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Tag: David Mark

  • Benue South: David Mark in the eyes of the storm

    Benue South: David Mark in the eyes of the storm

    Following the judgment of the Appeal Court, sitting in Makurdi, which nullified the election of former Senate President, David Mark, and ordered a rerun election in Benue South Senatorial District within 90 days, the political temperature in the state has risen as the fate of Mark hangs in the balance, report Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu and Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

    Although it is only a third of a state, the politics of the Benue South Senatorial District has suddenly emerged as a central focus in Nigeria of today. This is primarily because of the peoples’ interest in what would become of the political future of former Senate President, David Mark, after the forthcoming rerun senatorial election.

    Following the awesome influence he wielded nationally during the long years he was in office as Senate President, there is great uneasiness amongst his supporters in Benue that the nullification of his election and the rerun may mark the end of his political dominance in the North-Central state.

    The Nation investigation shows that the apprehension in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in particular is primarily based on the reported influence of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is not only the ruling party in the state but also parading most of the arch political rivals of Senator Mark.

    As a result of these, tension is already building up, thus further compounding the already complex political texture of both the senatorial district and the state.

    The complexity of the forthcoming Benue South Senatorial District’s re-run election may have been aptly previewed by the strange drama some people re-enacted at the burial ceremony of Ter Mbakor in Wannune, Benue State; last Saturday. As soon as the news of the Court of Appeal’s nullification of the election of former Senate President David Mark was received at the venue of the burial ceremonies, the mourners staged a free-for-all victory dance.

    To a casual observer unaware of the political texture of the state, it must have been extremely difficult to understand why hundreds of Tivs, who attended the burial would easily abandon the funeral rites for a victory dance against Mark.

    It would be recalled that Mark’s victory at the polls was challenged by Daniel Onjeh, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC).

    But the election of candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was upheld in October by the National and State Assembly Petition Tribunal sitting in Markudi. With the Appeal Court’s ruling, Mark has no option but to return to the field.

    Like other crucial elections, the rerun election ordered by the Appeal Court is now a subject of controversies. At present, the seat, occupied by former Senate President, Senator David Mark, is the only senate seat held by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the north central state now firmly under the control of the All Progressives Party (APC), led by Governor Sam Ortom and Senator George Akume, two fierce political rivals of the sacked Senator Mark.

    Although the former Senate President has been boasting that even if the election is to be held a hundred times between him and the APC candidate, Daniel Onjeh, he will continue to triumph, there are strong indications that the ordered poll may not just be between Mark and the APC candidate. The APC too has wasted no time in telling Mark to forget about returning to the red chamber.

    “David Mark doesn’t know what befell him yet. He is boasting because he thinks it is going to be business as usual. The new election is not just between him and the APC candidate. He is going to be contesting against Governor Ortom, former Governor Akume and even Senator Gemade too.

    “During the last election, these APC leaders, who have axes to grind politically with Mark, were busy pursuing their different ambitions. Now they are free and ready to support the war against Mark’s re-election just the way he had stood against them in the past.

    And if you consider the fact that Ortom is now governor of the state, Akume was governor for eight years with support base across the state and Gemade was National Chairman of Mark’s party for years, you will be able to imagine the forces up in arms against the former Senate President this time,” a source said.

    For one, it was the combined political marksmanship of these two political opponents of the former Senate President that ensured that the political control of the state was wrestled away from the hands of the PDP during the last general elections. Not even the presence of both Mark, then the Senate President, and Gabriel Suswam, who was governor of the state at the time, in the line-up of PDP chieftains in the state, could stop the rampaging APC from dislodging the former ruling party from the Government House and pocketing two of the three senate seats in the state.

    Although Mark managed to be declared the winner of his own senatorial district, the APC left no one in doubt that it intends to corner the seat for itself through judicial process. The party and its candidate kept insisting the election that returned the former Senate President to office for a fifth term was marred with wanton malpractices. Confident that the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not stand judicial scrutiny, the APC and its candidate, approached the electoral tribunal for reprieve.

    After an initial respite from the tribunal which upheld his election while dismissing APC’s petition on the ground that evidences tendered before the tribunal were documentary hearsay evidences, the Court of Appeal, Makurdi Division, annulled Mark’s election and ordered INEC, to conduct fresh elections in the Benue South Senatorial District within 90 days.

