Eighth National Assembly: Shaky chamber, warring legislators

LEKE BAIYEWU examines the implication of the ongoing crisis in the Eighth National Assembly on the new administration

Thee eighth National Assembly began on a dramatic note. It started with a battle of wits and political mastery, first from within the ruling All Progressives Congress. The power play in the federal legislature is expected to last until the power blocks in the imbroglio agree to sheathe their swords.

Analysts say the problem with the APC is not how to become successful; it is how to manage its successes. The APC had a very successful outing in the 2015 general elections. It was an opposition party that beat the ruling party which had been in power since 1999.

There had been reports of clashes of interests, especially among the power brokers in the APC over the sharing of the spoils from its victory in the 2015 general elections. These political gladiators, it is believed, have their eyes fixed on who becomes what in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet and in the National Assembly.

Amid the growing tension in the APC over the presidency of the Senate and speakership of the House of Representatives, the ruling party, which has the majority in both chambers, had conducted mock elections on June 6.

While Bukola Saraki, Yakubu Dogara and their supporters boycotted the shadow elections, the party had announced Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as its sole candidates for Senate presidency and House speakership, respectively.

Saraki and Dogara, who had vowed to defy their party by mounting a challenge against the chosen candidates, carried out their threats and emerged winners of the coveted seats.

At the Senate, Saraki emerged the president of the upper chamber in what many have described as a calculated ‘coup’ staged in connivance with members of the opposition PDP.

Saraki, a former Governor Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, emerged unopposed shortly after the Clerk of the National Assembly,   Salisu Maikasuwa,   proclaimed the Eighth Senate into existence.

The APC lawmakers had on the D-Day converged on the International Conference Centre in Abuja for a 9am meeting called by the leadership of the APC, in which Buhari was to address them. The inauguration of the eighth National Assembly was scheduled to hold at 10 am.

The late-minute decision by the President to address the rebellious lawmakers from his party, however, boomeranged as Saraki, his supporters and members of other parties – 57 of them – went on with the election, while the APC senators were still waiting for Buhari at the venue. Shortly before 11am, news filtered in that the Senate had been inaugurated and that Saraki had emerged the Senate President unopposed.

The Senate is made up of 109 senators. The APC has 60 of the senators, while the PDP has 49. The APC senators-elect are now 59, after the death of Ahmed Zannah from Borno State.

There were 57 senators in the chamber when the election was conducted but the number increased to 76 when the Clerk of the National Assembly was about to superintend the conduct of the election of the Deputy President of the Senate.

Senator George Sekibo had nominated the former occupant of the office, Senator Ike Ekweremadu for the position. His nomination was seconded by Senator Olaka Nwogu. Ekweremadu polled 54 votes to defeat Aliyu Ndume, the nominee of the APC, who scored 20 votes. Ekweremadu was consequently returned to the office he occupied in the Seventh Senate.

The APC, after Saraki and Dogara emerged leaders of the National Assembly, kicked against the outcome of the polls.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the APC said, “The party duly met and conducted a straw poll and clear candidates emerged for the posts of Senate President, the Deputy Senate President and the 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 are bound by that decision. The party is supreme and its interest is superior to that of its individual members.”

At the House of Representatives, Dogara defeated Gbajabiamila, former Minority Leader of the House and adopted candidate of the APC, in a keenly contested poll.

The odd had been in Gbajabiamila’s favour to win the poll until the tables turned against him. Dogara polled 182 votes while Gbajabiamila scored 174, out of the 358 total cast ballots to beat the former Minority Leader. Two ballots were voided in the election conducted under the watch of the National Assembly Clerk.

Dogara and Gbajabiamila

In the House of Representatives, the APC has 213 out of the 360 members.

Mohammed Mungono was the ruling party’s choice as Deputy Speaker but Yusuf Lasun beat him with 203 votes to 153.

There are different views about the drama that played out at the National Assembly.

According to a school of thought, it was pay-back time for the APC, whose members, as the minority in the House of Representatives then, refused to vote Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola who was the candidate of the ruling PDP, as the Speaker despite that the slot was for the South-West geopolitical zone.

The APC lawmakers had joined forces with some aggrieved lawmakers in the PDP to elect Aminu Tambuwal from the North-West. Tambuwal would later dump the PDP for the APC and retain his speakership seat until he was elected Governor of Sokoto State on the same platform.

Another set of analysts have drawn attention to the fact that the blocks that merged to form the APC still have caucuses within the party, which also have their individual political goals.

The defunct Action Congress of Nigeria led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the Congress for Progressive Change led by Buhari; the All Nigeria Peoples Party led by Ogbonaya Onu; a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance led by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, as well as a breakaway faction of aggrieved PDP members known as the New PDP had merged to form the party.

The New PDP came into the APC with five serving governors. They were Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara). The prominent individuals in this group include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; former PDP National Chairman, Abubakar Baraje; and Saraki, among others.

Members of this group had rebelled against the PDP, citing alleged injustices meted out on them.

Now that they are in the APC, members of the New PDP caucus were said to have complained about the party’s sharing formula for the political offices, which they found unfavourable. This included slots for elective offices in the 2015 election and political appointments after the poll.

Some political analysts are also seeing internal sabotage in the APC. Those who claim to be reading between the lines strongly believe that Saraki may be enjoying the backing of some leaders of the APC, especially northerners, who may want to whittle down Tinubu’s influence in the party.

This school of thought draws attention to the sharp division in the reactions from within the APC to the Saraki-Dogara coup.

For instance, the APC had rejected Saraki and Dogara as the leaders of the Assembly.

On the contrary, President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, issued separate statements shortly after, commending the elections, while the latter specifically congratulated the winners.

The past Speaker of the House and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, had also congratulated the winners.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, restated the his earlier stance that he did not have any preferred candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives leadership positions; that he was willing to work with whoever the lawmakers elected.

Atiku, a national leader of the party, congratulated Saraki and Dogara through a statement.

In a clearer view of the division between the APC and some of its leaders, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Umar Ghali-Na’Abba, who defected from the PDP to the APC to become a member of the Board of Trustees a few months ago, applauded the rebellious lawmakers for rejecting imposition by some powerbrokers.

Na’Abba, who spoke on behalf of former speakers and other ex-principal officers of the House of Representatives during their visit to Dogara on Wednesday, advised the leadership of the APC to accept the election of the Speaker.

He said, “What happened yesterday was an effort by lawmakers of both the APC and the PDP to ensure their independence as lawmakers. Whatever must have happened, the new leadership must not be castigated and scorned but should be seen as a means of charting a new legislative course for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

Indications had emerged on Wednesday that the APC might sanction the rebellious lawmakers.

Sources within the ruling party had said Atiku allegedly colluded with Saraki to undermine the will of the party, while Tambuwal supported Dogara as his successor. The suspicion of the party’s leadership was said to have been reignited by the fact that Atiku was the first person Saraki visited after emerging as Senate President, apparently to thank the former presidential aspirant.

The APC was said to have been aware of moves by the PDP to secure principal offices in the National Assembly over a month ago, which made it to select staunch members of the ruling party – Lawan and Gbajabiamila – as its candidates. The APC was also said to have known that the PDP would approach its old members to actualise this plan.

Observers of events on that particular day, however, blamed the APC for handling the issue with levity. According to them, the ruling party should have converged on the National Assembly Complex — possibly before their opponents’ arrival – rather than be somewhere else at such critical moment. This, perhaps, might have changed the situation, they said.

As the rage continued, the Presidency had absolved Buhari of any complicity in the matter. Adesina stated that the APC leadership, not Buhari, convened the botched meeting at the ICC. The APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, also confirmed that it was the party that invited its lawmakers to the meeting.

Nevertheless, political analysts said peace might not return to the National Assembly, especially the Senate, soon. Those who lost out in the contest felt cheated and they are protesting their exclusion.

Apparently in an attempt to manage the brouhaha over the new leadership, both chambers of the Assembly have gone on recess – till June 23 — perhaps, to allow the tension to cool down and for fence mending.

In the House of Representatives, Gbajabiamila however, congratulated Dogara moments after the results were announced by embracing the new Speaker and shaking hands with him. Members of the House had erupted in jubilation thereafter.

Dogara, in his inaugural speech, said, “What has been demonstrated here today is the resolve of members of the House to assert the independence of the legislature as a co-equal arm of government. We have shown once again that this is a House of the Nigerian people.

“I salute the doggedness and service of Gbajabiamila, who fought a good fight and who has served this House and the nation with distinction. Together, we will heal the wounds and divisions of this contest. Together we shall work to deliver good legislation and good government to our people.”

Later on when the group of ex-House leaders led by Na’Abba visited him, Dogara, who described his emergence as Speaker as a miracle, said he would ensure that the Lower House remained stable.

He said, “Talk about healing the wounds and divisions that had been caused by yesterday’s event, I assure you that we have been together and we know ourselves. We will come together and mend walls because some people may feel that they have lost. I want to tell them that they have not lost anything, as this remains a leadership that is for all.”

In the Senate, however, the end to the crisis is not in sight. On Wednesday, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, administered oaths of office and allegiance on Lawan and 27 other APC senators who were absent at the formal inauguration of the Senate. These were different from the 23 APC senators who were part of Saraki’s inauguration earlier on Tuesday.

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Thereafter, the senators, who are loyal to the APC and Lawan, under the auspices of the Senate Unity Forum led by Lawan, after staging a walk-out on the chamber, threatened to take a legal action against the election of Saraki. According to them, the process did not follow due constitutional procedure.

The leader of the SUF, Senator Barnabas Gemade, had led members of the group to stage a walkout in the chambers. The former Chairman of the PDP decried that 51 senators were not allowed to take part in the election of the Senate president because they were waiting for President Buhari at a meeting at the ICC.

Gemade stated that his group would, very soon, challenge the alleged illegality in court, “since it takes two-third of members to impeach the Senate president, two-third of the members should also have been in attendance before he was elected on Tuesday.”

He added, “The Clerk of the National Assembly, knowing full well that the quorum for election of the Senate president has not been met, went ahead to conduct an election that shuts the door on about 51 other senators, which would remain unacceptable until what would meet democratic parameters was done.”

The group of senators loyal to Saraki, under the auspices of the Like Minds Senators, however, maintained that due process was followed in his election as Senate president.

Senator Dino Melaye, in company with four others at a press conference, also dared the SUF members to challenge the action in court, claiming the case lacked necessary merit. Rather than address the issues in the Senate, he urged Dogara and other leaders of the Lower House to quickly put the election behind them by mending fences and embracing the losers.

“What we need now is reconciliation because the House, as it is now, is divided. And I believe the process should not be difficult,” Melaye added.

Surprisingly, the APC made a U-turn on Friday to accept Saraki as Senate President. The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the reality was that Saraki’s colleagues had duly elected him and the party was ready to live with the reality. “Of course, he has been duly elected by his colleagues. We have a reality and we must live with it,” he said.

Assessing the situation in the National Assembly, a federal lawmaker in the defunct Second Republic, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said as far as the lawmakers and Nigerian politicians were concerned, people should not go by what they see on the surface. “There is more, which goes below the surface. And the more you look the less you see,” he said.

Mohammed, who is the Convener of Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, said, “What is clear is this: These members of the Eighth Assembly do not want to think and understand that in politics, you do not go only by the law but by some conventions, which are deemed to be honourable. A member of a party cannot sabotage his party, if he is truly a member of that party.

“Where you want to hold an important election, it is important to allow maximum time and convenience for those who are entitled to vote, not when majority of the members are holding a meeting. It does no good and speaks volumes about the elements of bad faith which seem to be the driving sceptre in Nigerian politics. I do not see any justification why people who lost an election fair and square would now come and finance ‘factionalisation’ of the party.

“Also, the President of the Senate cannot be elected on the basis of votes majorly from the opposition party (PDP). The only honourable thing for him (Saraki) is either to re-join the party he defected from or he should resign.”

In his submission, the Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, said the electorate had nothing to lose due to the crisis between the lawmakers.

He said, “Since they have been in the Assembly purportedly legislating, have they ever done something that aggregates to the interest of Nigerians generally? I do not see how their crisis will affect Nigerians, except when the President submits the names of minister-nominees; they may not be on ground to approve it. Without the political appointees, the civil servants who are the engine room of administration can continue to do their work.”

Mumuni further recalled that the Seventh Senate had over four years to pass several bills but had to pass 46 bills within 10 minutes on the eve of its expiration. “That is a record anywhere in the world and that is to tell you how unserious they (lawmakers) can be,” he said.

The human rights activist said it was good that the executive had not been involved in the crisis, adding that should the legislature fail to pass necessary bills, the executive should also withhold bills of the lawmakers’ emoluments.

Speaking on the expectation of the electorate from the lawmakers, Mumuni said the governed should continue to hold the government accountable and keep it on its toes. “It is not too late in the day for them (lawmakers) to wrap up these issues and start behaving like mature people who have the interest of Nigerians at heart.

“The Buhari-led administration is just about three weeks old. We should still give them some time but we should be on their neck. While we want to tolerate them and be patient with them, we must also continue to harass them so that they do not sleep off. We must continue to remind them of their promises. After three months, they should tell us what has changed. By November, they should tell us what has changed in six months. We need to start asking them questions monthly or quarterly,” he added.

Even though the development might have altered political calculations within the APC, it seems to have balanced the distribution of the top political offices among the geo-political zones.

For instance, the President is from the North-West; the Vice President, South-West; the Senate President, North-Central; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, North-East. The Deputy Senate President is from the South-East, while the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives represents the South-West. The South-South is taking solace in the fact that Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is the National Chairman of the ruling party.