By Rotimi Akinwunmi,
Abuja
The National Assembly has never had it this tough since the
commencement of the 4th Republic in 1999. Though power struggles had taken
place in the federal parliament at every inception of the last 7 Sessions,
never had any of such dragged for so long, with the possibility of amicable
solutions getting thinner by the minute. It is also instructive to note that
the last 16 years of democratic experience had been placed firmly in the hands
of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which lost power to a retinue of acts of
commission and omissions.
Living In Glass House
The crystalized opposition parties called All Progressives
Congress (APC) which has found itself in the position of the ruling party has
been showing its low level of preparedness for governance as it has been
faltering from one point to another since it came on board on May 29th.
For those who know, the crisis within the APC caucus in the
National Assembly, which has resulted in the polarisation of the party members
into two opposing factions, was engineered by the PDP elements within the fold
of the ruling party, while those still within the confines of PDP make mockery
of the APC leadership who have continued to run helter-skelter, looking for
immediate and acceptable solutions to the problems within.
However, like a warning to anyone living in glass house not
permitted to throw stones at will, the circles of personal aggrandisement and
love for self-glorification has crept into the fold of the PDP members in the
Senate and is threatening to tear them apart. The cohesion the party enjoys
which made it possible for it to foist a by-partisan leadership on the Senate,
with the emergence of Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President under the
APC controlled federal government, may be faltering at present.
PDP’s Nominations
Despite the fact that the PDP National Working Committee
(NWC) has approved the zoning of the minority principal officers seats to the
various zones, with some silent approvals given to the candidature of some
persons as favourites to occupy the offices, some members are insisting on
truncating the arrangements.
Olisa Metuh, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, had
about three weeks ago, announced the zoning of the minority office in the
Senate which was agreed on at the end of the National Working Committee (NWC).
According to the agreement reached at the meeting, the
Senate Minority Leader is to be occupied by a South-South nominee; North
Central will produce Minority Whip while Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy
Minority Whip would go to North-East and South-West respectively.
In the House of Representatives, PDP said it accepted the
choice of the members who have already chosen Hon. Leo Ogor from South-South as
Minority Leader.
Metuh, however, said the North West will produce the
Minority Whip while the South East and North East will produce Deputy Minority
Leader and Deputy Minority Whip respectively.
He said the party expects that, in consonance with the
provision of the Standing Rules of the National Assembly, members will use
their various zonal party caucuses to choose party principal officers to enable
PDP provide effective opposition in the National Assembly.
“We have directed them to note that in accordance with the
practice and convention of our party, the nomination process should take into
consideration ranking, gender, and religious sensitivities”, he said.
However, the directive of the party is about being spurned
by members in the Senate who are pushing personal interests far and above the
collective interest of the party.
The position of the Minority Leader seem to be the most
contentious as various camps within the South-South caucus have continued to
hold on tenaciously to their choice of candidates, not minding the fallout on
the party.
Stakeholders in the South-South PDP, made up of influential
leaders of the party, including the immediate-past president, Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan and his wife, are known to have shown interest in influencing the
choice of the occupier of the office which will be the highest ranking PDP member
in the Senate from the South-South region.
Clash Of Interests
Incidentally, there seem to be a clash of interest in the
choice of candidate made by the former first family as the duo of the Deputy
Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as well as Governor Nyesom Wike of
Rivers state, are known to be on the opposite side of the divide with them.
The confusing situation is made more complex as while both
Ekweremadu and Wike are kicking against the choice of Senator George Sekibo as
Minority Leader as suggested by the former first family, the immediate-past
governor of Akwa-Ibom state and now senator, Godswill Akpabio threw his hat
into the ring for the same position.
But Akpabio’s ambition, which is at variance with the Senate
Rules on ranking, is causing further division within the PDP South-South
caucus.
The supporters of Akpabio seem ready to throw the rules
overboard in an attempt to get him the seat, irrespective of the contribution
and steadfastness displayed by Senator James Manager in protecting the interest
of the PDP in the Senate in the past, and the fact of his “seniority” in the
chamber.
