Saraki And Dogara
• Ekweremadu, Lasun emerge deputies • PDP snatches victory from jaws of defeat, rejoices • Buhari terms election constitutional • APC kicks, to discipline erring members • South-south loses out in power grab
In what could be described as the perfect coup d’etat, Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara yesterday defied all the odds and hurdles placed in their way by their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), by emerging Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives in a contest that was characterised by subterfuge and skillful guile.
Saraki beat his rival, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was not even present on the floor of the Senate, to clinch the presidency unopposed, while Dogara floored his rival, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in a close contest that was won by a mere eight votes.
But their victory would not have been achieved without the assistance of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which by its decision to adopt both men and pair Saraki with Senator Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy, enabled PDP to get its comeuppance over the APC.
The PDP had suffered a similar fate when in 2011 lawmakers on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) helped Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha to defy the zoning formula of the PDP to emerge speaker and deputy speaker in the House.
That act of defiance by its members was later to haunt the PDP, resulted in the eventual defection of Tambuwal along with several other PDP lawmakers to the APC, and was one of the factors that led to PDP’s woeful performance at the 2015 polls.
The stage was set for the epic battle when Saraki and Dogara rejected APC’s adoption of Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the choice of the ruling party for the leadership posts in the National Assembly.
However, the party’s decision to throw up Lawan and Gbajabiamila led to a schism among APC lawmakers, enabling the PDP to captilise on the division and determine the outcome of yesterday’s election.
The outcome of the parliamentary election also handed the National Leader of the party Bola Tinubu a bloody nose after his attempt to foist his preferred choice of candidates to lead the National Assembly failed.
In the Senate, Saraki was elected unopposed as its 13th president, following a proclamation letter from President Muhammadu Buhari ordering the inauguration, which was read out by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa.
The inauguration, which took off at exactly 10.02 am, was attended by 57 senators-elect. Thereafter, the clerk called for nominations from senators. By the Senate Rules, only 38 senators need to be present to form a quorum.
Consequently, Senator Ahmad Sani (Zamfara Central) nominated Saraki as a candidate for the office of the Senate president.
The nomination was seconded by Hon. Dino Melaiye (Kogi West) after which the clerk called for further nominations but to the surprise of many, there was absolute silence as his rival in the race, Senator Lawan, and nearly all his supporters were absent.
“Is there any other nomination?" Maikasuwa asked twice. Then he drew the curtain, declaring: “In the absence of any other nomination, Senator Bukola Saraki is hereby elected.”
His election was accompanied by a resounding applause, following which he was led to the platform to take the oaths of office and allegiance led by the clerk.
Thereafter, Saraki took his seat as the new Senate president, while the day’s proceedings continued.
Saraki's emergence was followed by the election of Senator Ekweremadu of the PDP as the Deputy Senate President.
Ekweremadu, who had held the office for eight years in the Sixth and Seventh Senate when Senator David Mark held sway as the Senate president, was nominated by Senator George Sekibo (Rivers West).
He polled 54 votes to defeat Senator Ali Ndume, who scored 20 votes. Ndume gallantly walked over to Ekweremadu and hugged him when the votes were being counted and it was obvious that he was going to lose.
The emergence of Ekweremadu was a fallout of the tough negotiations between Saraki and PDP senators the previous day.
The PDP senators, who were mainly from the South-south and South-east, had alleged that the pair of Lawan and Senator George Akume gave them no sense of belonging because it was a North-north ticket.
Hence, they promised to offer Saraki their total support if he would concede the Office of the Deputy Senate President to them in view of the closeness of their numbers to that of the ruling APC, which has the majority membership.
APC has 59 senators following the death of Senator Ahmad Zannah (Borno Central) in May while PDP has 49.
The proposal was accepted wholeheartedly by Saraki and at a meeting of the PDP senators-elect and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP held at the residence of Senator Mark at 10 pm on Monday, the PDP senators resolved to give their votes to Saraki en masse.
However, the election would have been keenly contested if Lawan and his supporters had been present, even though Saraki would still have won comfortably, but the Yobe-born senator along with his supporters was at the International Conference Centre (ICC) awaiting the arrival of Buhari, who was scheduled to meet APC lawmakers before the inauguration, but never turned up.
Buhari was said to have abstained from the meeting, THISDAY gathered, when security reports reaching him showed that the exercise would be futile, given PDP’s adoption of Saraki and Dogara.
The meeting was scheduled for 9 am whereas the inauguration was billed to hold at 10 am. It was learnt that the senators were still awaiting the arrival of Buhari when the news got to them in ICC that Saraki had emerged as the Senate president.
