Make no mistakes about it; the gloves are off in the National Assembly. The nation’s Senate, especially its embattled President, Bukola Saraki is spoiling for a hard-drawn, bareknuckle fight with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Perhaps, if the wily old fox had tended to the needs of the assorted commercially lucrative birds in his Ota Farm instead of picking his pen to write mendacious letters to those in positions of authority, maybe the lawmakers would not be roaring for a fight at this critical period of our national life. But because mischief is second nature to Obasanjo coupled with the nagging urge to display his writing skill after obtaining a degree in Religious Studies from the National Open University, we now have a problem to contend with. For a man whose letters made huge impact, both positive and negative in the runoff to last year’s presidential election, it is doubtful if anyone would have succeeded in persuading the Ebora Owu to lay down his poisoned pen and allow Bukola and his gang of lawbreakers to find a way out of the a pervading, nay putrefying, self-inflicted hypocrisy.
For, if the truth must be told, there are too many hypocrites fronting as the real deal in the nation’s legislative chambers. Recall that, in the not-so-distant past, one of their colleagues had actually wondered how drug peddlers, certified fraudsters, confirmed criminals and petty robbers found their into becoming powerful members of that ‘distinguished’ gathering? In fact, that senator, a former officer of the law, was forced to withdraw the statement. That was even before former state governor, including those facing criminal trials on corrupt practices, started adopting the hallowed chamber as some sort of retirement facility. Today, a big chunk of these characters have become a sickening plague to the system regardless of their pretentious leaning to party affiliations and ideologies if there is any.
In all honesty and even before Obasanjo puts his pen to paper, many public analysts have warned against the shameless impunity that passes as a norm in the principle of independent lawmaking in Nigeria. Even where public affairs commentators have insisted on the need to conform to the democratic reality of separation of powers, it is obvious that the leadership of the National Assembly stretches its interpretative elasticity beyond common sense. Clearly, the independence of the legislature to make laws for the good governance of the country does not impose on it the right to have a different set of rules on how it runs its affairs. Unfortunately, the shenanigan in which budgetary appropriations for the National Assembly is drawn in bulk without sub-heads has gone on for too long that successive leadership in both chambers now see it more as a right than a clear breach of the law.
If the lawmakers would, for once, shed the sanctimonious rage and confront the wailing truth in Obasanjo’s insalubrious letter to the two chambers, they would see the sense in his plea that they ought to tread with caution in their focused craving to bask in affluence in an economy that wobbles on crutches. The allegations itemised by the former head of state are just too weighty for any lawmaker worth the thumbprint of the electorate to whimsically brush off as a ‘misplacement of anger’ like Senator Dino Melaye, the official mouthpiece of Saraki, did.
Now, what exactly did Obasanjo say? In his so long a letter, he surmised their attitude as wasteful, corrupt and insensitive. Like many well-meaning Nigerians, he wondered why the National Assembly budgets billions of naira to buy operational cars for each lawmaker when such issues of cars, housing and welfare are adequately covered in their allowances as approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC). “A pool of a few cars for each Chamber will suffice for any Committee Chairman or members for any specific duty. The waste that has gone into cars, furniture, housing renovation in the past was mind-boggling and these were veritable sources of waste and corruption. That was why they were abolished. Bringing them back is inimical to the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.” He reasoned.
Okay, I agree that Obasanjo may not be the right person to beat any lawmaker into line. At least, not after Melaye reminded us that the former military head of state ‘introduced corruption’ to otherwise incorruptible lawmakers when he allegedly dashed out N50m per senator and N30m for each House of Representatives member, to actualise the failed third term agenda. Yet, I do not think what his demands are too difficult to meet by an assembly of lawmakers that vowed to do things differently and transparently. What would the National lose if it accedes to Obasanjo’s request that its finances from 1999 to date should be opened for an external auditor to vet? Would the world come to an end if the legislature and the executive genuinely tighten their economic belts in line present realities instead of wasting valuable funds on inanities like Obasanjo suggested? Or would the gathering of distinguished and honourables be ‘mocking democracy’ if they adjust their mentality to attune with “patriotism, commitment and service” to humanity?
Obviously, the letter failed to reawaken the sensibilities of the lawmakers to the arduous role they need to play in Nigeria’s tortious developmental journey. Instead, it touched the raw scrotum of a vengeful legislature. That is how vengeance threw its hat in the ring for bloodbath with ‘anger.’ Perhaps, not satisfied with Melaye’s initial tame reaction to an ‘angry’ Obasanjo, the Senate President resorted to employing innuendos to forewarn his former boss that he would not hesitate to drag his agbada on the mud. Most newspapers aptly captured that mood when Saraki came out smoking, insisting that the visible rot that permeates the system today is the result of the callous rape of our collective patrimony since 1999. The simple question to ask is: Who was in charge of the country’s fortune in 1999? Hear Saraki: “We have all been here since 1999 up to the recent past when things were not done right. We are all part of it. I was there, you were there; every other political office holder in different capacities was there as well. The response of the 8th National Assembly is that the time for collective participation for the good of all Nigerians is here with us in line with the change mantra of the present administration. We are all on the same page for things to be done differently.”
In all this, I guess we must give kudos to the 8th National Assembly for the maturity it has displayed so far in spite of the brashness displayed by an angry chicken farmer. Rather than confront him headlong and overheat the polity, the leadership of the Senate has chosen to ignore Baba’s politics of anger and vindictiveness. Instead, they have logged on to his books of many sins and have discovered that he actually superintended over the award of the multi-billion naira Abuja Rail Project in 2007 to a Chinese firm without Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and design. That was not all. According to Melaye, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, the contract was also inflated by a whopping $10m per kilometre. As if that was not enough sin to shut Obasanjo’s mouth, the non-vindictive senator the contract was eventually reduced 45 kilometres instead of the initial 60.67 kilometres without a cut in the contact sum. Consequently, Melaye, after making a thorough research and analysis of the figures involved, said the Federal Government should demand a refund of $195.8 from the Chinese firm.
I still don’t get point the Senate under Saraki is making with this allegation. Obasanjo and Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, who was FCT Minister when the contract was awarded, left office in 2007. If they benefitted from the presumed inflation, then Melaye should avail us the relevant documents of transactions to assure us that it was not a vindictive move spurned by anger over Obasanjo’s diatribe against the lawmakers’ self-centredness and silly greed. Besides, how come the Senate closed its oversight eyes to the criminal act for more than eight years until Obasanjo tasked them on the need put service before pure mercantilism?
By the way, Saraki needs not recoil into his shell by denying that his statement was not directed at Obasanjo. That stone was meant for one person and the target is wise to decipher the import. Now that Melaye has unleashed the first salvo in what promises to be an interesting boxing match should Obasanjo decide to join them in the ring, one can only hasten to take prime ringside position in a circus game of political chicanery. So, let the fight begin until another circus show dims the popularity of this latest joke!
