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Tag: Senate

  • Forgery trial: Ekweremadu writes U.S Congress, EU parliament, others

    Forgery trial: Ekweremadu writes U.S Congress, EU parliament, others

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Tuesday wrote the United Nations, European Union, United States’ Congress, European Union Parliament, Governments of United States, United Kingdom and other foreign missions, over his trial for alleged forgery of Senate standing rules.

    Ekweremadu raised the alarm over what he described as attempt to truncate Nigeria’s democracy and “silence him as the leader and highest ranking member of the opposition in the country, all in the name of prosecuting an alleged forgery case.”

    The letter is a two-page document, entitled: “Re: Trumped up charges against the presiding officers of the 8th Senate: Nigerian Democracy is in Grave Danger,” a copy of which was sighted by our reporter in Abuja.

    Ekweremadu attached copies of the court summons and other relevant documents relating to the matter to his letter.

    The deputy Senate president noted that he wanted the international community, to “after perusing the facts before them, decide whether or not the trial was justified, or one purely borne out of political vendetta.”

    He insisted that neither his name nor that of the president of the Senate, featured in the petition filed by the aggrieved members of the Senate Unity Forum (SUF) or during the investigation of the petition by the police.

     

  • Alleged forgery: Senate summons AGF again

    Alleged forgery: Senate summons AGF again

    The Senate on Tuesday invited the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami to come and explain why it is necessary for him to drag Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, to court over alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rules.

    Following a motion by Senator Dino Melaye, (Kogi West) titled: “Imminent threat to our democracy,” the Senate resolved to invite Malami to explain why he allegedly disregarded and reopened the alleged forgery case against Saraki and others when a court of competent jurisdiction had struck it out.

    The Senate said Justice Gabriel Kolawole of Abuja High Court adjudicated and ruled on the matter, affirming that the issue is an internal affair of the Senate.

    Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, in a letter NASSIS/CJHL/024/2016/10 dated 27th June, 2016 and addressed to Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said Malami should appear before it on Thursday to explain his role in Saraki and Ekweremadu’s arraignment.

    The letter was received at the AGF office on Tuesday.

     

  • Forgery: Saraki, deputy docked, granted bail

    Forgery: Saraki, deputy docked, granted bail

    The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, were docked before an Abuja High Court on Monday over alleged complicity in forgery of the Senate Standing Rules, 2015.

    They were arraigned alongside former Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa and his deputy, Mr. Benedict Efeturi.

    Saraki, Ekweremadu and the two other accused persons  pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge preferred against them by the federal government.

    Following their not guilty plea, they were all granted bail and the case was adjourned till July 11.

     

  • Senate and MTN fine

    SIR: I want to thank the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for taking up the gauntlet on behalf of the Nigerian people to challenge the unilateral decision of the federal government to slash that fine imposed on MTN by the NCC.

    The infraction by the MTN resulted in the deaths of a lot of Nigerians.  Not slashing the fine will not bring back these lives. But we must not promote impunity and executive rascality by making decisions which affect Nigerians, in what looks like dictatorship.

    Let the cut in the fine be cancelled. Let the President constitute a committee involving the executive, the judiciary, and the legislative arms of government together with CSOs, to resolve the matter.

     

    • Bob MajiriOgheneEtemiku

    Benin City.

  • The Senate adrift

    What is the vision and elemental content of the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic? It is difficult to say, considering the issues that not infrequently preoccupy the legislative chamber and seem of urgent importance to its business of law-making. You would wonder if the ‘distinguished’ members have concluded that they are in-chamber primarily to look out for themselves and fight turf wars, more than they are there to legislate on issues of primary concern to their constituents. Proceedings of committee as well as plenary sessions of the Senate in recent weeks highlight such inclination, and portray the chamber as being adrift on murky waters of political survival.

