FACE -OFF: What does the Senate want? Posted By: Sam Egburonu and Dare Odufowokan On: July 9, 2017

Following renewed hostilities between the Senate and the Presidency, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu and Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, take a close look at the prolonged face-off and report that the seemingly unending wrangling may be rooted in a deep power game over Nigeria’s presidential seat The story of the relationship between the Executive and the Senate, since 2015 is one of a power game deeply rooted in what insiders may describe as both personal and group aspirations. Traced to the intrigues of the first few hours of the current administration, after the ruling party won the presidential and National Assembly elections and was in the delicate business of sharing power and plum offices, the face-off between the leadership of the current Executive and the National Assembly has refused to go. It peaked this week’s Tuesday when Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Abia South Senatorial District, raised a motion alleging that there was a vacuum in Aso Rock and that the country had no President or Acting President at the moment, since, according to him, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo were both out of the country. Given the weight of the statement, there was tension as the motion was greeted with a counter point, coming through order 53 rule 4 of the Senate standing rules, by Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara Central).
Marafa, citing some relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution, said “if the President is not around, the Vice President should act, and if the Vice President is not around, the Senate President, who is the number three citizen should become the Acting President.” Although the Senate President, Bukola, did not allow any seconder or more comments, as he quickly ruled Senator Marafa “out of order,” close observers of the intrigues have expressed deep worry. Some have said there seems to be something more than meets the eye in the development. Describing the mild drama as a near coup, they wondered if the motion was discussed behind the scene before then and the senator simply flew a kite or if Senator Abaribe was just amusing himself? A source close to the Presidency, while responding to the development however said “the Senate, in that Tuesday drama, betrayed its dismaying weakness. It does not operate with up-to-date information as Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has already returned from his trip as at the time of the motion.”
The beginning The emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki of All Progressives Congress (APC) as the President of the Senate on Tuesday, June 9, 2015, was one that his party leadership never imagined as they had picked fellow party member, Senator Ahmed Lawan, as the party’s choice. But on the day of the crucial election at the Red Chamber, Saraki allegedly maneuvered his way to emerge the Senate President after an election that held when most of the APC senators were away in a special meeting held at ICC, Abuja. To worsen the matter, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the leading opposition party, produced the Deputy Senate President in the person of Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Alleging that Ekweremadu is a close ally of Saraki, APC leadership accused the Senate President of entering into an unholy alliance with the leading opposition to weaken the ruling party, a sin some say they seemed not willing to ever forgive. But Saraki, who has been relating very well with the Ekweremadu-led PDP senators, denied entering any untoward alliance with PDP and blamed his fellow APC senators, who were un-strategically absent at that critical moment, for what happened during the election. As he explained in an interview then, “anybody who said he spoke to me to go to the ICC was not being truthful because I didn’t even know what was going on. All I was monitoring was how people were arriving the complex. “It was just before 10:00 that I got information that the Clerk to the National Assembly had entered the chamber. So, I got out of the small car I was inside, stretched myself and put on my Babariga because I didn’t have it on before then. “I walked from the car park into the chamber. That was why some of you would have seen that I looked very tired that morning. “Even when I was in the chamber, I didn’t know what had transpired earlier. The only thing I observed was that it appeared that some of our senators were not in the chamber, but because of the fact that my colleagues arrived in batches, I had the opinion that they were on the way and, by 10:00am, the programme started. “Before I knew it, my election had come and gone. Even my people were worried; it was only when I got into the chamber that they were relieved.” So, since the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly and the election of the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, where Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively against the position of their party, the face-off between the National Assembly and the Executive have remained unresolved. The matter escalated that same month when Saraki and Dogara also refused to listen to the advise of the party leadership on who should occupy the party leadership positions in both chambers. Saraki-led Senate in particular dumped the list of candidates for Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip and successfully elected different candidates for the positions in defiance of the party. As would be expected, APC leadership, which had advised Saraki to ensure Senator Lawan was compensated with the Senate Leader position, again cried blue murder, and according to some sources, allegedly resolved to remove Saraki from that plum seat. Responding however, Saraki explained that he allowed what happened because, as he reportedly puts it, ‘My hands were tied.’ In a letter dated Thursday, June 25, 2015, addressed to the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), John Oyegun, the Senate President had explained that the APC’s letter on who to nominate came after the zonal caucuses had chosen their candidates in line with parliamentary convention. He further said he would have liked to please the party but that his hands were tied. Since then, the rivalry and the power game have been intense. The executive, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) flexed its muscle when it dragged the Senate President to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged wrong declaration of assets. By October of 2015, the serving Senate President was actually docked at the CCT. The Magu factor Perhaps in response to the CCT’s humbling trials, there has been running battle between the Saraki-led Senate and the Presidency as the Senate repeatedly rejected the candidature of Malam Ibrahim Magu as EFCC’s substantive Chairman. This, according to some sources, have been a major source of contention as the Ibrahim Buhari-led Presidency has so much belief that Magu is the right candidate to lead EFCC and the anti-corruption crusade. A source in Abuja, explaining the face-off and how Magu is at the centre of it all said: It is clear that Senate’s threat not to entertain further confirmation requests from Presidency is related to the lawmakers anger that the Presidency and Acting President Osinbajo has reiterated the executive’s resolve to stick to Magu. It is all a game of power. Remember that the Upper Chamber said before that it won’t confirm RECs. It went back on its words. Now, the question is, was there any intervention at that time? Osinbajo had made his statement on confirmation and Section 171 way back in April even when Buhari was in town. Why hold that against him now that he is the Acting President? Is the Senate up to some mischief? Do the Senators know something we don’t know about Buhari and is as such out to cut Osinbajo’s ascendancy in line with the constitution,” the source asked? The source also said the crucial point the presidency is making on its insistence on Magu is to let the world know why Senate does not want a man that would expose their dirty wall-robes. What is happening should not surprise Nigerians. There is no way Magu would get fair hearing from a Senate composed of close to 15 former governors, most of whom are under investigation or prosecution, including Saraki, the Senate President himself. The presidency has realised it ought not to have sent Magu’s name to that chamber in the first instance? Nigeria is a signatory to the UN Convention on Fair Hearing and Magu can’t get fair treatment in the Senate,” the source said, adding: Don’t forget the disagreement over the limit of Lawmakers’ power of appropriation. How can the lawmakers be the one to pass Appropriation Law and also be the one picking projects and even contractors for them at their whims? Senate at one point even told the Presidency to go to court if it wants.” The question on the lips of most observers is will it get to that and if it must, would it be the presidency or the Senate that will head to court? It is instructive that the Senate spokesman, Sabi Abdullahi, while reacting to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s declaration that Magu would remain in his position in acting capacity until the end of the administration, said the Senate would stand by the rule of law. He asserted that the Senate would not be engaged in any back and forth, having adopted a resolution on the matter. “We have said what we needed to say on this matter. We don’t want to be involved in any back and forth on this matter. “What we are saying is that let’s stick to the rule of law. That is what the Senate is saying. And we are not saying anything more than that. We are also saying that let us build institutions and not strengthen individuals because no individual is greater than the nation. “We are running a constitutional democracy and we must stick to the dictates of the law. What we are saying is, let’s stick to the rule of law. “We are saying no individual is greater than the country. We have said what we have to say and we have issued our resolution”

Implications of the development Given that the current vacuum motion and the notice not to entertain further confirmations from the executive came amidst the Magu face-off and President Buhari’s long absence, people are asking what could be the implications of the brimming showdown. An observer, a top official who pleaded not to be named, said it means: “There could be a lock down of business of government. It means Senate has told the nation it’s on strike. What will this do to the negative perception the Senate already has in the eyes of the people? Osinbajo seems more altruistic as he is not one that covets power or authority. He is just fighting for what is just and right. We should all be concerned over who will win this fight,” he said. It would be recalled that when CCT finally set Saraki free, many believed the face-off may have come to an end. Not to be for the executive soon resolved to appeal the judgement, a decision top government officials are alleging may have triggered off the fresh hostilities concretized by the current vacuum motion. With the renewed power struggle between the Senate and the Presidency, few months after the ceasefire, concerned observers are wondering what could be the real point of contention between the two arms of government. As it stands, the two arms have been blaming each other for the misunderstanding. Either unconsciously or deliberately, media reports and public opinion have weighed delicately against the Senate, even as newsmen daily celebrate reports of alleged financial misdemeanors allegedly involving distinguished members of the senate. So, most federal lawmakers at the Red Chamber, who have spoken on the face-off have expressed both anger and surprise over what they described as unfair decision of the public to condemn An insider source at the Senate told The Nation that Saraki’s supporters at the Red Chamber cuts across party lines. “Currently, the Senate President has firm grip of the Senate. His staunch members include some APC members, including South-West members, who pretend to be neutral in the afternoon but hobnobs with Saraki at night. They are firmly behind him and have been working on different fronts to actualise their common mission.