Sources present at ICC said Lawan and his men received the news of Saraki’s emergence with rude shock, prompting them to rush down to the National Assembly to see things for themselves.
Indeed, within minutes, the senators began to troop into the chamber only to find Saraki seated on the Senate president’s seat.
However, when Senators Lawan and Akume heard the news of Saraki's emergence, they did not bother to show up at the chamber. Hence, they were not among those sworn in on Tuesday.
Earlier, the ruling party ordered that every entrance into the National Assembly should be shut.
As early as 6am, the road leading to the National Assembly had been cordoned off while policemen and other security agents had been deployed to stop human and vehicular movements into the premises.
The ICC meeting was aimed at prevailing on Saraki or Dogara to step down for APC’s candidates. But at about 9.30 am, security agents allowed National Assembly staff and other accredited visitors to walk into the premises, paving the way for the inauguration to start at 10 am.
In his acceptance speech, Saraki thanked his colleagues who deemed him fit to ascend the exalted office of the Senate president, saying he felt honoured and privileged to be so elected.
He expressed gratitude to his colleagues whom he said “travelled with him through the difficult road”, which culminated in his emergence on Tuesday.
He commended Buhari whom he said had remained steadfast by his decision to allow the National Assembly elect its own leaders.
According to him, the president had set the National Assembly on a strong footing, assuring Nigerians that the lawmakers under his leadership would reward the gesture with strong confidence by expressing themselves as “dependable allies”.
Saraki also praised his predecessor, Mark, whom he said had in the last eight years provided uncommon leadership upon which he promised to build.
Saraki said the Senate under his leadership would face the arduous task of lawmaking with due commitments, vowing that his leadership would roll out an agenda that would help the institution to deliver on its responsibilities.
He also assured Nigerians that the Senate under his leadership would pursue its oversight functions with vigour and solicited the support and cooperation of his colleagues in the discharge of his duties.
In a full House, on the other hand, and after more than two hours of voting, members of the lower legislative chamber elected Hon. Dogara as the seventh Speaker in a keenly and politically slippery contest.
Dogara narrowly won the contest by eight votes, polling 182 votes, one vote above the simple majority stipulated by the 1999 Constitution, against Gbajabiamila who got 174 votes. Two ballots were voided.
Indications that the contest would not favour APC’s anointed candidate, Gbajabiamila, became apparent when at 10.30 am, news filtered in that Saraki had emerged as the Senate president.
Despite the news from the upper chamber, the real business of the day began with Hon Abdulmumini Jibrin nominating Dogara. Gbajabiamila, on his part, was nominated by Dr. Muhammad Sani Abdu.
Subsequently, polling started and was succeeded by the counting of the ballots. When it became apparent that Dogara had secured a slim win over his rival, tension rose in the House and members surged forward to the front of the chamber where they besieged Maikasuwa.
After a few minutes, order was restored enabling the clerk to announce the result of the election to the elation of Dogara’s supporters.
Dogara was then sworn in by Maikasuwa and the new speaker took the mantle of leadership at 4.45 pm.
After his victory, Dogara pledged that he would preside over an institution that would give a premium to the protection of underprivileged Nigerians.
This is as he outlined the legislative agenda of his administration as maintenance of the autonomy of the House, while pledging a close working relationship with the executive.
He also said the House would review the budgetary processes of the House, among other proposals.
According to him, legislators of the lower chamber are known for their tradition of debates and radicalism, thus being in the vanguard of the defenders of rights of the common man.
In this regard, Dogara said: "We shall continue to champion the rights of the weak and poor. We shall continue to be the anchor for the wellbeing of our people.”
But he was cautious in his pronouncements, noting that “after the euphoria of today comes the difficulties of tomorrow”.
He assured Nigerians that his administration would play its part “to recover our nation from the clutches of hunger, poverty, disease, and social, economic, political and infrastructural quagmire”.
He also promised to improve oversight coordination and processes, strengthening the committees of the House, transparency and accountability on the issue of salaries, allowances and running cost of the legislature, and improving communications with the general public.
After his emergence as speaker and swearing-in of all other House members present, the election for his deputy began.
In the second election, Hon. Suleiman Yusuf Lasun was elected deputy speaker of the House after a round of voting that dragged into yesterday evening.
He scored 203 votes to defeat Hon. Mohammed Tahir Monguno who got 153 votes.
Reacting to the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as Senate president and speaker respectively, Buhari yesterday charged the duo to focus on positive change, but stopped short of congratulating them.
