COLLAPSE OF CEASEFIRE: MEND issues two-week ultimatum

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PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 10, 2016 VIEWPOINT By Nelson Ako Okoli VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF A prosecution in proper perspectives SENATE President Bukola Saraki is currently facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over allegations of wrongdoings pertaining to asset declaration in his days as Governor of Kwara State. He is also answering to charges bordering on alleged forgery of Senate rules. The Senate President is seen as the number three man in the hierarchy of power and order of protocol in Nigeria. The occupant of the office would ordinarily be a very powerful person especially when he is a member of the ruling party. However in the case of Saraki, the extra advantage of his supposed membership of the ruling party appears to be lacking on account of his determination to occupy the position of Senate President. He vied for the position and, via the instrumentality of deft political maneuvering/strategy, he emerged the President of the Senate to the consternation of some powerful forces within his party who made no effort to conceal their opposition to his ambition. He has however managed to remain in the position even in the face of opposition from his supposed party men. POLITICS OF SARAKI’S EMERGENCE The politics of Saraki’s controversial emergence has its roots in the inability of the ruling party to manage effectively its post electoral victory and also the failure of the ACN, CPC, ANPP, break away faction of PDP and other political parties that merged to form the APC to completely discard their old identities and subsume same under the canopy of the new party APC. It was reasoned in some quarters that since the CPC and ACN had taken the presidential and vice presidential slots, Saraki, who joined the APC with other politicians from the breakaway Of Saraki’s trials, politics and real likelihood of bias Those who are asking the learned trial judge to disqualify himself are situating their calls on a likelihood of bias PDP, should be allowed to take the number three slot. It was not very difficult for the pro-Saraki senators to reach an agreement with the PDP senators who combined forces with them to install Saraki as Senate President. Since Saraki’s emergence, it has been one intrigue after the other, all aimed at making him uncomfortable in his No 3 position and, curiously, all the intrigues have been orchestrated by his fellow party men. This speaks volumes about intra party cohesion/unity or lack of same. That topic is however for another day. Perhaps I need to say here that I am not a fan of Saraki even though he was a friend to a relation of mine. I chose my words carefully by saying “.......... was a friend” because I don’t know if they are still friends and also because I know for a fact that in Nigeria, a friend in power is a friend lost. There may be very few exceptions to this rule though. My interest in this topic is mainly on the issues and principles pertaining thereto and not necessarily on the dramatis personae in the current theatre of anomie. If it is indeed true that the breakaway faction of the PDP (now in APC) took every steps to ensure the emergence of Saraki as Senate President, then they (the breakaway PDP block in APC) would be right to call themselves the defenders of democracy, equity and spirit of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the following reasons: 1. By Saraki’s emergence the Senate has made a bold statement to the effect that the legislature would guard jealously its independence and would not condone any undue interference from the executive arm of government or any political party. That would be commendable especially when we remember what harm executive/presidential interference did to the legislature in the days of Obasanjo’s presidency. 2. Saraki’s political engineering was a bold attempt at upholding the principle of equitable distribution of offices. It did not matter to Saraki’s party (the APC) that the South East and South and South were completely ignored in their scheme of distribution of very important national offices. It was Saraki’s maneuver that accorded the South East an opportunity to produce the Deputy Senate President. Saraki and his supporters even went further in the composition of the Senate Committees by ensuring that the South East contrary to the wishes of some powerful forces in the ruling party was not totally ignored in the scheme of things. 3. Section 14 (3) of the 1999 constitution States clearly as follows: a“ The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of it’s agencies and the conduct of it’s affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Feaderal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity .........Thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of it’s agencies.” So far, Saraki and his group appear to be very mindful of this very important provision of our constitution which comes under the heading of “Fundamental objectives and directives principles to state policy”. They have upheld this aspect of the spirit of our constitution in the composition of committees and other appointments unlike what obtains in the executive arm of the APC controlled Federal Government which ensured a deliberate exclusion of the South East from every aspect of the nation’s security apparatus. As it stands today, nobody from the South East is entitled to attend any