    Being electees from constituencies closer to the grassroots than officials in the Executive arm of government, members of the National Assembly ideally should pursue principled causes deriving from popular sentiments or matters of general concern to the polity. Some past sessions of the Senate managed to make the cut, like the Ken Nnamani-led session of the 5th Senate, which aborted bullish moves for a third term bid by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007. The David Mark-led 6th Senate also count here, having restored stability and composure to the Legislative arm following an era of leadership musical chairs widely known to be instigated by the Executive arm during the Obasanjo years. That Senate session as well contrived the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ that saved this country from a constitutional gridlock foisted by the failure of ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua to cede power to his Deputy while incapacitated from performing urgent tasks of the office. Sadly, he didn’t get back to fully assume the office.

    The Bukola Saraki-led 8th Senate is barely one year into its four-year term, but it really isn’t too early for the vision and elemental content of the chamber to crystallise. Actually, a character seems to have emerged. Owing obviously to the controversial nature of its emergence, the chamber’s leadership is weighted down in a survival battle, which is not helped by alleged ethical failings that the Senate President and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu are being called to answer for. This inclement circumstance, apparently, has largely shaped the general outlook of the Red Chamber. At the last count, the 8th Senate cuts the figure of a reactionary institution utterly disconnected from the mood of its electors. And it just doesn’t seem close yet to readjusting.

    A few weeks ago, the legislative chamber passed amendments to the Public Procurement Act 2007 that, among other things, compel institutions of government at all levels to buy made-in-Nigeria goods. There can be no question for any right thinking person that the Bill is laudable because it promotes local content and long-overdue patronage of domestic producers, amidst a global slump in oil prices that has critically short-fed the Nigerian economy with the foreign exchange required to fund imports. In other words, non-essential imports have now become a life-threatening luxury. And for an economy whose local content has been so undermined that junks, including toothpicks, were freely imported at a drain on the country’s foreign exchange stock, the amendment bill, which passed third reading in the Senate, could not be more warranted for a time like this.

    But that initiative of the Senate came against the backdrop of a controversial resolve by the very chamber to procure 120 luxury vehicles for its operations in defiance of protestations by Nigerians high and low. The last time I checked, the four-wheelers being ordered by the chamber were exotic import items projected to take a sizeable chunk of the country’s lean forex stock, to the tune of N4billion when converted to local currency. Not a few had wondered why, if it were a matter of survival for the Senate to procure those vehicles, it would not patronise locally-assembled brands and save this country a run on her depleted foreign exchange balance. The point here is that the local content advocacy by the Senate is doubtless on the right track, but the chamber might just well be the first convert to its own message.

    Another slide: the Constitution Review committee of the Senate lately adopted amendments to the 1999 Federal Law that raise critical questions about the value quotient and legislative priority of the chamber. At its retreat penultimate weekend in Lagos, the committee passed a proposal to place the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker and Deputy Speaker on life pension, among other perks. Yet another proposal that scaled through prescribes immunity from prosecution for the National Assembly’s principal officers – just as obtains for the President, Deputy President, Governors and Deputy Governors currently in Section 308 of the Constitution.

    Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu, who chairs the Constitution Review committee, argued vigorously for the proposals mainly on the ground of institutional entitlement. It didn’t seem to matter that the proposals were so narrow in relevance and blatantly self-serving. Reports indicated, though, that some members of the committee across party lines spoke up against the proposals. Senators Ali Ndume (Senate Leader), Godswill Akpabio (Senate Minority Leader), Oluremi Tinubu and Eyinaya Abaribe were said to have marshalled countervailing arguments against the recommendations, but to no avail. On the other hand, Senators Stella Oduah, Ahmed Yerima Sani and Bala Na’Allah, among others, rooted for the proposals. Eventually, in the collective, the proposals flew – with 22 members voting in support while 13 members voted against.