The president said the election of the leaders of the National Assembly saw the establishment of some constitutional procedures, but the process established by the party should have been adhered to.
A statement issued by his media aide, Femi Adesina, said the president would rather that the process of electing the leaders as initiated and concluded by the APC had been followed.
It added, nonetheless, that Buhari was of the view that a constitutional process had somewhat occurred.
“President Buhari had said in an earlier statement that he did not have any preferred candidate for the Senate and the House of Representatives, and that he was willing to work with whoever the lawmakers elected,” the statement said.
It added: “That sentiment still stands. Though he (Buhari) would have preferred the new leaders to have emerged through the process established by the party.”
The statement stressed, however, that the stability of the nation’s constitutional order and overall interest of the common man were uppermost on the president’s mind as far as the National Assembly elections were concerned.
Buhari subsequently called on all the elected representatives of the people to focus on the enormous task of bringing enduring positive changes to the lives of Nigerians.
However, the APC threw all niceties to the air in its reaction to the elections in the National Assembly, describing as “totally unacceptable and the highest level of indiscipline and treachery” the conduct of yesterday’s inauguration of the National Assembly that led to the emergence of Saraki and Dogara as Senate president and speaker, respectively.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it would summon an emergency meeting of its leadership to mete out the necessary sanctions to all those involved in the show of indiscipline.
“'Senator Bukola and Hon. Dogara are not the candidates of the APC and a majority of its National Assembly members-elect for the positions of Senate President and House Speaker.
“The party duly met and conducted a straw poll and clear candidates emerged for the posts of Senate President, Deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, supported by a majority of all Senators-elect and members-elect of the House of Representatives.
“All National Assembly members-elect who emerged on the platform of the party were bound by that decision.
“The party is supreme and its interest is superior to that of its individual members,” the party said.
“Consequently, the APC leadership is meeting in a bid to reestablish discipline in the party and to mete out the necessary sanctions to all those involved in what is nothing but a monumental act of indiscipline and betrayal to subject the party to ridicule and create obstacles for the new administration,” it said.
APC decried a situation in which some people, based on nothing but inordinate ambition and lack of discipline and loyalty, would enter into an unholy alliance with the very same people whom the party and indeed the entire country worked hard to replace and sell out the hard won victory of the party.
“There can be no higher level of treachery, disloyalty and insincerity within any party,” the party said, vowing to deal with the matter using all constitutional and legal means available to it.
APC also asked all its loyal Senators-elect to report to the Senate to be sworn in in order to discharge their constitutional duties.
The PDP, however, was in a joyous mood and congratulated the newly elected Senate president, his deputy and new speaker of the House, stating that their elections underscored the fact that no section of the country should be neglected in national issues.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement yesterday, described the development in both chambers of the National Assembly as a “victory for democracy and triumph of the time-honoured value of the PDP that every zone and segment of the country must at all times be given a sense of belonging in governance”.
The PDP assured the public that it would continue to partner like minds in other political parties and groups to ensure that the nation’s democracy, which it nurtured in the last 16 years, is sustained in the overall interest of the Nigerian people.
“What is paramount to the PDP is the sustenance of our democracy and the wellbeing of our people, irrespective of creed, class or ethnicity. The PDP is therefore willing and ready to partner like-minded individuals in other political parties and groups to sustain our democracy, ensure good governance, and promote the unity and stability of our dear nation.
“Nigeria as a nation belongs to all of us. Its interest therefore must be put over and above personal, partisan or group interests at all times.
“In this regard, the PDP notes with gratitude, the immense contributions of the immediate past Senate president ‘the Baba of the National Assembly’, Senator David Mark, for the decency and mature manner with which he ensured the smooth take off of the Eighth National Assembly,” the party said.
The statement also commended the PDP acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, for successfully galvanising PDP members in both chambers of the National Assembly, which contributed to the peaceful conduct of the elections.
The PDP charged its members in the federal legislature to continue to uphold the tenets of democracy and enforce the constitutionally vested parliamentary role of check and balances to ensure the much desired accountability and probity in the polity.
PDP advised the APC to stop whining and accept the will of the people, respect the independence of the legislature, adding that it was not responsible for the ruling party’s “naivety and crass inexperience”.
With the National Assembly polls done and dusted, the South-south geopolitical zone now stands as the only region that could not clinch one of the top six posts in the country.
Buhari from Katsina State, represents the North-west zone; his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is an indigene of Ogun State and represents the South-west; Saraki from Kwara State, represents the interests of the North-central zone; Dogara, a Bauchi indigene, represents the North-east region; while Lasun from Osun State, represents the South-west zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment