perceive our disciplinary integrity. (And in this connection and as an aside, the 60:40 funding ratio in favour of STEM – an acronym for the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics, in the dynamics of transition, makes some sense but is a point in our argument for emphasis.)

    On the one hand, the field of the social sciences is incredibly and methodologically problematic. The first point of worry derives from the disciplinary desire for scientific methodology. As the philosophers would ask: How does one scientifically study, rather than interpret, human unpredictable behaviour? How is the analysis of social fact, for instance, modelled on the scientific study of natural fact? The second point of worry is the lack of methodological consensus on how the vast subjects and data of the social sciences ought to be studied. The diversity of methodologies ranges from Emile Durkheim to Max Weber to Vilfredo Pareto and then Karl Popper and Robert Dahl.

    On the other hand, the social science disciplines, like the humanities, are confronted by a global curricular consensus which puts the social sciences into serious retreat. At the Covenant University Seminar, I alluded to the domineering influence of global capitalism on university management and pedagogical practices. Thus, the idea of management itself, rather than administration, has become the key to understanding the reason why only disciplines and programmes with cash values are recognised. This neo-liberal capitalist orientation has affected the way we perceive education and the role of universities, especially in national development. Consider, for instance, the rise and significance of the STEM fields. STEM is significant because it constitutes a kind of educational/curriculum philosophy motivated by laissez faire global competitiveness in terms of scientific and technological progress. Of course, the absence of the social sciences in the acronym speaks volume about the disciplinary invisibility of the social scientist.

    In the face of all these challenges, we are confronted with a more troubling question: What is the unique stature of the social sciences in Nigeria? Claude Ake spoke about the social sciences as imperialism. This simply implies that Western social science disciplines—and anthropology readily comes to mind here—possess an ideological character which attempts to foist Western framework of scholarship on hapless third world countries like Nigeria. This immediately raises the issue of what social science discourses and researches in Nigeria ought to pursue—a theoretically sound, dynamic and pragmatic framework of ideas, processes and recommendations that could orient national policy trajectory in education, healthcare, security, infrastructural development, public services, mental health and social formations. If I am asked, I will say that the social sciences evolved as a theoretical and practical means by which we can imagine what is possible in terms of our social structures and our relationship with them. This objective is all the more urgent within the context of the Nigerian state and our plural existence along religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic lines. Thus: How can the social sciences redefine our idea of what we are as Nigerians in manner that practically engages policy-makers?

    Let me reiterate my earlier worry, especially with philosophers and other humanities scholars. No discipline within the postcolonial context of Nigeria is immune from the charge of relevance. The existence and significance of each discipline is bound up with how they are able and enabled to confront the Nigerian predicament and our collective resolve to reimagine the national project. This implies that, in spite of the fact that the Western social sciences wield enormous influence in terms of theories and ideas, the Nigerian social scientists must be wary of the imperial gaze of the West and the global dimensions. This should then translate into a concerted effort to locate all processes, methodologies, ideas and reflections of social research within the context of national rebirth and reconstruction. Theories are not enough; the social scientists in Nigeria must facilitate the transition from theories to practical and pragmatic policy considerations. This, it seems to me, is the essence of the town and gown interaction that people like Simeon Adebo were part of in the early years of the Nigerian state. The social scientists must become theoretically adept and policy oriented. In this regard, the late Profs. Claude Ake, Ojetunji Aboyade and Sam Aluko and Prof. Akin Mabogunje, Bolaji Akinyemi, were exemplary, with many after them, the likes of Ademola Oyejide, Charles Soludo, Attahiru Jega – to name just a few – are no less eminent. But how many of them are there now?

    Unfortunately, the problem now is that social scientists either pontificate in conference halls and seminars where their beautiful ideas are usually mostly lost in rapturous applause or publications in obscure journals which are soon forgotten in dusty libraries. Whereas for Roberto Unger, the social sciences lack the capacity for ‘structural imagination’—this is a kind of insight into the nature of our present and existing social structures and institutions and how we can transcend them into something better given our present circumstances — I can tell that besides that point, it is the pervasive anti-intellectualism in the governance space that has become a disincentive to social scientists. Structural imagination requires the constant reinvention of the structures and social formations of our society. The essential question for Nigerian social scientists  in spite of their virtual consignment to research for research sake therefore is: What is the role of the social sciences in ‘difficult times’ (as a commentator puts it)? How does social science research in Nigeria rebrand and transform into a nuanced analysis of the Nigerian predicament and a resolution of it in manner that attracts clients? How, for instance, does a social scientist’s analysis of the phenomenon of climate change, mental health, social welfare, governance or labour relations impact the direction of government policy and national development and how can they connect to policy better through more engaging town and gown interdependence, et al? Like the humanities, there is no doubt that the social sciences contribute to our collective knowledge of the nature of man and the functioning of social institutions. But the society requires more. For instance, there is a distinct democratic imperative on social science research: What are the conditions for the possibility of a free and democratic society?