Security Council meeting under the present day Federal Government which seems to operate a deliberate policy of exclusion/ marginalization of the South East in utter disregard of constitutional provisions. Section 15(2) of the 1999 constitution states “..........national integration shall be actively encouraged whilst discrimination on grounds of place of origin, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited”. It is rather curious that while the APC controlled Federal Government (Executive arm) violates the spirit of the 1999 constitution reproduced in part above, the Senate under Saraki (an APC Senator) makes visible efforts to uphold same. This could make one easily arrive at any of the following conclusion or more as follows: 1. The ruling party is yet to become a political party in the real sense of the word as all the merging parties are still maintaining their individual identities and group idiosyncrasies. 2. The ruling party is utterly bereft of any modicum of cohesion hence the simultaneous operation of two mutually exclusive and diametrically opposing policies:- a recipe for confusion. Whichever way one looks at it, the Senate under Saraki must be commended for defying the party’s policy of exclusion/ marginalization. The Senate under Saraki’s leadership must be commended for upholding the constitution and defending the independence/autonomy of the legislature. Sequel to the foregoing, and the seeming demystification of the APC party leadership, no effort is being spared to teach the “errant” Saraki a lesson in party supremacy. After several ineffective and unsuccessful media trials, Saraki is now before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. THE CCT TRIAL OF SARAKI AND THE LIKELYHOOD OF BIAS As a practicing lawyer, I would avoid every temptation to go into the merits or otherwise of the cases of the prosecution and /or defense. Both sides have formidable legal teams to handle their briefs. I am however uncomfortable with the calls by some pro-Saraki commentators for the presiding judge (The Hon. Justice Danladi Umar) to disqualify himself from the Saraki case. The judiciary is a separate arm of government and no effort should be spared in insulating it from the undue influence of the executive arm of government and politicians generally. Our judges must be protected from the undue interference of politicians. Those who are asking the learned trial judge to disqualify himself are situating their calls on a likelihood of bias. There have been insinuations to the effect that the learned judge is being investigated by the EFCC. Those who are making these calls should be reminded that the issue of “likelihood of bias” is not a very easy issue to deal with before a judge/panel or tribunal because you would be essentially asking the learned jurist to pass a judgment on/himself by saying whether he is likely to be biased. The law is not based on emotions. The learned jurist has the legal authority to hear the application and decide whichever way he pleases. The beauty of the system however lies in the fact that Saraki has a constitutionally guaranteed right of appeal which cannot be denied. *Okoli, a legal practitioner, is a Realtor and Chartered A r b i t r a t o r . (akookoli3@gmail.com) To be continued VIEWPOINT By Uche Anichukwu VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Flaws VIEWPOINT in the prosecution of Senate leaders By Uche Anichukwu I read a recent editorial by a newspaper entitled, “Ekweremadu’s Desperation”, and which attacked Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s letter alerting the international community to what he perceived as the endangerment of the Nigerian democracy. Entitled “Nigerian Democracy is in Grave Danger: Re: Trumped Up Charges Against the Presiding Officers Of the 8th Senate”, Ekweremadu, in forwarding the court summons containing what he termed trumped-up charges against himself, the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki; and two others, requested various members of the international community like the UN, EU, EU Parliament, USA, Canada, UK, etc to “read through the annexures- petition by members of the Senate Unity Forum, statements by persons interrogated, and the police report- to see if our names appeared anywhere in these documents”. However, far from requesting the Senate Trial: Unmasking the Real Desperadoes intervention of the international community in his case as erroneously/ mischievously reported by some, Ekweremadu clearly stated: “This is for your information and reflection”. Ekweremadu’s letter has expectedly generated serious reactions among Nigerians, mainly in support, but also with some dissents. Said the newspaper, “Ekweremadu’s letter, as usual with the typical Nigerian elite’s manner of defence, was not about whether he and the three others actually committed the alleged crime of forgery or not; it pandered to the usual appeal to pity and sentiment more than any attempt to exonerate them of the alleged crime”. I want to share my opinion on the propriety or otherwise of the letter as well the alleged desperation. Nigeria, being a member of the international community, is not an island. Our hard-won democracy did not come entirely by our own efforts. The global community also pressured the military to quit. The UN, EU, Britain, Canada, USA, etc., have also continued to fund several aspects of our democracy and development efforts. If the ruling party feigns ignorance regarding the grave implications to Nigeria and Africa, of full-blown