    In a unanimous judgement read by Justice Peter Ige, the appellate court dismissed the judgement of the tribunal and upheld the plea of the appellant that Mark’s election failed substantially to meet with the provisions of paragraphs 39 and 40 of the INEC approved electoral guidelines and sections 73 and 74 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.

    The war drums

    Confirming the readiness of the APC to oust Mark this time, Benue State Chairman of the party, Comrade Abba Yaro, said PDP is buried alive in the Benue South Senatorial District and that anytime the re­run election holds, the APC candidate, Daniel Onjeh, will floor Senator David Mark of the PDP.

    He foreclosed the chances of Mark returning to the Senate saying that the people shouldn’t be deceived by the boast of the former Senate President that he is going to win convincingly in the rerun election. He has also debunked the claim in some quarters that certain ethnic groups are dominating appointments made so far by Governor Samuel Ortom- led administration in the state.

    APC candidate in the forthcoming Benue South Senatorial District rerun election, Comrade Onjeh, also said his opponent, former Senate President David Mark, will not be voted back. According to him, the APC is prepared to take over the senate seat currently being held by Mark and his party, the opposition PDP.

    “He (Senator Mark) is not heading any significant committee and is permanently mute in the Senate. It will be a total waste of Benue South’s slot should he be allowed to go back. Or was Mark aware that he did not win the election and will be thrown out hence his complete lack of interest in the legislative business?”

    “His long stay in office is not commensurate to the development of the people of the zone. His claim of support from his constituents is therefore lies and preposterous,” he said.

    Confirming that the election is not going to be just between him and Mark this time, Onjeh, who debunked rumours of overbearing influences of both Akume and Ortom on him, said it was only understandable that he received their support as fellow APC members. According to him, all hands are on deck to stop the former Senate President this time around.

    Even within Mark’s PDP, dissenting voices are emerging as former Campaign Coordinator of the Senate President, Comrade Philip Agbese, publicly advised him to relinquish the PDP ticket in the forthcoming rerun elections to another candidate in the interest of his party and fairness in Idomaland.

    According to Agbese, who was the Secretary of the Youth Directorate in the David Mark Campaign Organisation, the nullification of the former Senate President’s election is an indication that the people are yearning for some change which is irrespective of the aftermath.  He further added that for the PDP to win any election again, it must adhere strictly to the mental consciousness of the people, which is disposed to some sort of change in the polity.

    “We welcome the judgement with sincerity of purpose and wish to call on the Distinguished Senate President to voluntarily resign the PDP ticket to Dr. Stephen Onmeje to lead the party to victory when a date is finally given for the elections,” he said. According to him, the judgement is God’s special intervention to balance the lopsided concentration of power in the old Otukpo axis of Idoma land.

    “We cannot pretend to be ignorant of the general consensus by Nigerians that power must change hands; our leader must do the needful to save himself of the embarrassing motionless status in the senate. This judgement means so much as far as our democracy is concerned; it is a face saving decision for both PDP and the Idoma nation to restrategise in the face of the ongoing political re-engineering of forces across the country,” he also added.

    Adamant Mark

    But posturing to be unfazed by the opposition against him, Mark said he will win 100 times if the election is conducted that period of time. He urged his constituents to remain calm and be law abiding over the judgment, just as he asked his people not to be deterred by the verdict, but be strengthened ahead of the re-run adding that he believed that he won the election convincingly, adding that he has no doubt that his constituents would turn out en masses to vote for him again.

    He said, “Whatever the situation may be, one thing I know is that my people are solidly behind me. They also appreciate the fact that I have done more than enough to lift up Idoma nation to a position of eminence in the contemporary political history of Nigeria. I won the election clean and clear. If we go back to the polls 100 times, I will still win convincingly.”

    Like Mark, the PDP is sure of victory at the rerun and has thrown its weight behind the former senate President. The party claimed Mark would win the rerun election as ordered by the Court of Appeal and that the people of Benue South are solidly behind the former senate president. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the confidence the party has of retaining the senatorial seat is even stronger now.

    He said that Mark remains an asset to the nation and the Benue South people will ensure he returns to the senate. Mark himself had said if the election in his senatorial district were to be held 100 times, he’ll win 100 times, adding that the inexplicable ruling of the Appeal Court was another evidence of the APC’s dangerous meddling in the affairs of the judiciary.