    As I see it, what will orient structural imagination is the insinuation of the social sciences into the depth of social policy which is defined by its continuous reflection on the broad range of human needs and how social institutions can be created and recreated to meet these needs—welfare, public services, security, human rights and justice, law and order, income and wealth distribution, social accounting, housing, equitable allocation of resources, labour relations and employment, etc and serious rethinking of how policy makers could be better engaged. Social policy is too significant to be left to the policy makers and politicians alone; there is the urgent need to infuse a large dose of social scientific understanding and explorations.

    Nigeria presently stands at a critical juncture. And one of the high point of the change mantra must result from a deep rethinking of our curriculum philosophy. In other words, we require a phased transition from STEM to STEAMHSS (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, humanities and the social sciences). Change will not just happen to us as Nigerians, rather, we require a steady infusion of political, bureaucratic and intellectual energies to produce the steam that would drive Nigeria beyond its endemic crisis points.

  • National Assembly crisis’ll soon be over, says Tambuwal

    National Assembly crisis’ll soon be over, says Tambuwal

    Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal yesterday said the crisis rocking the National Assembly would soon be resolved.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Tambuwal, who is a member of one of the committees set up to resolve the crisis, said his committee had held series of meetings to solve the matter.

    He said: “We have commenced meetings and even today we are going to have yet another meeting and I believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Peace and normalcy will be restored to the chambers of the National Assembly.

    “And I assure that we will continue to support Mr. President for us to deliver on our promises to the Nigerian people.”

    On whether he supported the reports claiming that Femi Gbajabiamila’s camp was insisting on the emergence of four principal officers based on All Progressives Congress (APC) position, he said: “It is not a matter of caving into it, I am a mediator and I am not at liberty to pre-empt what should be the outcome of my report, therefore I am not in a position to confirm that.”

    Asked for his reaction to the belief that National Assembly members were emboldened by the unique way he emerged as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he said: “I should leave that to you to make your own judgement. I believe they are all matured people representing their various constituencies in the Senate and the House of Representatives and they should know what is best for the country and the party.”

    He added that he was at the Villa to meet minds with the President on security and development of the country.

    He said: “Mr. President is the leader of the party and as a governor of Sokoto state, I have come to see him and indeed to seek his advice and meet minds with him on issues  on security and the continued development of the country.”

     

  • Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention in the leadership crisis rocking the National Assembly among the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.

    Bamidele also praised Buhari for emphasising the need for all members of the APC to align with the doctrine of party supremacy.

    The former Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, said the President by placing himself under the authority of the APC, has automatically resolved the leadership crisis rocking the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Saturday by his media aide, Ahmed Salami, Bamidele urged the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to embrace what the leader of the party had demonstrated, in order to restore lasting peace to the party.

    He urged the duo to reciprocate the party’s gesture as communicated by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that their elections stand recognised, even in the face of breaching the party’s directive to actualise their aspirations.

    Bamidele said, “What President Buhari demonstrated was a paradigm from the old order where a party was often being treated as an appendage of its powerful members. With this clear position, I believe the crisis in APC is over.

    “President Buhari promised Nigerians change and he has started demonstrating this by showing how a good party structure must be under an ideal democratic situation. The party supremacy is a global convention and Nigeria cannot be an exemption no matter how we perceive our style of politics.

    “I see no reason why members would continue to feud when the national leader of the party had made it clear that the positions of the party is incontestable and must be respected at all times.

    “The two factions must concede to each other. They must shift positions and concede where necessary in order not to blow away the party’s goodwill with Nigerians.”