political crises that could result from the plethora of deliberate constitutional breaches and exclusion of some parts of the country from government, let them allow the international communities to, on their own, say that Ekweremadu raised a false alarm. Professing the rule of law, the newspaper said those accused of forgery should “face their charge instead of trying to politicize their trial”. What the editorial, however, fails to address, is what happens where the actions of the Inspector-General of Police and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) are in breach of the constitution and amount to what the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja, recently described as “an abuse of legal process”. There is a subsisting case (FHC/ABJ/ CS/646/15), filed by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, challenging the constitutionality of the police investigation into Senate Standing Order in question. Although Justice Gabriel Kolawole, of the FHC, Abuja refused Senator Nnaji’s ex-parte application last year seeking to stop the police from further investigation pending the exhaustion of the pending suit, he ordered the respondents, namely, Office of the Inspector- General of Police and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation not to take actions that would undermine the suit. However, even in refusing the application, Kolawole made some instructive judicial pronouncements that should have guided the AGF, whom himself, was a counsel to a party to the case (Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi). He said: “The issues as relating to the Senate Rules or Standing Orders are firstly, a purely domestic legislative matter. Where allegation of forgery is made, it is for the Court to reflect deeply whether it is not an allegation, which the Senate Committees on Rules and of its Ethics, can validly investigate and to take steps within its own internal proceedings to nullify any of its Standing Orders found to be irregular and to also sanction any of its members that may be found culpable….” “I am wary that a dangerous precedent is not being set for the 8th National Assembly to have its internal proceedings, being regulated, and perhaps supervised by other arms of government of the federation, i.e. the Executive and Judicial arms”. Furthermore, the judge had also, on July 27, 2015, ruled:”The National Assembly, being one of the three arms of government of the Federation, is expected to be free to run and conduct its affairs in accordance with its own ‘Rules’ or ‘Standing Orders’; where it has taken a decision, which did not follow its own internal ‘Rules’ and ‘Standing Orders’, the choice open to the members is to get the decision reversed only through democratic process by mobilizing the majority of the members to get the decision reviewed and possibly reversed”. Consequently, his most recent ruling (June 28, 2016) expectly frowned at the AGF’s failure to exercise his powers in Section 174(1) of the Constitution to stop the criminal charge against the accused persons. Before I conclude, let me refer to the headline story of The Guardian Newspaper of Wednesday, July 6, 2016 where the foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, declared that the trial “is a flagrant breach of separation of powers caused by ignorance”, because “the sound principle, which makes one master in his own house precludes him from imposing his control in another who is a master there”. I leave it to men of conscience to judge who, between Ekweremadu and those trying him, is the real desperado. But I pity those who, for selfish interests of today, applaud this “abuse of legal process”, and emasculation of the legislature. They forget that what goes around comes around. Anichukwu is Special Adviser (Media) to Deputy President of the Senate
SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 10, 2016, PAGE 45 VIEWPOINT By Dotun Ayeni VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Time to build a new breed of people MY 7-year-old daughter informed me happily a few days ago that her teacher had told her that if the school had an award category for “best thinker” she would get that award for her class. My daughter was of course happy about this and was consoled by the explanation that the school had no category for this type of award. The available awards are awards for best behaved, super writer, super reader, best student awards and of course early birdand this my daughter has cleverly informed me means nothing. Nothing? Yes she says. It has nothing to do with your work in class. It’s for those whose parents bring them early to school. Very early. Some of these parents have to be at work very early and fortunately or should I say unfortunately, their children get to grab the early bird award for this feat. This has got me thinking. I’m not so concerned about the early bird award. My daughter The future belongs to thinkers It is time we made a change and I don’t see a better place to start this than in our schools. And maybe starting with an award for best thinker? believes it means nothing. I’ve told her it’s a way for the school to instill a culture of punctuality in the children and she should be pleased if she gets one. This is actually beside the point. I’ve been thinking about why a school won’t have an award category for best thinker. Since the early bird category is a way to instill a culture of punctuality, won’t a best thinker award instill a culture of thinking and great introspection? What do these