What does the senate want? Speaking to The Nation at the weekend in Lagos, a source, a serving senator from the South-West insisted that it is out of place to tar the entire senate with one brush based on the activities of some members he described as undemocratic. He averred that the Senate President is leading a group of lawmakers to test the strength of the country’s fledgling democracy. “Sometimes I ask myself the same question, ‘what exactly is going on in the senate? It is unfortunate that in a senate where the ruling party enjoys the majority, the government is always being antagonized. And we have a Senate President who either looks the other way when this happens or tacitly encourages it. “Many of us considered to be too rigid in our commitment to the APC have been labeled and dealt with on many occasions. It is just that I am a contented person. Going to the senate for me was out of passion to serve and not to make money. So, I am able to withstand the pressure. You can see how many respected senators are today joining the band wagon of those lining up behind the impunity represented by the likes of Saraki and Melaiye. ‘Earlier this year, because I led a group of senators to caution APC members in the National Assembly against working against the interest of the party and the government, I was dropped from one ad-hoc committee considered to be juicy by some of us. I was not moved. I refused to bulge. But not many of our people can do that. That is why some people are being won over day by day. The latest is a respected senator from Osun State in whom I used to have so much confidence. Today, he is part of those scheming and machinating,’ he said. Explaining further, the Senator said there is suspicion even within the National Assembly that some lawmakers may be plotting against the Presidency. He said there are indications that the leadership of the Senate is being used to ferment trouble for the current administration. He cited the unending face-off between the National Assembly and the Presidency, which he described as avoidable. “For examples, within the Senate today, there are those of us who strongly believe the leadership is being manipulated to cause confusion in the current administration. There is this very strong mutual suspicion among senators, even within the APC caucus. We don’t trust ourselves any longer. Even the so called Unity Forum group has been infiltrated and suspicion reigns. “Recently, there was this rumour that some senators, ranking APC senators for that matter, were attending some nocturnal meetings with the opposition. It got so bad that it was raised at a caucus meeting. No reasonable explanation has been offered up till today and people want me to believe they are not up to something.” “Now, we have a situation where an APC led senate is threatening to impeach an APC led presidency. It is shameful but Nigerians should not take it as a joke. Like I told one PDP senator in Abuja yesterday, this may be the manifestation of the many secret meetings we have been hearing of. If all we have seen or heard are anything to go by, some people are up to something. “My worst fear is that the collaborators in the senate, who are in both PDP and APC, may also enjoy some form of support from some quarters within the presidency and the ruling party. I say this because of some things we are hearing. I am displeased to read a serving minister saying the acting President didn’t speak for the presidency. I am yet to hear the ruling party openly condemn the condemnable acts of some of our members,” he added. Besides the power game over 2019 or Buhari’s succession, the battle over who has the power to confirm government officials presented by the executive, including officials like Magu of EFCC and Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd), respondents told The Nation that another issue of contention between the Presidency and the Senate is the power of the purse. Our source said “As a lawmaker, I cannot deny that we cannot accept a situation where the executive tries to frustrate or stop lawmakers from doing their legitimate and fundamental duties like Appropriation. All these noise about padding is simply politics. Providing for lawmakers constituency projects is legitimate and any attempt by the executive to portray lawmakers as criminals because of such legitimate action is laughable,” he said. The source told The Nation yesterday that the senators are particular about this issue because it is through this power of Appropriation that they provide for their constituency projects. He alleged that following the perceived rivalry between the two arms, the executive has not been providing enough for lawmakers’ constituency projects in the Appropriation Bills and so, the lawmakers have to do the needful. The battle line has already been drawn. Nigerians are concerned that open hostility between these two arms of government will disrupt governance. Who will save the country?

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