  • Resolving apc’s National Assembly crisis

    Resolving apc’s National Assembly crisis

    It was exactly 100 days after he was sworn in as governor of Lagos State on May 29, 1999. The media was near unanimous in their condemnation of the performance of the new governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Columnists, editorialists, feature writers, news analysts and cartoonists portrayed the governor as too slow and clueless. They condemned the gaping pot-holes on impassable Lagos roads, the skyscrapers of refuse on major highways across the state, dilapidated schools, lack of potable water throughout the state, chronic insecurity and much more. It did not matter that these problems had been allowed to fester over two decades of largely visionless military rule. They had no sympathy for a governor who had inherited a fiscally insolvent and near bankrupt state. Like instant coffee, the critics wanted instant change – no excuses.

    Governor Tinubu’s media team was under severe pressure. They understandably turned the heat on the governor to at least begin some publicity hugging mesmerising moves even if of little concrete substance. For instance, they suggested, he could begin patching roads state wide amidst a blitz of publicity. Tinubu staunchly refused. He insisted on a methodical and systematic manner in the resurrection, revitalization and re-development of the state. Two years later the story began to change. The same critics began to appreciate what they saw as the beginning of the radical modernisation of diverse sectors of the state. Today, Tinubu is widely acknowledged as having laid the foundation for the remarkable progress recorded under his successor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and which freshly elected governor Akinwunmi Ambode promises to elevate to new heights. Lagos has taken giant strides in the last 16 years.

    It is a similar story in President Muhammadu Buhari’s Nigeria of 2015. Buhari has just spent a month in office. But there is urgent demand for the immediate fruits of change. Of course, this is understandable. The rot and decay of the PDP, particularly President Goodluck Jonathan years, was deep and of epidemic proportions. Consequently, the intensity of the nascent opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for change was unprecedented in aggressiveness and creativity. The expectation and desire for change became pandemic. Just boot Jonathan out and positive would automatically commence in Nigeria – many people believed.  This belief was reinforced by Buhari’s record of decisiveness as a former military Head of State as well as of impeccable personal integrity and incorruptibility.

    Contrary to public expectation, things have been rather slow in the early morning of the Buhari dispensation. For one, this is a democracy. Action must follow due process, which can be slow and cumbersome. Secondly, as Buhari himself has forthrightly and courageously noted, his pace at 72 cannot be the same as it was three decades ago. Even then, Buhari as a younger and draconian military dictator was never impulsive. Even the harshest actions of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime then were taken only after appropriate laws (military decrees) backing them had been enacted. That he has chosen to be methodical, reflective and restrained rather than playing to the gallery through cheap heroics since formally assuming office on May 29 shows Buhari’s graciousness, decency and maturity as a leader. A man of lesser character would have chosen the noisier, more boisterous and sensational but ultimately less useful path.

    This is not to say, however, that the Buhari administration, despite the scale of the mess it inherited, ought not to have proceeded at a faster pace even at this time. For instance, there is no excuse that key offices that do not require legislative approval such as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) or Chief of Staff (COS) have not been appointed. Since he has obtained legislative approval to appoint 15 Special Advisers, nothing ought to have stopped the President from doing so pending the appointment of ministers.

    It is obvious that President Buhari’s administration is clearly being hindered from functioning more efficiently and effectively by the intra APC post- election crisis that blew into the open following the National Assembly leadership election fiasco. Contrary to the decision of the APC leadership, a minority of the party’s legislators teamed up with the minority PDP members to throw up Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House respectively. To add insult to injury, Saraki conceded the office of Deputy Senate President to Senator Ike Ikweremadu of the PDP. Even worse, both Saraki and Dogara rejected the party’s nominations for other principal offices of the two houses taking their rebellion even further.

    An acceptable resolution of this crisis is clearly a necessary condition for the Buhari administration to be able to take off at full throttle and commence the much awaited change agenda. As I pen these words, the party’s crucial National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting is holding in Abuja. But then, what is the genesis of the crisis? The magnitude and unprecedented manner in which the APC dislodged an incumbent PDP gave the budding party the illusion that it had become a cohesive whole. In truth, there are three tendencies within the APC. Firstly, is that tendency committed to genuine change from the ideology and direction in which the PDP had led Nigeria for the past 16 years – a tendency represented most prominently by Buhari and Tinubu.