children need most as they grow gradually into the world of work? What has set great men and women apart in times past? What has disrupted the world as we know it today? Why is there so much change everywhere that we struggle to keep up and barely do? There’s so much happening today, changing the way we transact business, the way we work and the way we live. There’s the internet of things making it easier for manufacturers to understand the end user of their products and their behavior, social media and messaging tools giving a platform to business men and women to sell their goods and meet buyers who may never have known they existed, new and improved technology making it easier for men and women to work from different locations and time zones, technology that can simulate the best classrooms and lab settings in the world. Were these disruptions made possible by instilling a culture of good behavior, punctuality, good handwriting or even good reading habits? I don’t think so. This is not to say that the other awards do not have their merit. They surely do. But I am also certain that the future belongs to the thinkers. Those who will not be boxed into a corner and accept things as they are. Those who are bold enough to challenge what’s obtainable and create something unheard off. Something so outrageous that you must be on another level to even conceive it. People have been doing this. The ones who have changed our world from inception have been the thinkers. People like Isaac Newton, Graham Bell, Martin Luther King and even Edward Deci. Our educational systems have been built in such a way that the brightest ones. with all the awards are at best a reflection of their teachers. Students in universities have learnt to replicate what they see and read, often regurgitating the mind of their lecturers to pass their exams. Will these children ever come into their own in such environments? There’s been a lot of bold statements recently about successful entrepreneurs without a degree. The danger is not in getting the degree. The danger is how the system prepares children to follow rules, paint within the lines and become a certain kind of person prepared for a certain kind of profession. The times have changed and it is time we made a change. This is a message to all our educational institutions. It is time to build a new breed of people starting from their childhood. We must not just tell them about people who have changed the world. We must let them know that they can as well. It starts with opening up the mind, thinking and learning to challenge what they see, hear and know. The future will belong only to these kind of people. It is time we made a change and I don’t see a better place to start this than in our schools. And maybe starting with an award for best thinker? * Ayeni, chartered MCIPD, ACIPD, is the Principal Consultant at F316 Limited. She lives in Lagos. VIEWPOINT By Reuben Akhere VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The ongoing battle for Edo THERE is no doubt that the recent governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State is widely regarded as one of the best primaries conducted by the APC leadership since the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari. The popular wish of the APC delegates prevailed through the emergence of the Chairman of the Edo State Economic and Strategy Team and financial guru, Mr Godwin Obaseki, as the governorship candidate of the APC for the September 10, 2016 governorship election in the state. However, another burning issue in the APC today is that of the deputy governorship slot, VIEWPOINT By Bisiriyu Akewusola VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The need to mend fences with electricity distributors THE saying that you cannot eat your cake and still have it can be used very correctly to describe the relationship between Nigerian trade unions and power distribution companies called discos . This is because the trade unions have always accused the discos of exploiting the Nigerian consumers by not supplying them electricity when in fact the unions know that these discos have serious problems not of their own making in not being able to distribute electricity in their various areas of power distribution all over the nation . Which again is like giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it .But that is quite unfortunate as it is unfair and that is why many Nigerians in the know of this sad state of affairs , have called on some of the union leaders, both privately and in public to apologise to EDO 2016: Eboigbe as Obaseki’s running mate and which zone between Edo North and Central should it be ceded to. Many people in Edo understand how Esan land has been marginalized in terms of the tripod arrangement in the current APC-led administration. The only position they have, which is speakership of the House of Assembly, was taken away from them due to power play. But we have always found solace on the road projects and even water project which the administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole made possible in Esan land, something successive PDP- led governments in the state never did despite the fact that Esan produced one of the most powerful leaders the PDP ever produced in this country. For those of us who have admired so much the politics of APC in the state, and Oshiomhole’s massive developmental projects, we are saying that equity and fairness be considered when considering Obaseki’s running mate. Apart from the fact that this