    The party spokesperson therefore urged PDP supporters in Benue-South to resist any attempt to intimidate them, “especially in their determination to ensure an effective and result-oriented representation in the Senate.”

     

  • APC ready for Benue rerun election  

    APC ready for Benue rerun election  

    The All Progressive Congress (APC) says it is ready to participate in the Benue South Senatorial District rerun election between former Senate President David Mark of PDP, and Daniel Onjeh of APC.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Appeal Court sitting in Makurdi had in November nullified the Benue South Senatorial District election held in April of which Mark was declared winner.

    The court nullified the election on the grounds of substantial breaches of the Electoral Act.

    The Chairman of APC in Benue, Comrade Abba Yaro, told NAN in Makurdi on Saturday that the good work being done by the APC government in the state would give the party added advantage ahead of the rerun.

    “We are fully prepared to take on our opponent in the election.

    “We will demonstrate to Nigerians that the era of dominance of David Mark has ended.

    “You will see the great margin with which he will be defeated in the election.

    “As the party chairman, I can tell you that none of the candidates that I took to the polls lost.

    “Barnabas Gemade won the Benue North Senatorial election; Sen. George Akume also won the Benue North Central polls; and this election will not be an exception.’’

    He, however, advised Mark to opt out of the election as he does not stand any chance of winning.

    Yaro said that the party would stand behind its candidate to ensure victory in the rerun scheduled to hold in Feb. 2016.

    He said that the rerun election would give the people of Benue South Senatorial District the opportunity to be freed from the political grip of Mark.

    The APC chieftain also explained that the party was consolidating its hold on political power by delivering the dividends of democracy to the people through effective service delivery.

  • David Mark rice floods Benue

    David Mark rice floods Benue

    Foodstuffs branded in the name of former Senate President, David Mark, are being distributed across Benue state by his supporters.

    This is as a result of the ruling of the Court of Appeal Makurdi Division, which nullified the election of Mark at the weekend.

    Meanwhile, the sticker on the items (branded rice, salt and tin tomatoes) indicates that they were made for campaign during the last election but diverted by some of his key supporters who were in charge of distribution.

    The items were seen distributed free of charge to the people in Otukpo area of the state.
    The Nation, however, observed that while some people rejected it, others collected with excitement on their face.

    Those spoke to The Nation wondered why the items were not distributed before the 2015 senatorial election saying it is a act if desperation and an after-thought to give the people of Benue south rice meant for six month back after the annulment of his election.

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  • Breaking news: Appeal court nullifies Mark’s election

    Breaking news: Appeal court nullifies Mark’s election

    The Appeal Court sitting in Makurdi Saturday nullified the election of former Senate President, David Mark.

    The court ordered a rerun of the election within 90 days.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Benue South, Mr. Donald Onjeh, had challenged the decision of the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which upheld the victory of Mark of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

  • David Mark’ ungolden silence

    David Mark’ ungolden silence

    SIR: Reports have it that over half a million persons are living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS in Benue State. This figure keeps rising by the day and sees Benue sit right at the top with the most endemic states a la HIV in Nigeria. What this portends for the state is better imagined. A commissioner from the state once stated that the virus was having a great effect on their state from farming to education et al, what with the impact on the human resources.

    In March of this year, Nigerians decided that they were done with the ineptitude and insensitivity of the PDP since the inception of this democracy in 1999 and collectively decided to show them the door. This led to massive changes at the helm, from the Presidency to the two legislative arms of government which meant new faces/party at the helm of these hallowed chambers.

    Did anybody see Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark at the hallow chambers during the just concluded ministerial screening? Did you notice his body language? Did anybody even hear his voice? He was aloof. He had this I-could- care-less-since-I-am-not -number one kind of mien. The man seemed so uninterested that one is wont to think what his business is in that house and it worries me.

    Senator Mark has been around for a very long time and has refused to leave the scene. The least he could do, having seen it all, is to jettison his self-worship and just begin to look at the greater good-that of his people. What I am asking/saying is, what stops Senator Mark from engaging one or all the potential ministers of health and taking them on on their plans to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS, not only in his state which has the highest number of people living with AIDS in Nigeria, but the whole country.