    Secondly, there are those members of the n-PDP who defected from their former party not because of ideological or policy differences but due to their inability to fulfil their political ambitions on the platform of that party. These include former Vice President Abubakar Atiku and most of the governors that quit the PDP in protest against Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s authoritarianism. These are the forces behind Senator Bukola Saraki and they will as is so obvious, dump the APC as readily as they did the PDP to satisfy personal ambitions.

    Thirdly, there are those like Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State who, although quit the PDP along with the other governors, has remained fervent in his commitment to his new party and its agenda of change. Governor Rochas Okorocha and Senator Chris Ngige, who come from the hard core PDP ethno-regional Igbo South-east zone have also remained steadfast in their fidelity to the APC.

    It is true that none of these tendencies on its own could have dislodged the PDP without the other. However, it is a more fundamental truth that left to the likes of Abubakar Atiku and Bukola Saraki, Buhari would never be President of Nigeria. Not only did the Tinubu tendency mobilise the South West in support of Buhari against strong opposition from groups within the South West like Afenifere, OPC and certain Christian elements, Tinubu worked hard to help change the minds of some powerful northerners who were scared of the implications of a Buhari presidency. If Buhari had not made a head way in the South West, a feat he could not achieve on three previous occasions, it is unlikely that he could have won that election – at least not on the first ballot. If he does not retain the support of the South West, it will be easier for his opponents both within and beyond the APC to cripple and ultimately undermine his government.

    The formation of a harmonious ‘team of rivals’ among the three main tendencies within the APC is imperative for the party’s success as Nigeria’s new ruling party. Let me, however, quickly correct the erroneous impression in many quarters that a tendency within the APC tried to foist Senator Ahmed Lawan and Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila on the legislature as leaders of the National Assembly. Rather, the party leadership opted for mock intra-party primaries among interested aspirants. The Saraki/Dogara group, however, opted to shun this process and instead worked with the opposition to undermine their party in the National Assembly.

    However, there is no use the APC crying over spilt milk. This is no time to apportion blame. If the party hierarchy accepts what has happened in the National Assembly as a fait accompli, the Bukola/Dogara tendency should also make meaningful concessions to the other tendencies so that the APC can quickly put this crisis behind and move on.  Or is this a tactic to paralyze and compromise Buhari’s government even before it takes off?

  • NASS crisis will soon be over- APC chieftains

    NASS crisis will soon be over- APC chieftains

    The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha Friday gave a ray of hope that the crisis in the National Assembly will soon be over.

    The three leaders expressed the confidence while speaking with newsmen in Abuja after the maiden meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC.

    Saraki said: “Be rest assured that the leadership crisis in the National Assembly is over and as the chairman said we just have to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. And we are very pleased and this will be put behind us very soon.

    “You can see the smiles from the faces of everybody coming out. It is a good meeting.”

    Oyegun said: “It has been underlined, it has been underscored. And it has been emphasized by all levels of the leadership; Mr. President, members of the National Assembly, and our governors. That has today been thoroughly underscored.

    When pressed to be categorical on whether the crisis in the party had been put to rest or not, the APC National Chairman said: “This is the beginning of the end of that crisis. We are still going to sit down and dot the i’s and cross the t’s.  By the way, there was a resounding vote of confidence from the entire meeting.

    On his part, Governor Rochas Okorocha said: “The President gave a very highly resounding speech that has motivated the party again once more.

    “The party is in a high spirit. But of importance is that the entire NEC passed a vote of confidence on the leadership of this party; Mr. President and on the chairman of the party and members of the NEC.

    “And that is something we are going home with and we are happy that our party is coming back again strong.  And we assure Nigerians that this party will not fail.”

    Some of those at the session were the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Governors Adams Oshiomhole, Ibikunle Amosun, Akinwunmi Ambode, Abdulfatai Ahmed, Simon Lalong, Ibrahim Gaidam, Aminu Tambuwal, Atiku Bagudu, Abdulazeez Yari, among others.

    Also at the session were party leaders like Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Alh. Kawu Baraje, Chief Segun Oni (Deputy National Chairman, South), Senators Ahmed Lawan, Aliyu Wammako, Adamu Aliero, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Abdullahi Adamu, Dino Melaye, Chris Ngige, Kabiru Gaya, Osita Izunaso, Representative  Femi Gbajabiamila  and Alh. Lai Mohammed.