    Not that the idea of life pension is alien to Nigerian law, after all the privilege already applies to principals in the Executive and Judicial arms. But to stretch that entitlement to the Legislature at a time when more than half of the country’s active workforce contends with deprivations arising from many months of unpaid salaries is, speaking minimally, insensitive. Besides, the Senate is an institution populated by persons that are already life pensioners of the Executive arm. The current Senate President, a former State Governor, is one such person. Throwing in another life pension for the legislative office is simply double jeopardy on the common treasury. And that is not counting the existing remuneration for members of the National Assembly, which most Nigerians perceive, as it were, to be excessive. In any event, the tenure in the Executive arm is restricted by law, while officers of the Judicial arm efflux from office on attainment of the statutory age cap. There is no such limitation to Legislative tenure other than the decision of the electorate not to return a candidate to his/her constituency seat.

    It is almost certain that the immunity proposal was inspired by ongoing trial of the Senate President by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), and his impending arraignment along with the Deputy Senate President and others before a Federal Capital Territory High Court on forgery charge. Now, the CCT trial is fairly straightforward in calling the Senate President to account for alleged breach of ethics in the course of his political past. I am not too sure that the forgery case, being prosecuted by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), is that straightforward in light of the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers. But the Senate’s response shouldn’t be to resort to self-help, as it has done with its wild-cat summon on the AGF, or to seek constitutional immunity from prosecution. Since they are already cited for trial, the Senate principals should go argue the constitutional doctrine in court. Truth is: most Nigerians want the existing immunity clause for the President and others in the Executive arm expunged, and not in the least compounded with additions to the list.

  • Senate rules forgery: Ex-NASS, Clerk, others blame Deputy Clerk

    Senate rules forgery: Ex-NASS, Clerk, others blame Deputy Clerk

    Top officials of the National Assembly are already trading blames over the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders/Rules 2015 ahead of the expected arraignment of Senate President   Bukola Saraki, his Deputy Chief Ike Ekweremadu and two others in court tomorrow over the incident.

    The immediate past Clerk to the National Assembly, SalisuMaikasuwa and the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Benedict Efeture are to face trial alongside Saraki and Ekweremadu.

    Maikasuwa and the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Dr. NmaOgozy, in their separate statements to the police said onlyEfeture could account for how the amendment came about.

    The statements,sighted by The Nation, form part of the proof of evidence attached to the charge sheet.

    Ogozy,for instance, claimed that the 7th Senate did not consider the report for the amendment of 2011 Rules and there was no record on Senate Standing Orders/Rules 2015 (amended).

    It was learnt that the trial court will now be saddled with the task of unraveling how the Senate Standing Orders/Rules 2011 was allegedly forged and printed as 2015 amendment.

    Ogozy, in his statement to the police, said: “I have worked in the National Assembly since May 2004 and that I have been the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business since 2006.

    “As the Clerk of the Rules and Business Committee, it is my schedule to receive bills, get them gazetted and schedule them on the Order Paper for the legislative processes that lead to their passage.

    “Also, it is my schedule to prepare the presiding officers’ brief for every plenary session and produce the Senate legislative calendar among others.

    “The committee had collated proposals for amendment of the Senate Standing Rules (2011 as amended) and had sent or laid the report on the table of the Senate for further legislative.

    “The Senate had not formally considered the report before the end of the 7th Senate on June 4th, 2015.

    “Because there were no copies of the 2011 Rules (as amended) left at the close of the 7th Assembly, my assumption is that the 2015 Rules (as amended) publication may have been issued by the leadership of the Senate since even the National Institute for Legislative Studies had also printed some copies of the 2011(as amended) Standing Rules when the committee ran out of copies before the induction of the 8th Assembly Senate.

    “It is my considered suggestion that any further information as to the differences found between the 2011 (as amended) and 2015  (as amended) Standing Rules would require the attention of a more senior staff of the National Assembly such as the Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly. This is all I have to say.”

    On his part, the immediate past Clerk to the National Assembly, Maikasuwa said Efeture is in the best position to clarify the status of Senate Standing Rules 2015(as amended).

