14042019 - 144 Killed in nine days

Viewpoint
By Wilberforce Ikoro
VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF
A developing pattern
THE first time I met him was in
2000 during the auctioning of
the Digital Mobile Licenses (DML) by
the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) then led by Dr.
Ernest Ndukwe. You could not miss
him in the crowd of
telecommunications industry players
and lawyers, who were milling
around the Hilton Hotel, venue of the
auction with his trademark bow ties. I
watched him closely as he interacted
with journalists and demonstrated
remarkable knowledge of the process.
I later learnt that Usoro, a very senior
lawyer and member of the inner bara
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
the local equivalent of a QC, drafted
the Nigerian Communications Act
2003, a robust and enduring piece of
legislation that regulates the
Communications industry till date.
He also drafted the Nigerian
Communications (Enforcement
Process etc) Regulations, 2005 as well
as the Mobile Number Portability
Regulations 2014 among several
other major contributions to the
Nigerian telecommunications
industry.
Aside the telecommunications
industry, Mr. Usoro and his firm, Paul
Usoro & Co also made considerable
contributions to the reform and
development of laws in the Maritime
industry. He has worked with both the
House of Representatives and the
By Abake Fakunle
VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF
Showing good democratic example
AS expected in a presidential
democracy after a fiercelyfought
general election, which was won
by the ruling All Progressives Congress,
APC, the battle ground has shifted to
the booty-sharing table. Of course, the
National Chairman of APC, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole, and the National
Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu,
had warned their party men and
women that the game was a winnertakes-all,
thus making it clear to the
opposition parties in the legislature
that there was nothing to share with
the majority party in the choosing of
principal officers in both the Senate
and the House of Representatives.
If you think that the apparatchiks in
the ruling party are vehemently
fighting to protect the interests of their
members in the legislature, you’re dead
wrong. And if you believe that this postelection
hysteria and even paranoia
for the PDP in the run-up to the
inauguration of the 9th National
Assembly is down to the experience
four years ago, you miss the plot too.
There is really nothing altruistic in
the insistence of the APC leadership
that Senator Ahmed Lawan must be
elected the next president of the Senate.
And in the same vein, there is no
overriding national interest
By Ola Adedayo
VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF
Twists and turns
USING the penultimate week
edition of ‘NTA Tuesday Live’,
the Nigerian Television Authority talkshow,
as barometer to feel the pulse of
the nation, it was evidently clear that
the stand of the All Progressives
Congress, APC, on the election of the
leadership of the ninth National
Assembly, due to be inaugurated in the
first week of June, may not be popular
after all.
Most of those who phoned in
believed that the ruling party, if it does
not want a repeat of the event of 2015,
where a dissident group within its fold,
acting in collaboration with the
opposition Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, took over the leadership of the
National Assembly, the APC must act
differently in its approach to the
forthcoming election of the presiding
and principal officers of the two
chambers of the federal parliament.
The programme, hosted by Cyril
Stober, had on its panel of discussants
a former Minority Leader of the House
of Representatives, Muhammed
Who’s After Paul Usoro?
Senate in the areas of drafting and
advocacy to see the laws and reforms
through, from bills to laws. His has
been a truly remarkable story of
erudition and intellection in the
practice of a profession that has given
him so much and also taken so much
from him in return.
Indeed I have been following the
trajectory of progress of this brilliant
Akwa Ibom State-born lawyer and
boardroom player. His firm, PUC,
ranks at the top perch of law practice
in Nigeria. I’m also aware he spent
In his career as a lawyer and
boardroom player, Usoro
kept a low profile, avoiding
the limelight but rather letting
his track record of excellent
performance speak for him
over 15 years at Airtel Nigeria
(formerly Econet Wireless), where he
represented Akwa Ibom State on the
Board. It is noteworthy that long after
Akwa Ibom State had divested from
the telco, successive owners of the
business consistently found him of
significant usefulness in directing its
affairs at the topmost level. He has
also served at various times on the
board of several blue chip companies
including Premium Pensions Limited,
CR Services (Credit Bureau) Plc, PZ
Cussons Plc, Nigerian Bulk Electric
company, Marina Securities Limited
and Access Bank Plc, probably the
biggest bank in Nigeria today.
In his career as a lawyer and
boardroom player, Usoro kept a low
profile, avoiding the limelight but
rather letting his track record of
excellent performance speak for him.
There was literally no noise around
him until he indicated his interest to
run for the coveted presidency of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the
powerful umbrella association of legal
practitioners in Nigeria. It was like he
headed off a nest of wasps and they
descended on his otherwise spotless
body stinging him all over. Not only
did he face fierce and sometimes very
dirty opposition, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) came after him. It seemed as if
there were some hidden forces working
behind the scene in concert with the
EFCC and his opponents in the NBA
election to deal with him.