The senate rule which guides the conducts of the business on
the floor of the Senate gives strict consideration to seniority in the chamber
in the sharing of offices.
Chapter 2 (2) of the Senate rule on Election of Presiding
and Other Officers says “Nomination of Senators to serve as Presiding Officers
and appointments of Principal Officers and other Officers of the Senate or on
any Parliamentary delegations shall be in accordance with the ranking of
Senators. In determining ranking, the following order shall apply; (i) Senators
returning based on number of times re-elected; (ii) Senators who had been
members of the House of Representatives. (iii) Senators elected as Senators for
the first time.
Following the rule strictly, Senator Akpabio is the least
qualified for the position of the Minority Leader among the contestants while
James Manager tops the table.
Curiously, the chances of Senator James Manager, who had
hitherto been touted as the natural choice for the Senate Minority Leader seat,
are looking dim as financial muscle appears to have laid a path ahead of the
final decision that will be announced when the senate resumes plenary on July
21.
Lurking Crisis
Throwing more lights on the current situation within the
Senate caucus, a senator from South-South zone covertly revealed that the
brewing crisis was ‘capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a viable
opposition party in the years ahead’.
“We are seeing the APC crisis now, ours is also in the
making because before July 21, if we too don’t sort ourselves out, we can at
best say that what is capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a
viable opposition party in the years ahead may have been planted.
“We all thought the issue of Senate Minority Leader has been
laid to rest until the DSP(Deputy Senate President) called us for a meeting in
his house where he sought peoples opinion on the propriety or otherwise of
selecting Senator John Enoh for the position.
“I think it was from there the former Akwa-Ibom governor got
the feeling that if the matter has to be revisited, then he would take a shot
at it, but he doesn’t know that his ambition is against the rules of the senate
as regards the selection of its Principal Officers.
“Before then, we were all facing the challenge of the
suggestion by the former president and his wife that we should consider George
Sekibo who is from Rivers state but the duo of Ekweremadu and Wike kicked
against it.
“From all indications, if we don’t step in on time, our
earlier decision backing James Manager may fail because you know what money can
do in politics; we can’t say money won’t work in this circumstance.
“Although Akpabio has argued that both Manager and the House
Minority Leader-designate, Hon Leo Ogor, being from Delta state, cannot hold
the two positions simultaneously, we have also told him that since the PDP is
in unusual circumstances, we can allow that to fly,” the senator said.
However, Akpabio seems not deterred as he still hangs on to
the hope that he will be made the Minority Leader of the Senate, not minding
the presence of “seniors” in the chamber from the South-South zone.
Speaking with newsmen at the party secretariat last week, he
noted that though he’s interested in the seat, his fate however, hangs in the
hands of his colleagues who will take the final decision.
When asked by journalists if he was interested, Akpabio
said, “it is not a question of interest, it is a question of capacity. So, if I
have the capacity, my colleagues will decide.”
“In the Senate, everybody is equal but some have been there
for a long time like the ranking senators and all that, so when you have the
opportunity to be in the red chamber, you have equal rights to aspire for any
position but you first have to be sure that your colleagues will be interested
in you.
“If my name has been mentioned probably by my colleagues and
I consult and at the end of my consultations with stakeholders of our party
across the nation, I will be able to make appropriate statement,” he said.
Before The Storm
As the Senate resumes plenary next Tuesday, it is left to be
seen how the PDP handles it’s current challenges and form a united front in
tackling the menace of “me, myself and I syndrome “ that is threatening to push
the party into a needless war.
Will Akpabio successfully push for the discarding of the
relevant senate rule to enable him emerge as Minority Leader? Will Sekibo ride
on the back of former president Goodluck Jonathan to achieve his aim or will
the party allow common sense to prevail and allow the rule be implemented as
ought to, and allow James Manager be the Minority Leader? Time shall tell.
However, it will be better for the PDP to avert the
impending crisis and avoid the plague ravaging the APC, thereby saving itself
the needless headache.
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