    He said: “I became the Clerk to the National Assembly on 16th August 2010. On Tuesday, 9th June, I inaugurated the 8th Senate. I did not refer to any Standing Order to inaugurate the 8th Assembly.

    “I used the format/ procedure for the opening of a new parliament and also the proclamation for the holding of the first session of the National Assembly.

    “After the inauguration, I conducted the elections of the Senate President and his deputy. When nominations were made, I called the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, who is also the Clerk to the Senate to read out the guidelines for the election.

    “I do not know the current Standing Orders being used by the Senate now. The Senate Standing Orders used in the 7th Senate was not known to me.

    “The Clerk of the Senate is in a position to know. I am not aware of any amendment that was made to the Standing Rules of 2011.

    “I am also not aware of the amendment of the Senate Standing Orders 2015. I only appear in chambers three times: During joint sittings, during inauguration and valedictory sessions.”

    But Efetureasked the police to hold the leadership of the 7th Senate headed by ex-Senate President, Chief David Mark, accountable.

    He said on oath as follows: “I am the Deputy Clerk of NASS. The senate leadership ordered the 2015 Standing Rules as amended by their convention and practice. Standing orders 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 follow similar practice.

    “In Congress and in Parliament, amendment of Standing orders is by practice not necessarily by procedures.

    “The Ruling of the Senate President that standing rules of 2015 is the authentic is relevant please. Refer to the debates of the Senate on Wednesday 24th June, 2015 Senate leadership referred to that of the 7th Senate.”

    A source at the National Assembly who is familiar with the situation, said: “There is no doubt that there is Standing Rules 2015.

    “But the question is: who influenced the bureaucrats to produce it? This is the knot which the court will un-tie. There was a bit of politics in the alleged forgery of 2015 Rules.

    “It is an interesting case that will provide a few lessons for the management of the National Assembly.”

    The federal government has already lined up 14 prosecution witnesses against the accused persons.

    The prosecution witnesses,according to court documents obtained by The Nation, include the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator ItaEnang and the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator BabafemiOjudu.

    Others are Senators Suleiman Hunkuyi; Solomon Ewuga; Ahmed Lawan; Abdullahi Gumel; KabiruMarafa; Gbenga Ashafa; Robert Boroffice and Abu Ibrahim as well as Dr. OgozyNma, D.J.Adem, ex-DIG Dan’Azumi J Doma and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) David Igbodo.

    The police report with reference CR: 3000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.186/88 dated July 14, 2015  said: “On the 9th of June, 2015, a document titled “the Senate Standing Order 2015 as amended” was distributed to Senators of the 8th Senate for their inauguration as members.

    “The contents of the Senate Standing Oder 2015 as amended are substantially different from the Senate Standing Order 2011 as amended. Sections 2 (IV), 3(3) E, I, ii, iii, G AND H, 5 and 7 of the Rules are different in the two Orders.

    “The Senate Standing Order 2015 as amended was used by the clerks of the National Assembly and the Senate as the Senate Standing Orders to inaugurate and conduct elections into the offices of the presiding officials of the Senate viz the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President etc.

    “The testimonies of some members of the 7th Senate including that of the Chairman of the Business and Rules Committee and Senators of the 7th Senate indicate that the Senate Standing Order 2011 was not amended during the tenure of the 7th Senate, which ended on the 8th of June, 2015.

    “The procedure for the amendment of the Senate Standing Order as contained in Section 110 of the Senate Standing Order 2011 as amended stipulates that any amendment to the Senate Standing Orders should be in line with the following procedures:

    • Any Senator desiring to amend any part of the Rules or adding any new clause shall give notice of such amendments in writing to the President of the Senate giving details of proposed amendment.
    • The President shall within seven working days cause the amendment to be printed and circulated to members. Thereafter it shall be printed in the Order Paper.
    • The mover or movers of the amendment shall be allowed to explain in details the proposed amendments, thereafter in details the proposed amendments, thereafter the Senate shall decide by majority votes whether the amendment should be considered.
    • If the decision is to consider the amendments, then another date shall be set aside by the Rules and Business Committee, whereby opportunity would be given to Senators to further propose amendments but must strictly be confined to the original amendments. “Two- third majority shall decide the amendments but must strictly be confined to the original amendments.
    • Two third majorities shall decide the amendments and such amendments shall form part of the Rules of the Senate.