In spite of sundry obviously cookedup
allegations including vote-buying,
manipulation of voting materials and
e-rigging, Mr. Usoro emerged the
President of the NBA to a tumultuous
acclaim. All effort to use the EFCC to
stop him collapsed in the face of strong
support from the various branches of
NBA nationwide and his excellent
track record both in the Association,
the legal profession and in society
generally. He has been leading the
NBA for about six months and the
feedback is that things are
happening; good things. It is indeed
a new era in NBA, many seem to sayand
I have absolutely no reason to
doubt this vocal majority saying good
things about the Usoro leadership.
This is not unexpected given Usoro’s
disciplined disposition, his
comportment and immense
experience from the corporate world.
Add to this, his expansive network of
contacts and friends within and
outside the NBA, the government and
the corporate world and you can
begin to visualize a glorious time
ahead for the legal profession.
The EFCC’s case against Usoro is
in court and therefore subjudice, but
it will be interesting to know why Mr.
Usoro is being prosecuted without a
petition from anybody. The N1.3b he
is being prosecuted for, from all
indications, is his legitimate earnings,
some from representing Akwa Ibom
in various cases and some from
acting as coordinator of the legal
team that represented Gov. Udom in
the case challenging his election in
2015. The case will come up at the
Federal High Court, Lagos on April
17th, but until then some of us are
beginning to think that this might be
a witch-hunt after all because of
Usoro’s astute representation of Dr.
Bukola Saraki, the Senate President,
in his case against the EFCC. It may
be not more than the friend of my
enemy is my enemy-and that will be
extremely dangerous for the legal
9th NASS leadership: Why zone to an individual?
recommending Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila as the next speaker of
the House of Representatives. Both
men are qualified for the different
positions - just like their other
colleagues! In fact, feelers from the
senators-elect, for instance, seem to
contradict the tyrannical imposition
of Senator Lawan on his colleagues.
If the APC leadership does not have
ears to the ground, they might be rudely
shocked again. As it appears, many of
the APC senators - and even PDP
senators - for different reasons, think
that Ali Ndume rather than Lawan
has defended the APC position in the
Senate with everything in him both in
the day and at night and therefore
prefer him to be elected as Senate
President! This is the kind of danger
inherent in micro-zoning positions to
individuals rather than ceding
positions to zones or regions.
If the APC leadership can pretend
that it zoned the Senate presidency to
the Northeast, and not to Ahmed
Lawan, there is no room for such
pretence in the alleged zoning of the
speakership to Gbajabiamila. And the
reason is quite obvious for even a blind
man to see. Whereas the entire
Northeast has nothing to hold on to
so far, the Southwest region already
has in its kitty the office of the vice
president. And when it is considered
that the President in his second term
has exhausted his constitutional
opportunity for re-election to the same
office, the import and the opportunities
in the office Professor Yemi Osinbajo
holds in the name of the Southwest
cannot be overemphasized. Now, tell
me how anyone can justify overloading
the Southwest yet with another position
of speakership when zones like the
North-central and Southeast have
nothing in the national power-sharing
formula?
Therefore any mention of
Gbajabiamila in the race for the
position of Speaker in the 9th National
Assembly not only offends the principle
of equity and justice but also offends
the very logic of winner-takes-all of
the leadership of the APC. It offends
the logic in the sense that regions are
partly rewarded on the basis of the
votes they contributed to the victory
of the ruling party. This perhaps
explains why a large zone like the
Southeast even in the face of obvious
inequity is only making a halfhearted
demand in the APC zoning
formula. Yet the same cannot be said
of the North-central that played a key
role in the first coming of the APC to
power in 2015 and has remained
steadfast even in the face of
mistreatment by the Federal
Government, especially in the several
deathly herders-farmers clashes. Even
in the just-concluded general
elections, the North-central zone gave
more votes to Buhari and the APC
than the Southwest!
Let nobody be deceived by the
propaganda that there are precedents
in the past justifying the simultaneous
holding of the offices of the vice
president and speaker by a particular
zone. Yes, in 1979, Chief Alex
Ekwueme from Anambra state was
the vice president while Chief Edwin
Ume-Ezeoke from the same state was
the Speaker of the House. The truth,
however, is that there was a powersharing
accord between the ruling
SENATE PRESIDENT: Between Lawan and Ndume
Kumalia; Idahosa West; Daniel
Hassan Bwala and Amuda-Kannike
Abiodun, a professor law at the
University of Port -Harcourt.
The APC leadership and its
National Assembly members-elect,
particularly the senators-elect, have
been at loggerheads over the party’s
position that all members should
queue behind the Senate Majority
Leader, Ahmed Lawan, to succeed
Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate
President in the forthcoming ninth
Assembly. At the moment, there are
two main contenders for the topmost
post of the Senate: Lawan, a ranking
member and oldest member of the
upper chamber, from Yobe State, and
Senator Ali Muhammed Ndume,
also a ranking member, from Borno
State. The nation’s number three
position has been zoned to the North-
East where the two contestants hail
from. While the ruling party has
announced Lawan as its preferred
choice, it also warned of the
consequence that awaits members
who act otherwise.