    Couldn’t the senator have asked how they plan to provide services where needed to the infected as well as the affected states? He could have engaged further and found out what plans they have as regards creating more awareness, especially in rural areas, so as to prevent the further spread of AIDS as well as stigmatization of people living with the monster.

    But no; our dear Senator Mark decided to keep mum when he had the opportunity to, for once, give his people the representation they deserve. He’s no longer the honcho of the house, so why belittle himself by saying anything. This is really low because it behooves him to work for the greater good even if it is to at least prove his beneficence.

    As it is, one cannot guarantee that he would raise a single bill to be passed in the senate. I just hope he gets over the loss and focus on the primary reason why he is there-to work for a better Nigeria.

    Bigger picture please, Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark or take a walk.

     

    • Chiechefulam Ikebuiro,

    chiechefulamikebuiro@gmail.com.

     

  • Re: David Mark in the vortex of history

    Last week on this page, I had re-run a piece (Like Mark, Like Saraki ; first published Aug. 28, 2015), following a rejoinder from Kola Ologbodiyan, an aide to former Senate President, David Mark. I had also run Kola’s letter side by side my article.

    Since Kola also accused me of frustration, I am re-running today’s piece to show that I am indeed ‘frustrated’. But not in the manner of a politician denied of pork as Kola seems to suggest. My frustrations stem from the obduracy of leaders like his boss Mark who have managed to hold Nigeria and her people hostage over the years. This article was first published on February 17, 2012. It was rerun on March 30, 2012 when out-of-the-world allowances were awarded lawmakers. Again on July 26, 2013, it was reproduced once more as The Economist of London branded Nigerian lawmakers as the highest paid in the world in its edition of that week.

    Today’s is the fourth rerun. How frustrating indeed can life be for a columnist? How can the current Senate President continue on that same unsustainable template we have wept about? They are so ‘dead’ in their ways they do not care whether the economy is crumbling. They don’t care if workers are not paid for one year…

     Leaders without vision do not care about history:

    They are too dim and too enamored with the trappings of this fleeting moment to spare a thought for tomorrow. They bury themselves in the inane perquisites of today’s office and position; they deny the reality of tomorrow and ignore the power of history. But surely there will be tomorrow and history will be told as long as there is life on earth. If only leaders in positions would stop a while and pop the question at themselves: how will history judge me?

    How will history judge the current Senate President, David Bonaventure Mark? I have elected to ask this question on this page for many reasons. First it was triggered by the news recently that each Senator will get a N16 million state-of-the-art jeep as official car and second, at the end of this tenure, he would have been in the Senate for a total of 16 years, eight of which would have been at the helm of the National Assembly as Senate President. This position makes him the de facto number two man in the land. But most important, providence has hoisted him onto a position to tinker with history, to shape history, to direct history and in deed to make history. So we ask today, what has he done (will he do in the remaining period) with this gavel of history handed to him? But sorry to say that so far, he has bungled his moments in history and here are some reasons why:

    Poor personal leadership example: As has been mentioned above, the senate presidency is the second most powerful and influential position in the land and Mark would have done eight years by 2015. Under a more perspicacious and insightful personage, that position has the capacity to bring about far-reaching changes in Nigeria. By sheer effusion of personal examples from the man at the helm, the legislative arm (down to the State assemblies) would have been the unblinking moral compass of the various governments.

    We saw a glimmer of this leadership precept in the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He said he would uphold the rule of law, he showed practical examples at the critical time and soon the judiciary caught on to it and this was reflected in the court rulings of that time. He declared his assets and made it public for the whole world to see; the first time any president would do that in our recent history. Without being prompted, his vice and other governors, followed suit. In less than three years, Yar’Adua made more salutary impact on the psyche of Nigerians and had more positive influence on our system than President Olusegun Obasanjo did in eight years. Today, the bonfire billowing in the upper chamber can be seen burning most assuredly in all the houses of assembly across the land. Just like the Senate, they have all become hollow chambers of mercantilism and debauchery.

    Lack of probity and transparency: All of a sudden Nigerians can’t tell anymore, how much their legislators earn. All we know now is that being a legislator in Nigeria (at any level) is the best job in the world. It must be the highest paying and most risk-free job known any where. Never a headache from any graft agency as other government officials suffer; in spite of the cries and clamour by the populace the legislature insist on creating a fiscal haven of its own that defies appropriation acts and revenue guidelines.