     

  • Ministers, SGF shun Senate invitation

    Ministers, SGF shun Senate invitation

    The frosty relationship existing between the Presidency and the Senate further deepen Thursday.

    Three ministers and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal, summoned by the Senate to appear before its separate committees failed to honour the invitation.

    The development emerged as Senate Thursday adjourned plenary for three weeks to observe its end of session.

    The Senate, Thursday, got messier, as the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal and four Ministers, shunned summons extended to them by the Upper Legislative Chamber.

    Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mallam Ababakar Malami, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama; and Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, were invited to face various Senate committees to clear certain grey areas.

    Specially, the Senate summoned the AGF on Tuesday to appear before its committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to explain why the suit against Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, over alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rules of 2015 became necessary.

    This resolution to invite the AGF followed the adoption of a motion of national urgent importance raised by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West).

    On the other hand, the SGF, Mr. Lawal and Foreign Affairs Minister, Onyeama did not also turn up to clarify in honour of their invitation.

    Lawal and Onyeama were invited to explain the criteria adopted in the selection of ambassadorial nominees recently forwarded to the Senate for consideration and confirmation by President Buhari.

    While Minister of Communications, Mr. Shittu who was invited by the Senate committee on Communications to explain the reduction of the fine imposed on MTN for alleged operational misconduct by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)

    Shittu did not also show up.

    The MTN sanction was originally N1.04 trillion, later reduced to N780 billion and again reduced to N330 billion by the Federal Government.

    The non-appearance of the Minister of Communications may have prompted a motion by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Communication, Senator Gilbert Nnaji which got Senate nod to summon the Minister and some other stakeholders once again.

    The two prayers of the motion asked Senate to “Direct the Committee on Communication to invite all the relevant stakeholders including the Minister of Justice, Accountant General of the Federation, Minister of Communication, executive vice chairman of NCC, Governor of Central Bank, managing director MTN Nigeria Limited and all other parties involved in all negotiations of the MTN deal to shed light on the matter especially whether the reduction was in accordance with the regulation of the NCC governing fines and penalties.

    To “Urge the Federal Government to move the initial amount of N50 billion from the CBN recovery account to the CBN/NCC treasury single account.”

    The prayers were unanimously adopted.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki directed the committee chairman report back in two weeks by the time the Senate resumes from its break.

    Nnaji noted in his lead debate that Senate is aware that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) enabled by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 is the statutory regulator for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.

    He said that as the regulator, the commission has been imposing fines on erring telecom operators over the years and proceeds from the redemption of such fines have been lodged in the commission’s designated account.

    The Enugu East lawmaker recalled that in October 2015, in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission Registration of Telephone Subscribers) Regulation, 2011, the Nigerian Communications Commission imposed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN Communications Nigeria Limited for failing to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered subscribers on its network.

    He prayed the Senate to note that Section 19 and 20 of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) registration of telephone subscribers’ regulation 2011 does not empower the commission or another entity or government officials to reduce any fine so imposed.

    Nnaji regretted that the MTN fine was unilaterally reduced from N780 billion without the input of the Ministry of Communications and the NCC which “constitutes a flagrant breach of this regulation and an attempt to whittle down the authority of the commission.”

    He added that through some negotiation process excluding the ministry and the commission but championed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation; MTN was requested to pay the sum of N50 billion as a gesture of good faith towards the settlement of the fine.

    “Mr President, the Senate recalls that the attendant confusion created by the claim and counter claim over the veracity of the payment of the said N50 billion by MTN and the domiciliation of the money in a CBN recovery account, as if the money in question was a stolen fund, prompted the committee on communications to embark on a fact finding meeting of all stakeholders involved on March 10, 2016.

    “These included the Attorney General of the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, Minister for Communications, Governor of Central bank of Nigeria, executive vice chairman of NCC, and the managing director MTN Nigeria Limited.

    “The senate regrets to discover by the admission of the accountant general of the federation at the meeting that the said N50 billion was actually lost in a CBN recovery account on the instruction of the accountant general of the federation.

     

    “Further regret to discover through a document available to the committee that MTN had already made a proposal of final payment of N300 billion as at the time of the meeting of the meeting in March which led the committee to conclude that there was a secret agreement between MTN, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Accountant General of the Federation to admit the N50 billion as the commencement of the execution of a final agreement of N300 billion.

     

    “The senate alarmed to observe that the reduced fine of N780 billion was further slashed to N330 billion through a settlement payment plan that smacks of unpatrotism and insensitivity of the parties that agreed to the new amount in spite of the economic plight currently facing the country.

     

    “The senate laments that Nigeria has been shortchanged in this whole process of account of the ridiculous settlement payment plan coupled with the disparity in the exchange rate regime when the fine was imposed abinitio compared with the current prevailing exchange rate where the value of naira is taking a downward slide.

    “The senate notes therefore as the representatives of the Nigerian people we are saddened about this development coming at a time when the Nigerian economy needs all the available capital infusion to bolster it,” Nnaji said.

    A

  • Group accuses Senate over attempt to blackmail Buhari

    Group accuses Senate over attempt to blackmail Buhari

    A Buhari support group, the Buhari Media Support Group (BMSG), Thursday asked the Senate to put the interested the nation above personal interest and stop blackmailing the President over court summon on its principal officers over forgery allegations.

    In a statement signed by its Coordinator, Muhammad Labbo, and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke and made available to newsmen in Abuja, the group said it was disappointing that the Senate wants to blackmail the president into submitting to its whims and caprices by stampeding him to stop the court summons of principal officers of the Senate to defend themselves against allegation of forgery.

    The group also said that as lawmakers, the senators should be on the same page with the president and his administration to uphold the laws of the land.

    They said further that rather than constitute themselves into obstacles in the quest to reposition the country and ensure obedience to the rule of law, the senators should be seen to show good example to the citizenry.

    The statement said: “we wish to remind the Senate that President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn to an oath to uphold the nation’s constitution, and no attempt should be made by any individual or group to undermine this sacred responsibility.

    “Additionally, it needs to be restated that the summons emanated from the petition raised by some senators over the forgery of the Senate standing order, a ground norm for conducting business in the hallowed chambers of the Senate.

    “The BMSG strongly believes that the individuals mentioned in the summons will have an opportunity in the court to prove their innocence, rather than using the hallowed chambers of the Senate to fan embers of division, and ill-feeling against the President.

    “The BMSG implores that as the representatives of their various constituencies, the senators should always work together with the executive to address the myriad of problems besetting Nigeria.

    “We therefore urge the Senate to immediately withdraw their uncouth language against the president and render an unreserved apology to Nigerians.”

  • Senate summons Minister, SGF over list of envoys

    Senate summons Minister, SGF over list of envoys

    The Senate yesterday resolved to invite Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyema and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),  Babachir David Lawal, to appear before it to explain alleged lopsidedness in the nomination of the 47 ambassadorial designates.

    The upper chamber said Onyema and Lawal should also explain the omission and irregularities observed in the list of ambassadorial designates forwarded to it by President Muhammadu Buhari two weeks ago.

    This followed the adoption of a motion on alleged lopsidedness of ambassadorial list sponsored by Senator Joshua Dariye (Plateau Central).

    The Senate said complaints have greeted the nomination had become not only embarrassing but most be remedied urgently in the interest of the country.

    The lawmakers resolved to stand down consideration and confirmation of the  nominees until they received satisfactory explanation from the Minister and the SGF.

    The Senate mandated its committee on Foreign Affairs to ensure that the minister and the SGF tendered the criteria used in selecting the nominees.

    Senators whose states were omitted in the selection drew attention of the Senate to the omission of their states including Ebonyi, Ondo and Bayelsa States.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki in his remarks said that the rule of transparency should be complied with in the process of appointing career officers as ambassadors.

    Saraki said, “I think a number of senators prior to this motion have raised this observation and I too have received a lot of petitions in my office on this same matter.

    “I think it is very important to say that on career ambassadors, we must ensure that the process is transparent especially they are going to be ambassadors and the number of petitions we have received this time is a bit more than usual.

    “It is important that the Foreign Affairs committee quickly invite the minister and Secretary to the Government of the Federation so that they can explain the processes of how some of these names came about.

    “That can be done before they even begin to consider the nomination for screening. The matter is referred to Foreign Affairs committee and we give them maximum of one week to be able to come with a report on it.”

    Vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, on his part said: “I am responding as the vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee. Actually we have received series of complaints from different states on how skewed the list that was presented to us here from the presidency is.

    “The complaints were so much to the effect that the credibility and integrity of the list is being put to question”

    “So, we are working on those very complaints and I think those that were not able to forward such issues to us should be able to do that.

    “But in the mean time the question we have is that it is either we screen those who are here on that list and then we await the second list or we await the second list before we take action in the whole thing “

    Our reporter gathered that the two invitees are to appear before the committee today.

  • Senate’s resort to self-help

    Character today counts for very little among our leaders. Rather than feel diminished by the perfidy of the leadership of the Senate, some senators have continued to justify the curious sense of entitlement that for instance drove BukolaSaraki, the Senate President to sell the victory of his party and Ekweremadu,, his deputy, to so covet an office he had occupied for eight years that he didn’t see anything immoral in ‘stealing’ what by convention belongs to the ruling party with a majority in any participatory democracy anywhere in the world. Instead of remorse, the duo has been playing the victim. Earlier they regaled Nigerians with tails of their exploits. Saraki told bewildered Nigerians that he, in the wee hours in June last year, hid himself inside a small car parked in front of the Senate chambers for close to four hours until the coast was clear enough for him to sneak into the Senate chambers where he was adopted president mainly by opposition members while 51 senators elected on the platform of his party were having a meeting with the president. For Ekweremadu, he chose the venue of the party he packaged to celebrate the victory of perfidy to inform Nigerians how he, along with some PDP members kept a night vigil inside David Mark’s sitting room scheming the theft of a convention he had enjoyed for eight years.

    However, some outraged senators  who felt diminished  by the Senate leadership’s lack of character petitioned the police alleging  that the source of Senate Rule 3 (3) (i) in the 2015 Orders-(All Senator-elect are entitled to participate in the voting for Senate President and Deputy Senate President) used for the election was suspect since the existing Senate Rule 3 (3) (k) of the 2011-(All Senators-elect shall participate in the nomination and voting for President and Deputy President of the Senate)which makes it mandatory for all members to participate in the process of electing the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, was never known to have been amended. A year after police investigation, a forgery case was initiated by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, against the leadership of the Senate, the immediate past Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji SalisuMaikasuwa, and the Clerk of the Senate, Ben Efeturi, at an Abuja Federal High Court,

    But rather than defend their honour by addressing serious issues of ‘fraud and forgery’ leveled against them, custodians of our laws have chosen to resort to self-help. The chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, SabiAbdullahiissued a statement, not to deny the charges but proffer reasons why the leadership of the Senate should not be prosecuted. This was followed by some theatrics on the floor of the Senate.Following a motion by Dino Melaye titled “Imminent threat to our democracy, alleged invitation of our principal officers by the court,” the AGF was summoned to come and explain why his action “does not constitute gross misconduct, incompetence, contempt of court and abuse of office”. Melaye insisted that “the Senate Rule 2015 is not forged and it is the authentic rule of the Senate”. His specious argument was that the same rule was used in screening the ministers including the AGF, service chiefs and in passing the budget. “If the rule is fake, then the budget we have received is also fake and illegal”.

    But how does asking the leadership to defend its honour translate to ‘a coup aimed at undermining the independence of the legislature’? Saraki and Ekweremadu, whether as self-confessed civilian coup plotters or as offshoot of David Mark/Ekweremadu’s 7th Senate, know too well that coups are not planned in open courtroom where they have been arraigned to defend their integrity. The inference that prosecution for alleged forgery is ‘capable of plunging the country into anarchy and constitutional crisis”, is troubling. This looks like a subtle threat to indicate that the Senate leadership is ready to pull down the whole edifice on its head if it goes down. We must not forget that shortly after the Deputy Senate President was reported to have said that ‘Buhari’s war on corruption was capable of leading to anarchy’, the Niger Delta Avengers and some South-south governors demanded that government slows down war on corruption. And if one may ask, even if ‘the prosecution of the Senate principal officers was aimed at forcing a leadership change in the chamber’, has the leadership of the Senate now become hereditary? It is also said that because ‘we are in a state of economic emergency’, what the Senate leadership expects are executive ‘bills and proposals aimed at resolving the crises of unemployment, currency depreciation, inflation, crime and insecurity,’ and not prosecution. And should the president fail to see reason with the Senate leadership and embarks on “criminal prosecution of freely elected legislators”,they reminded President Buhari that he “should not mistake the maturity and hand of cooperation being extended to the Presidency by the legislature as a sign of weakness’. There are infractions and incompetence, on the part of the executive which according to them were overlooked to “ensure that every Nigerian has food on his table and live comfortably in a secure environment”.

    Unfortunately Nigerians can see through the Senate’s subtle blackmail and hypocrisy. Nigerians know this Senate loves none but itself. This is a Senate that recently demonstrated its profligacy by spending N300m on toys called SUVs in a situation where 26 states cannot pay the minimum wage of N18,000; this is a Senate where many of its governors-turned senators are earning double salaries in the name of pension when millions of pensioners have not been paid for years, and this is a  Senate that recently made “ proposals for immunity and life pension for its principal officers’, many of who are according to Femi Fanana, a human right lawyer, have been ‘linked with criminal diversion of public funds, forgery and rape’. With friends like Saraki, Ekweremadu and their 83 ‘like mind senators’ therefore, Nigerians know they have no enemies.

    Perhaps it is also time to remind the Senate leadership that Nigerians who voted for change don’t want business as usual. They don’t want anyone including those with credibility problems to cover up infractions and incompetence of the government. It was the cover- up of infractions in Jonathan government by Mark/ Ekweremadu 7th Senate   that has now brought the nation to its knees.The7th Senate looked the other way as officials of the Jonathan administration ferried raw dollars from the CBN vault to the National Security Adviser’s office which served as a piggy bank for all manners of people. Mark/Ekweremadu kept their peace when concerned Nigerians raised alarm about the hijacking of politics and the economy by brigands. They did nothing about the rot in NNPC and in the ministry of finance where the nation lost billions inform of import duty waivers, and finally, they did nothing when Jonathan illegally removed Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the then CBN Governor for alerting Nigerians that $20billion was not transferred from NNPC to the federation account.

    Nigerians want nothing short of prosecution of the Senate leadership. It is also in its interest as advocate of ‘separation of powers’ to subject itself to prosecution instead of resorting to self-help. As students and offshoot of Mark/Ekweremadu, it will help it to first rid itself of the log in its own eyes if it is to properly recognize infractions in Buhari’s government. And finally, it will invalidate the thesis of those who on account of the Senate PDP caucus’ threat to withdraw support for Buhari’s government if the prosecution goes on, that ‘it is all about corruption fighting back’.