  • NASS crisis : Gbajabiamila’s group seeks Buhari’s intervention

    NASS crisis : Gbajabiamila’s group seeks Buhari’s intervention

    The 174 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the House of Representatives loyal to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on Wednesday night called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to abide by the party’s decision on four principal officers.

    Gbajabiamila, who was the choice of the (APC) for the post of the Speaker of the House of Representatives had lost election for the seat to Dogara.

    Following the loss, APC wants Gbajabiamila to be the House Majority Leader, Alhassan Doguwa as Deputy Leader, Mohammad Monguno as Chief Whip and Pally Iriase as Deputy Chief Whip.

    But Dogara and his group, like what played out in the Senate, are not disposed to the position of the party.

    A 30-man delegation of the 174 APC members led by Gbajabiamila made their position known to Buhari at a closed-door meeting at the Presidential Villa, which started around 9.45 p.m. on Wednesday and ended late into the night.

    Urging Buhari to call to order the 39 APC members, who have teamed up with the Peoples Democratic Party members in the House to undermine APC, the group said that the issue of Federal Character principle being thrown up by Dogara and his loyalists cannot apply to National Assembly as it didn’t apply in the 6th and 7th National Assembly.

    “If it must apply now in the 8th National Assembly, the group said that either the Senate President, Bukola Saraki or Dogara must step down as they are both from the North.”

    A copy of the group’s presentation to Buhari at the meeting made available to journalists at the end of the meeting reads: “On the 9th of June, 2015, 174 APC members in the House faithfully and loyally followed the directives of the party to vote for Hon Femi Gbajabiamila and Hon Mongunu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker while 39 other APC members colluded with the opposition Party, the PDP, to elect the current Speaker and Deputy Speaker with only 8 votes superiority.

    “Whereas the candidates of the majority (Gbajabiamila and Mongunu) openly congratulated the winners and continued to cooperate with the House, the opposition and the 39 APC members continued to hold the APC leadership in contempt.

    “Whereas we the 174 Party faithfuls and loyalists had been obedient to the Party, what shall be the reward of our loyalty to the Party?

    “The Party has chosen not to punish the 39 APC members including the elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker, but chose to direct, as it is customary and conventional, on how the other four (4) Principal Officers should be distributed. Alas! The opposition and the 39 members continue to hold the ruling Party in contempt by disobeying the Party

    “Whereas, the beneficiaries of the disobedience are citing Federal Character Principle as the main reason for their disobedience, His Excellency should note that

    “(a) During the 6th Assembly 2007 – 2011, the following Officers were Elected from the NORTH WEST (I) the president and Commander in Chief (ii) Hon. Ismaila Kawu (iii) Hon. Mutawalle. The two (ii) and (iii) occupied 2 out of the 4 principal officers positions of the Minority Party (iv) Hon Aminu Tambuwal was elected Deputy Chief Whip

    “(b) Also during the 7th Assembly, the following officers in Government were elected from the NORTH WEST

    “(I) The Vice President (II) The Speaker, R Hon Aminu Tambuwal (III) Hon. Ismaila Kawu, Deputy Minority Leader (IV) Hon. Garba Datti, Deputy Minority Whip. In these instances there was never an issue of Federal Character.

    “It should be noted that the Federal Character principle as embedded in Chapter of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) IS NOT JUSTICIABLE AND OF NO LEGAL CONSEQUENCE. Its provision in S.14 of the Constitution is only applicable to appointments in Federal Ministries and Agencies. The House of Representatives is not an Agency of the Federal Government and the Principal officers Positions are elective and not by appointment. If the Federal Character is applicable to the National Assembly, then both the Senate President and the Speaker cannot come from the North, one of them should be advised to step down.”

    The two- page presentation continued: “It is noteworthy that Mr. President and the Governors had strongly put their weight behind the Party and had severally admonished the House to abide by the Party position. The 39 APC members in the House continued to collude with the PDP to flagrantly disobey Mr. President, the Governors and the Party with a view to bringing the Party and Government to ridicule before Nigerians.

    “The conduct of the 39 APC members colluding with the PDP is tantamount to affront, ultimately targeted at polarizing our Party so as to give room for many of them to decamp to the PDP.

    “It is therefore imperative for Mr. President to take a stand and save the integrity of the Party, by calling to order, the 39 members, which include the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, to respect, honour and obey our Party Leaders and their directives.