    The hallowed chamber of the National Assembly (NASS) seems ensconced in the bosom of mammon and held spell bound by its self-awarded boundless perquisites of office. NASS is certainly the new honey pot of a rotten Republic. Legislators have become so licentious that they would corral banks into granting them billions of naira in loans to share. At what interest rates and costs to the taxpayer? It is on this framework that the current Senators would award themselves a N16 million official car in a time of severe austerity in the land. At a period the populace has been badgered into relinquishing the only ‘subsidy’ they enjoy’ at a time that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has determined that 100 million Nigerians are dirt poor earning less than $1 a day. It is doubtful if any other senator anywhere in the world rides such an exotic machine at tax payers’ expense.

    Oversight function, oversight extortion: This is the most critical function of the legislature apart from passing bills. But this key instrument of check and balance has been bastardised and debased. It has become an instrument for self-aggrandisement and extortion. MDAs across the country are comatose and non-functioning because oversight function on them is weak or nonexistent. If the legislature is compromised by the MDAs where would it find the moral authority to exercise oversight? Any wonder things like turnaround maintenance (TAM) on our refineries are mired, a road project right under the nose of the Senate in Abuja is overpriced to the tune of N38 billion; corruption grows organic and cancerous in the land eating up the entire fabric of society  yet nobody seems to know what to do. What about the probe panels in various legislative assemblies? Mum is the word on this cash cow.

    People alienated and unrepresented: May we urge the Senate President to do an unscheduled tour of the constituency offices of his members and while at it, inspect the constituency projects for which huge funds are allotted to his members. It is a stark fact that most Nigerians do not know their legislators; there is hardly any functional constituency office anywhere, no projects for monies allotted and no town hall meetings. No country will grow one inch with legislators of this ilk.

    In conclusion:  the NASS has become very toxic to this country, unbeknown to the members. The onus is on David Mark to resolve to pick his spot in history. Let’s note that history is not about the wealthiest man or the most powerful of his time but about he who brings the most positive change to his people and society. Fortunately he still has a bit of time. Few quick things he can do quietly with his colleagues include fashioning out a simple, workable code of conduct; making sure that all members have standard and functional constituency offices, ensure town hall meetings are held regularly by members, ensure that the auditor-general of the federation does his work and releases his annual report promptly, and ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the finances of the Senate. The Senate can rescue the country from the current slide down the slope if it resolves to have a fresh start.

  • Tribunal admits four exhibits against David Mark

    Tribunal admits four exhibits against David Mark

    The National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has admitted four exhibits from the subpoenaed Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) witnesses in a petition by Mr. Daniel Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the return of Senator David Mark by the INEC.

    The former Senate president was returned winner of the Benue South election held on March 28, having defeated his rival, Onjeh.

    At the resumed sitting, Mr. Yakubu Nachamada, one of the witnesses from INEC, identified five documents, which Onjeh sought to tender, but the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) counsel, Chris Alechenu, objected to the admissibility of one of them.

    He premised his rejection on the grounds that the document did not originate from the party.

    The document in contention is a letter dated July 27, authorising the INEC worker to be a witness in the suit.

    Alechenu averred that the letter could only be tendered in evidence either through the INEC chairman, the resident electoral commissioner or the writer of the letter, saying the witness was neither of them.

    “The witness is not the writer, addressee and is not even copied in the letter. So, the letter cannot be tendered through him.”

    Mr. Kenneth Ikoni, counsel to Mark, corroborated the views of the PDP counsel and urged the court to reject the admissibility of the letter.

    Onjeh’s counsel, Tunji Oso, urged the court to discountenance the objections raised by the respondents’ counsel, saying the document was relevant and sufficient to link the witness to the evidence relating to his relevance in court.

    Citing the Nigerian Weekly Law Report, page 17 (G-H), he averred that “a document linking a witness to an evidence can be tendered with or without the consent of the writer or addressee.”

    The tribunal Chairman, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu, ruled that the document was vital to the appearance of the witness in court.

    She overruled the objections of the two lawyers and admitted the document in  evidence as Exhibit PA.