If the APC leadership can
pretend that it zoned the
Senate presidency to the
Northeast, and not to Ahmed
Lawan, there is no room for
such pretence in the alleged
zoning of the speakership to
Gbajabiamila
Umar Anarhin, who phoned-in on
the NTA Live programmes from Birnin
Kebbi, Kebbi State, slammed the APC
National Chairman, Mr Adams
Oshiomhole, for saying the senatorselect
of the party face possible
expulsion should they fail to adhere to
the party’s position on Lawan. “ The
party is not a trade union that
Oshiomhole may be thinking he is
leading. It is like he is comparing the
party to a union but they are totally
different. It is not a matter of forcing a
candidate on others. Why not lobby,
meaning you beg, negotiate until
consensus is reached? The way he is
going about it, I won’t be surprised if
the minority becomes the majority.
Those who are aggrieved because of
the utterances and actions of the party
will conspire with the minority to
impose a leadership on the majority.
Oshiomole should know that APC is
not a union that he can give orders. It is
a political party”, he said.
West Idahosa, a former member of
the House of Representatives, echoed
a similar view when he said: “The
SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 14, 2019, PAGE 43
leadership of the National Assembly
should be allowed to evolve within
as a leadership that is not elected by
members, most of the time, is sacked,
especially if it doesn’t meet
expectations of members.”
He added, “You cannot stop it. New
generals will emerge on the floor. And
if this forced leadership is not
inspiring, it is right there that the
leadership will be sacked”.
To Idahosa, it is unwise for the APC
to issue threats on how the new
leaders of the National Assembly
should emerge.
“By doing that, you don’t
encourage the growth we want in our
democracy and, by extension, you
don’t encourage the members to form
their caucuses and develop their
eventual leaders for the National
Assembly”.
Kumalia believed it is the
responsibility of the political party
to ensure there is consensus among
all members vying for any position
especially where you have more than
one or two members indicating
profession and the fight against
corruption which President
Muhammadu Buhari has laid as one
of the major anchors of his
government’s policies.
I am aware that there is an existing
precedent on this matter when the
same EFCC froze Mike Ozekhome’s
accounts for receiving N75m from
former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo
Fayose. The Senior Advocate of
Nigeria sued the anti-graft agency
and won. Also, the decision on Trustees
of NBA vs EFCC and CBN has
shielded practitioners from criminal
liability on money laundering. So, I
don’t know what this matter of
laundering Akwa Ibom State funds is
all about. In actual fact, Usoro claims
the state still owes him in excess of
N5b for representing it in various
matters. I truly hope the state
government steps forward to clarify
its stand on this.
I am supremely confident that in
the end justice and reason will prevail
and this good man will be let off the
hook by whoever is leading this
furious, relentless charge to damage
his good reputation. He deserves
otherwise for the good things he has
done and the many good things he is
doing and others he will do for the
NBA and the country as a whole. I
urge all lawyers of good conscience
to join hands in condemning the
developing pattern of hounding
lawyers. Today it is Usoro. There is
also the case of Mr. Ubani, who is
being detained by the EFCC. Who
knows who is next?
•Ikoro is an Abuja based public
affairs analyst.
NPN and its alliance partner, NPP. So,
whereas, Ekwueme was of the NPN,
Ume-Ezeoke was of the NPP, and the
emphasis of the sharing formula then
was between two parties; whereas
now, it is among regional zones. Even
then, the country was not as divided as
it is with all manner of fault-lines crying
to be attended to.
Let it be known that the greatest
danger of what APC has done in
zoning to individuals rather than
groups is that it undermines national
solidarity and even group interests.
What is APC afraid of in allowing a
zone that a position is ceded to arrive
at a consensus on whom they have
chosen themselves? Surely that is more
democratic and a political party in
power has the added responsibility of
showing good democratic examples
by following the due process.
Even then, all this “it must be Lawan
or it must be Gbajabiamila” by the
leadership of APC may in fact be a
euphemistically-designed plot to
allow only one individual to decide
for a whole nation of over two hundred
million people who becomes
President of the Senate, Speaker of the
House and logically afterwards the
committee chairpersons in his bid for
the presidency in 2023.
•Fakunle is resident in Ilorin,
Kwara State.
interest in a position. His words, “If
you can through persuasion,
engagement and dialogue narrow the
contenders to one or two such that the
other candidates drop their ambition,
that is okay. “But in a situation where
you talk down on some candidates
and all those that want to contest for a
position are seen as outsiders, it creates
tension which ultimately brings about
the feeling of independence among
members. “They will say since the
party has anointed this person and
the party does not want anybody to
contest against him, yet they don’t
want to engage and dialogue with
anybody, they want to impose him on
us, that means he is going to be a
stooge of the executive.
“The day there is total harmony
between the executive and the
legislature, the ordinary people have
been sold. So it is important that the
leadership of parliament emerges
through the stamp and authority of
the lawmakers themselves in addition
to the party overseeing the process.
Continues at
www.vanguard.ngr.com
•Adedayo is resident in Lagos