    “In conclusion, Mr. President, we as loyal Party members shall continue to abide by the Party and our Party Leaders and their directives. We strongly appeal to you to direct the Speaker to return to our fold and be truly elected Speaker on APC platform. He should be directed to announce the other four Party Principal officers positions as directed by the Party as it has always been the convention.

    “We sincerely appreciate Mr. President for the audience trusting in his ability to successfully mediate so as to save our great Party, the APC, from further embarrassment.” It concluded

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Gbajabiamila said that the meeting was a very successful one and that the caucus and the party will come out bigger and stronger.

    According to him, Buhari, who is a party man, is committed to party supremacy.

    On what Buhari’s response to the group was, he said: “We all know that the President is a party man. He believes in the party supremacy. He believes in the ideology of the party and he believes that the party will move forward. That is how much I can tell you. That is not new, we all know the President.”

    Asked why the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, did not attend the meeting if it was a caucus meeting, he said: “The Speaker probably had other engagement and there were other caucus members that were not here. We are a representative of the caucus.

    He said that the meeting was not about himself or any individual but for the party.

    “It is not about me. We need to get that very straight. They voted with me, but the idea is about the party, they supported the party, the party position and the party line. It is not about any individual. Nobody came here as an independent candidate.” He stated

  • Senate crisis: Oyegun’s fate shaky as APC caucus meets

    Senate crisis: Oyegun’s fate shaky as APC caucus meets

    Akande laments effect of disagreement on party’s unity

    Chief John Odigie-Oyegun’s political future is hanging in the balance.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman should step down, some forces within the party are pushing, ahead of tomorrow’s  meeting of the National Caucus Committee.

    Odigie-Oyegun’s offence, sources said at the weekend, is his perceived failure to nip in the bud the National Assembly crisis that has shaken the party so much.

    Most of the APC governors, some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and party elders are unhappy that Odigie-Oyegun allowed the “crisis to fester”.

    They alleged that his “slow pace” attitude emboldened Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara to “negotiate” with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members.

    The delay in sending the list of APC nominees for principal offices in the Senate and the House of Representatives has fuelled the anger against Odigie-Oyegun.

    Party leaders are divided on whether to retain Odigie-Oyegun or dump him.

    A source, who briefed some reporters in Abuja on the situation in the party and the backlash of the crisis in the National Assembly, said there was apprehension in APC that if the chairman remained in office, it might collapse.

    The source cited two instances where Odigie-Oyegun failed to be “decisive” on the choice of principal officers in the National Assembly.

    The source alleged that the chairman was virtually forced to hold the mock elections that elected Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as the party’s choices for Senate President and House Speaker.

    It also took the intervention of the APC governors before he could send the list of party nominees for some principal posts to Saraki and Dogara.

    The source added: “There is much anger in the party against Oyegun. Many leaders have accused him of being indecisive or afraid to take the right decision.

    “It is as if the man has no backbone or self-respect. When he should move, he sits down. When he should talk, he is mute. When he should make a decision, he sleeps and after finally making a decision, he takes days to implement something that could be done in minutes.

    “After Saraki and Dogara rebelled by aligning with PDP National Assembly members, Oyegun remained strangely mum and unmoved to the harm being done to his and the party’s  authority. ‘He took the rebuff too lightly and quickly as if he almost welcomed it.’

    “It was only after APC governors intervened and applied heavy pressure that he wrote a letter to the Senate President and House Speaker naming the party’s choices for majority leader and the other posts.

    “Even then, the letter was half-hearted, oddly brief and strangely passive in tone. It was as if he wrote it under compulsion because he had been boxed into a corner by the governors and not by conviction.  Once again, Saraki and Dogara rebuffed him and once again Oyegun took the insult as if he asked for it.”

    Also, a member of NEC said: “What happened in the National Assembly was a pure case of failure of leadership by the National Chairman.

    “Certainly, his lapse is one of the major issues we will discuss at the National Caucus meeting in Abuja and later at our NEC session.

    “We are all disappointed and feel betrayed by Oyegun because he refused to take action at the right time even when President Muhammadu Buhari said he would leave the party to resolve the logjam in the National Assembly.”