    The Card Reader Accreditation Data in respect of the election for the polling units in the senatorial district generated from the INEC website and presented in court by Nachamada was admitted in evidence.

    Another exhibit admitted in evidence was the receipt for the certification of documents.

    However, the court refused another application by Oso to tender the subpoena by the tribunal for the two witnesses from INEC to testify in court.

    Counsel to the PDP had urged the court to reject the admissibility of the order on the grounds that it was already the document of the court, stressing that the court had no need for it in evidence.

    Justice Dipeolu agreed with the respondents’ counsel and rejected the admissibility of the subpoena order in evidence.

    The case was adjourned for the continuation of trial.

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  • Sallah: Saraki, Mark harp on national unity, peace

    Sallah: Saraki, Mark harp on national unity, peace

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Thursday congratulated Nigerian Muslims and their counterparts across the world for the successful completion of this year’s Ramadan fasting and celebration of Eid-el-Fitri.

    He said that Muslim faithfuls should intensify prayers for unity, peace and progress in Nigeria.

    Saraki in a statement issued by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, urged Muslims to adhere to one of the injunctions of Allah that formed the basis of sermons delivered in various mosques during the holy month that all citizens should pray for their leaders and their nation so that the leaders can receive divine guidance while initiating measures that will bring comfort and respite for the generality of the people.

    He said, “At this point in our national life, unity among all the different ethnic and religious groups will usher in peace and peace will engender progress and development.

    “We therefore need to learn to live together in peace, tolerate one another and eschew actions which can threaten the peace of the nation.

    “Muslims, in particular, should continue to demonstrate the fact that the meaning of Islam is peace and therefore we should learn to live in peace with people of other faith and tolerate one another.

    “We should also remember our fellow citizens in the North eastern part of the country who are being assailed by insurgents who call themselves Boko Haram.”

    The Senate President urged all Nigerians to continue to pray for the country’s military who are engaged in the war against the insurgents “so that by the period of the next Ramadan, peace would have been totally restored to the whole of the Northeast and other parts of Nigeria.”

    He added that good followership is a sine qua non for good leadership.

    He urged Nigerians to display patriotism always as well as to pay their taxes as at when due, eschew corrupt practices and protect public facilities as if it is their own.

    Also former Senate President, David Mark, in a good will message to Muslims, called for ceaseless prayer and genuine resolve by all Nigerians in the war against insurgency in the country.

     

  • Showcasing his public image

    Showcasing his public image

    Title: David Mark mastering the Senate Presidency
    Author: Onjefu Okidu
    Year of Publication 2015
    Reviewer: Dan Amor

    Rather than being an outing in the familiar mode of commemorative publications, complete with its eulogies, accolades and nostalgic effusions, “David Mark: Mastering The Senate Presidency”, a 500 page book, beautifully written and expertly packaged by Dr. Onjefu Okidu, a lecturer in Mass Communication, is a profound and ramifying intervention in the remarkable and inimitable strides of Distinguished Senator David Mark as President of the Sixth and Seventh Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Segmented into twenty-eight (28) chapters, this is the first major extensive outing on any of the politicians who have led the Nigerian Senate since the evolution of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The book provides an intriguing balance to the dark and murky depths of the National Assembly leadership of the 1999-2005 period before the emergence of Senator Ken Nnamani as Senate President. With a sharp-shooting narrative, the author keeps to the surface with a sure sense of comic timing, weaving intricate and amusing plots that provide opportunity for witty commentary on a marvelous variety of human foibles and conceits.

    Published in 2015 by TIGRAPH Prints and Publishing, Kaduna, Nigeria, “David Mark: Mastering The Senate Presidency “, is a bittersweet story, set in an amorphous context, related in a prose that is strikingly unpretentious. Bitter in its lamentation of tottering leadership of the Upper Chamber leading to its endemic instability during the Obasanjo Presidency and sweet in the overwhelming stability the Red Chamber is manifesting since the Yar’Adua/Jonathan Presidency. It is one of the best Nigerian political narratives of this generation. Technical and aesthetic accomplishments coincide exactly with its thematic content: what is said and how it is said are inseparable. As a professional communicator, everything the author has said has helped to consolidate his achievements. Indeed, the separate pieces of the twenty-eight chapter book are stitched together with recurring motifs and with the tantalizingly gradual revelation of details that coalesce in the reader’s mind.