move, if actualized, would boost the chances of the APC in Esan land, it will show Esan people how PDP has marginalized them in their ten years of governance. Esan PDP leaders have never brought the deputy governorship to our people. The only time they brought governorship to the area, in the person Prof.Osarhiemiem Osunbor, the same PDP leaders from Esanland conspired to remove him. Now we want APC to show that it is the party for the masses. APC must tell Edo people that it is the party for the oppressed by ceding the deputy governorship slot to Esan land. Though Esan land is blessed with men and women who are qualified for the position, it is also imperative to point out that within the APC, they have somebody like Mr Victor Eboigbe, who has been a member of the APC right from its ACD days, who can do the job. Eboigbe may not be a noise maker when it comes to politics, but he is one of the few from Edo Central that work sincerely for the success of the Oshiomhole administration since its inception. Eboigbe arrived Edo with the Comrade Governor in 2007 from his base in America , mobilized resources and men for the success of the now APC-led government. Most of us in Edo Central believes that this is the right time to compensate this young man who has touched the lives of many youths in Esan. He has the intelligence, the youthfulness, the capacity and political sagacity to do this job. Eboigbe is not a stranger to the APC or Oshiomhole, so backing him for deputy governorship will guarantee resounding victory for APC in Edo Central. It will also be the end of PDP in the zone. I believe that the APC leadership and its governorship candidate, Obaseki, will understand these facts and do the needful in the interest of APC in Edo. *Akhere is a public affairs analyst Trade unions should apologise to Discos the discos or at least refrain from whipping public and consumer hostility against them for an offence they have not committed in any way . Aside from the well known fact of pipeline vandalisation which has crippled gas supplies turbines fuelled by gas nationally , the number of such sources of power have been dwindling drastically since the so called terrorist group called the Avengers have stepped up their attacks in the Niger Delta creeks . The number of gas powered turbines decreased from 140 last year to 78 by April this year and is now 50 according to Ministry of Power sources . In addition the power sector was reported to be losing 2bn naira daily to gas shortage. Thus electricity generation has taken a negative nose dive in terms of availability of power and electricity nation wide .If electricity is not available what then are the discos supposed to distribute to Nigerian consumers ? Yet in spite of this apparent road block against the route of regular electricity supply the Nigerian trade unions mounted a road block of its own against fellow Nigerians who have put their money and energy into the discos to distribute electricity to Nigerians . Of course the discos and their management could not have foreseen the pipelines vandalisation in the Niger Delta . Neither could they have imagined a situation when they would have literally nothing to distribute in virtually all the 11 designated spheres of their capacities all over the nation . I do not think any of the disco management team especially the highly qualified expatriates would have come to work in the power distribution sector in Nigeria if they knew that electricity generation would simply dry up right before our eyes as it has done so painfully in the last few months . This is made more embarrassing by the fact that the discos in Nigeria have adopted global best practices in their strategy for distribution of electricity in Nigeria . They have recruited the best hands and brains globally in technology , engineering , and human capital . In terms of distribution capacities these discos have brought in the best in the world and have remunerated them highly to motivate them for excellent performance in terms of electricity service delivery in Nigeria . Now they have run against a stonewall of a dry well in power generation and transmission and they deservethe sympathy and understanding of all Nigerians who expect them to be the ultimate panacea and cure for our black history of poor and irregular electricity as a nation . Most importantly they deserve the cooperation of the average Nigerian especially workers and their leaders in the trade unions . That is why educated and enlightened Nigerians were furious that the Unions were inciting Nigerian electricity consumers against these discos and were asking that workers should strike against the new tariffs of the discos approved for them by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission which itself is run by equally patriotic Nigerians like the discos , their Nigerian workers and staff who earn their living in the discos all over Nigeria . It is imperative therefore after the failed strike that the unions should mend fences with the discos management and apologise to them to gain their trust . This is the only way the unions can save their honor and face . At least to show that they are not trying to destroy the discos for nothing as the terrorists are doing to our pipelines and throwing a whole nation into utter and avoidable darkness . *Akewusola, an engineer, writes from Sokoto
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COLLAPSE OF CEASEFIRE: MEND issues two-week ultimatum

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