    Analysing the APC and the National Assembly crisis in an article published on page 3 of this newspaper, former Interim National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, warned of the danger ahead for the party if nothing urgent is done to remedy the crisis arising from the election of Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

    He said: “Now that the whole conspiracy has blown open, it is doubtful if the present institutions of party leadership can muster the required capacity to arrest the drift.

    “It is my opinion that President Buhari, and the APC governors should now see APC as a recking platform that may not be strong enough again to carry them to political victory in 2019 and they should quickly begin a joint damage control effort to reconstruct the party in its claim to bring about the promised change before the party’s shortcomings begin to aggravate the challenges of governance in their hands.”

    The former Osun State Governor added: “Before the party knew it, the process had been hijacked by polluted interests who saw the inordinate contests as a loop-hole for stifling APC governments’ efforts in its desire to fight corruption.

    “Most Northern elites, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels who never liked Buhari’s anti-corruption political stance are quickly backing-up the rebellion against APC with strong support.

    “While other position seekers are waiting in the wings until Buhari’s ministers are announced, a large section of the South-West see the rebellion as a conspiracy of the North against the Yoruba.”

    Odigie-Oyegun himself has said that he cannot be stampeded out of office, saying efforts will be made to resolve all issues.

    The party’s state chairmen also last week after a meeting in Abuja, expressed support for the party chairman.

    In a communique signed by Chairman of the Kano chapter Alhaji Umar Haruna Mohammed, the party chiefs expressed concern over the crises rocking the party over the emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly.

    “As state party chairmen and direct grassroots leaders, we are all concerned about the development and therefore re-affirm our belief and loyalty to our party, the APC, its supremacy as contained in the party’s constitution and the decision of its leadership.

    “We are also not happy with recent development in the National Assembly, especially the lower chamber, and call on the party leadership to put in place proper machineries to checkmate further occurrences.

    “We also call on the party leaders to use the long break with the view of resolving the matter so that the much needed change will be seen and enjoyed by everybody.”

  • Akande offers tips out of APC crisis

    Akande offers tips out of APC crisis

    Former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande has offered some tips on how the ruling party can surmount its internal crisis.

    In a statement, Chief Akande blamed the crisis on those he called, some Northern elite, drug barons, anti-democratic forces and other elements who are afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti- corruption posture.

    He said the party must reposition for it to offer Nigerians the change it promised.

    The statement reads: “Some times in 2013, the Action Congress OF Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) resolved to merge and set up a merger committee to work out the modality for glueing together as one political party under one name, one constitution and one manifesto.

    “A splinter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) sought to be included in the merger.  An application made to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to this end by All Progressives Congress (APC) National Interim Committee, composed of ACN, ANPP, CPC, and factions of APGA and Democratic People’s Party (DPP) was approved in July, 2013.

    “Between Bola Ahmed Tinubu (an ACN leader) and Kashim Imam (a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader), the idea came up and was adopted  that the new party should embark on a membership recruitment drive to certain PDP governors, whose main agenda was to see President Goodluck Jonathan out of power.

    “The recruitment efforts took APC leaders to Rivers, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto, Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa states. Eventually, five PDP governors of Sokoto, Kano, Adamawa, Kwara and Rivers, together with the majority of their PDP National and State Assemblies members and other PDP National Assembly members from Gombe, Bauchi and Nasarawa, under the banner of the new-PDP, joined the APC.

    “The APC thereafter organised membership registrations in all the over 120,000 polling units and followed up by using these registered members to conduct congresses in all the almost 8000 wards, in over 770 local governments, in all the 36 states (including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and a convention at the National level, thereby creating one united APC party structure all over Nigeria.

    “With this air of oneness, APC went ahead to conduct primaries to select candidates for state governors and Houses of Assembly and for the presidency and the National Assemblies.

    “After the elections, which saw the APC to victory all round, a meeting was reported to have been held by certain old and new-PDP leaders in Alhaji Kawu Baraje’s house at Abuja to review what should be their share in this new Buhari’s government and resolved to seek collaboration with the PDP with a view to hi-jacking the National Assembly and, having got rid of Goodluck Jonathan, with an ultimate aim of resuscitating the PDP as their future political platform.

    “Unknown to most APC members, while Senator Bukola Saraki was being adopted as the candidate for Senate President by certain old and new-PDP tendencies, the theory was being propagated that, like in most presidential democracies, the APC minority leaders in the old National Assembly (i.e. George Akume for the Senate and Femi Gbajabiamila for the House of Representatives) should automatically become Senate President and Speaker respectively, now that APC has the majority.