    “Mastering The Senate Presidency “, portrays Senator David Mark, the President of Nigeria’s 6th and 7th Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly as a statesman and the repository of the workings of the legislature in which he has been a leading player since 1999 when he was first elected to represent the people of Benue-South Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). A charismatic leader of men variously described as a brilliant mind and  an astute politician, Mark was trained in various academic institutions at home and abroad including the National Defense University, Washington DC, and Harvard University, Harvard, Boston USA. What many may not know about this accomplished political denizen is that he is a consummate team player. This may have been responsible for his unfettered rise in Nigeria’s political firmament.

    He had also played several roles in the current political dispensation which have prepared him for the unprecedented achievements he has recorded as the doyen of the Nigerian legislative leadership. As President of the Nigerian Senate, he is also Chairman, Senate Committee on Selection and Chairman of the National Assembly. Before his dramatic emergence as Senate President the Senate in particular and the National Assembly at large, had been hobbled by a plethora of bickering and confrontation between an overbearing Executive and an inexperienced Legislature. No doubt, this unhealthy development adversely affected the performance of the National Assembly. Eight years down the road, the astute and pragmatic leadership of Senator Mark has infused the Legislature with some sweet-smelling flavour and has thus insulated the hallowed Chambers from needless controversies between the Legislature and the Executive and also helped in dousing tension and internal wrangling amongst members.

    Without going into a tree-by-branch account or chapter-by- chapter analysis of Mark’s startling achievements as Senate President as captured in the book, it is important to stress that the book lays bare his leadership qualities beginning from his mature handling of the crisis that arose as a result of the health challenges of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua leading up to his untimely death. In fact, the negative perception of non-performance of the National Assembly has changed markedly due to the enviable leadership provided by Senator Mark. Indeed, the new and exciting leadership direction, enduring stability and impressive performance level of the present Senate stems in part from the maturity, high sense of responsibility and gravitas demonstrated by Senator Mark, the absence of executive meddlesomeness and a better understanding and appreciation of the demands of the Legislature in a Presidential democracy by members.

    The book has shown why it is now possible for the younger generation of Nigerians to rank Senator David Mark very high among his peers; why the enormous passionate veneration of Senator Mark and his tenure as President of the Nigerian 6th and 7th Senate. Mark has made it possible for them once again to believe in politics and democratic ideals and a better Nigeria. The integrity of the political system embodied in the Constitution, respect for the rule of law, belief in the supremacy of a law higher than the wishes of a transient majority: all these are estimable grounds on which to base one’s actions, grounds on which many Nigerians may comfortably stand. Isn’t it an irony therefore that someone with military background could be so level-headed as to entrench or deepen our democracy with such finesse and comportment?

    The book asserts that David Mark’s leadership of the Senate is not only pragmatic but also visionary. To strengthen legislative capacity, Mark initiated series of institutional and technical innovations to enhance the capacity of the Senate to meet the challenges of the legislature in the 21st Century. This has resulted in the acceleration and passage of key legislations to enhance ongoing economic reforms. Under his leadership, there has been strategic institutional intervention through robust application of oversight functions, to ensure accountability and probity in concert with international best practices. There has been increased sector-wide probes, to ensure greater acccountability and transparency even as more and more agencies of government, ministries and parastatals have come under intense Senate scrutiny.

    “David Mark: Mastering The Senate Presidency”, is an accomplished and mature work. The narrative is told from the perspective of a well-grounded academic with a PhD in Mass Communication, who has several years of solid journalistic experience behind him. The book is a potboiler of high order, intended to sustain the reader’s interest, remain true to the historical evidence and deliver a message, all at the same time. The plot is structured according to the complex rules of journalistic reporting and informed commentary. Yet there is a vast aura of authenticity about Dr. Onjefu Okidu’s analysis, the result of his intensive research into the historical setting. While the book shows considerable political insight and compassion, it offers little insight into the characters themselves, except the subject, David Mark. This is, indeed, appropriate to the genre, but at times the reader craves subtlety and an occasional touch of elegant simplicity amid the dark, exotic shadows of the “ancien regime”. Go for it. Grab it. Savour it. And keep it in your family library for generations yet unborn.

    Amor is an Abuja-based critic and journalist.

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