    “Certain leaders felt that most past Senate presidents had come from Benue State, which Akume represented and that Benue State should be made to assume the traditional home of all senate presidents.

    “At the same time certain, senators were clamouring for one of the most ranking senators anywhere outside the Northwest zone that produced the President. That was how Ahmed Lawan, who has been in the House of Representatives for eight years and in the senate for another eight years emerged as the candidate for the senate president.

    “Democrats among the APC leadership insisted on selection by mock elections, rather than tribal or sectional considerations. As a result of primary elections, Ahmed Lawan and George Akume emerged as APC candidate for Senate President and Deputy respectively while Femi Gbajabiamila and Mohammed Monguno emerged as the Speaker and Deputy for the House of Representatives.

    “Numerous among those calling themselves businessmen  in Nigeria are like leaches, sucking from the nation’s blood largely through various governments and particularly through the Nigerian Federal Government. While all these schisms were going on in the APC, those who were jittery of Buhari’s constant threat of anti-corruption’s battle began to encourage and finance rebellions against the APC democratic positions which led to the emergence of Senator Saraki as the candidate of the PDP tendencies inside and outside APC.

    “Before the party knew it, the process had been hijacked by polluted interests who saw the inordinate contests as a loop-hole for stifling APC governments’ efforts in its desire to fight corruption.

    “Most Northern elite, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels, who never liked Buhari’s anti-corruption political stance, are quickly backing-up the rebellion against APC with strong support. While other position seekers are waiting in the wings until Buhari’s ministers are announced, a large section of the Southwest see the rebellion as a conspiracy of the North against the Yoruba.

    “What began as political patronages to be shared into APC membership-spreads among ethnic zones, religious faiths and political rankings and experiences have now become so complicated that the sharing has to be done by and among PDP leadership together with cohorts of former new-PDP affiliations in the APC, by and among gangs of past anti-Buhari’s Presidency, and certain APC legislators and party members who dance round the crisis arena to pick some crumbs.

    “Now that the whole conspiracy has blown open, it is doubtful if the present institutions of party leadership can muster the required capacity to arrest the drift. It is my opinion that President Buhari, and the APC governors should now see APC as a recking platform that may not be strong enough again to carry them to political victory in 2019 and they should quickly begin a joint damage control effort to reconstruct the party in its claim to bring about the promised change before the party’s shortcomings begin to aggravate the challenges of governance in their hands.”

    •Bisi Akande is APC’s former Interim National Chairman

  • National Assembly crisis: ‘APC should ‘ve zero-tolerance for divisive elements’

    National Assembly crisis: ‘APC should ‘ve zero-tolerance for divisive elements’

    A group of Nigerian youths, Youths for Change Nigeria, has decried the National Assembly crisis involving the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some of the party’s lawmakers.

    Its National Leader, Mr. Seun Bobade, in a statement yesterday in Lagos, noted that the party was bigger than any individual ambition.

    It said it had been following the National Assembly crisis and that it was shameful that a group of APC legislators decided to impede and forestall the party’s plan to provide good governance.

    “These legislators have been identified, and it’s become clear that they have no concern for the people nor respect for due process.

    “These are qualities that shouldn’t be exhibited by the people we’ve elected to be our lawmakers.

    “We are saddened by this shameful act that these legislators have demonstrated. We want to remind them that they all ran on the platform of the party and not as independent candidates. Therefore, party supremacy should be adhered to by all members under the APC platform,” the group said.

    The statement said members that would not allow the party to actualise its plans for the people should be shown the way out without sentiments.

    “There should be zero-tolerance for individuals who would rather satisfy their selfish interests at the expense of the party and the people of this country. Sanctions should be admitted to party members who go against the party that brought them in for elective positions. This will serve as a deterrence to curtail future rebellion within the party,” the group said.

    It said no personal interest should be allowed to undermine the supremacy of the party.

    ‘’We implore the leadership of the APC to do the needful now to prevent future embarrassing situations.

    “It is time for the President to set the records straight and take a hard stance against these divisive elements within the governing party. Discipline is needed. We certainly believe that the APC can deliver its campaign promises to the people. Therefore, we urge Nigerians to be patient,” the youths added.