Senators on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC staged a walk out last Wednesday in protest over the attempts by the Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu to preside over the Senate in the absence of Senate President Bukola Saraki. They had equally disapproved Ekweremadu’s emergence in the first instance. ANDREW OOTA looks at the unfolding drama and the implications of having a PDP senator to hold such sensitive position as well as whether the walk out will ever come to an end.

Senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC led by former senate minority leader and chairman senate committee on public Accounts in the 7th Senate, Senators George Akume and Ahmad Lawan respectively, walked out of the red chamber during last Wednesday’s sitting of the upper legislative chamber. The walk out, which was the first from the APC divide since the inauguration of the National Assembly on June 9th, 2015 was to register their disapproval of the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as Deputy Senate President.

The All Progressives Congress controls the senate with 60 senators elected under the party’s platform, while the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP have 49 senators in the 109 member-senate. For the APC leadership and other stakeholders, the emergence of senator Ekweremadu was simply an aberration that should not be allowed to stand, if the reforms and the change mantra that the APC rode onto power during the 2015 general elections is anything to hold onto.

Senate President Bukola Saraki of the All Progressives Congress, during the build up to the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly and election of presiding officers, stroke an alliance with the opposition People’s Democratic Party to support his ambition and offered the position the position of Deputy Senate President and, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was to be the beneficiary.

It will be recalled that Senator Saraki was not the chosen candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the position of Senate President, APC had settled for the chairman of the senate committee on Public Accounts Senator Ahmad Lawan for the position of Senate President, while immediate past Senate Minority leader, Senator George Akume was to pick the Deputy Senate President’s slot after alignments and series of meetings by the party leadership.

However, the burning desire and unstoppably growing political ambition of Senator Saraki to emerge as the head of Nigerian’s highest lawmaking body was rigid and unbending with or, without the approval of his party. The declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari that he was ready to work with anybody who emerged as Senate President clearly provided the extra strength and morale booster for the Kwara- born politician to strive harder. Senator Saraki , at this point could stretch to any length to actualize his ambition by whatever means possible including the unholy alliance with the PDP to trade off the position of Deputy Senate President.

He achieved his aim and emerged without a dissenting voice but, since after his emergence and that of senator Ekweremadu as his deputy, the turbulence began. Apparently aware that they needed to live with the reality of his emergence, the APC through its national chairman Chief John Oyegun announced that the party has accepted Senator Saraki and was prepared to move on. But the party expressed strong reservations about the emergence of his deputy and promised to reject it in its totality. But as an ally, Senator Saraki considers it necessary to protect Senator Ekweremadu by whatever means possible. The Senate President was now caught in-between the devil and the deep blue sea in attempts by either towing his party line or letting Ekweremadu carry his own cross.

His idea of protecting his deputy was to prevent him from presiding which saw the senate President shut down the senate each time he was to attend to his trial by the CCT, but after towing his party line completely by the clearance of minister of Transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Honourable Rotimi Chubuike Amaechi ,the senate President probably assumed it was time to taste the waters to see if the anti-Ekweremadu elements had backed down on their hard stance. He was proved wrong.

The constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria and the standing Rules of the senate empowers the deputy senate president to preside in the absence of the Senate President at all times, but apparently aware of an impending rancour that would widen the crisis in the senate and his party for forging an alliance with the PDP on behalf of his party without approval, Saraki preferred to shut the senate than allow Ekweremadu to preside in his absence.

The knocks and criticisms from Nigerians over consistent closure of the upper chamber , instead of allow his deputy preside as enshrined in the rules book and the constitution each time he was to attend to personal issues and the fact that his actions affects national activities including the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees at one of such adjournments , the senate President was compelled to allow his deputy to preside, while he was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari during the swearing in ceremony of ministers of the federal republic of Nigeria at the Presidential villa last Wednesday.

The walk out, led by the principal actors under the axis of the Senators Unity Forum , Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume , was a message to the leadership of the upper legislative chamber and Nigerians that they have not shifted their position which is to reject the emergence of the deputy senate President and the necessary legal actions they have so far taken were born out of strong convictions that the deputy senate president did not emerge properly.

Members of the Unity Forum had dragged Senator Ike Ekweremadu before a court of law over alleged forgery of the standing rules of the senate that produced him as deputy senate president.

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Abubakar Salisu Maikasuwa who inaugurated the senate on the 9th of June, 2011 at 10.Am was equally accused of complicity in the alleged fake standing rule which was used to perform the inaugurate the senate.

Ekweremadu himself was accused of ordering the amendment of the standing rules of the senate when he held sway as Deputy Senate President in the 7th Senate without approval of the senate as required by the senate rules.

Immediate past Senate chairman on Rules and Business and Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang had denied knowledge of any amendment of the standing rules of the senate by the 7th Assembly.

Senator Enang, as chairman of business and rules committee of the 7th senate was the right and proper authority to present to the National Assembly management any amended copy of the standing rules before printing and circulation to senators.

Other members of the 7th Senate, including members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP all denied knowledge of any amendment.

It was based on this that the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase ordered an investigation into the alleged forgery and has since made his report before the office of the Attorney General for the Federation awaiting necessary judicial action.

Senator Kabiru Marafa and some of his colleagues also approached an Abuja High Court to look into the alleged forgery of the senate standing rules that saw to the emergence of Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.

This, amongst others are some hard realities, the leadership of the APC , the Unity Forum Senators and a section of the presidency , are finding it so hard to come to terms with and, have vowed to resist, hence the statement of Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi after the walk out.

According to Hunkuyi statement titled, “As President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurates the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of the change agenda, PDP takes over the hallowed chamber of the senate”.

It reads: “We notice with joy the President, Commander-in-Chief, Muhammadu Buhari , today, November 11.

“Finally, the change agenda has cleared the coast to stand up the integrated development of the APC formed government. In equal stance, we notice with grave sadness, the handover of the hallowed chamber of the senate today to the opposition party, the PDP, by the Senate President to Ike Ekweremadu as the PDP helmsman to preside membership of the ACN-led chamber.

“It is a very sad development that must be denounced by well meaning APC members and the leaders like. With this, to show our protest as APC senators of the eighth senate, we wish to announce that we shall cease to attend any sitting presided over by the PDP in an APC majority chamber of the eighth senate”.

But in a swift reaction, the chairman of the senate committee on Media and Information Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi told journalists after the walk out that there was no any conspiracy amongst the senators, in another press statement titled “The conspiracy against the APC finally consummated”.

According to his statement, “The consummation of a conspiracy is the figment of the imagination of those behind the statement it and should be disregarded by Nigerians.

“The Senate wishes to re-iterate its total commitment to providing robust legislative actions to support the change agenda of Mr. President as he strives to move Nigeria to a new height.

“The bi-partisan stand of the senate has not and will not be an impediment in the way. The distinguished senators are happy with the inauguration of the Federal Executive Council and looks forward to having a harmonious, rancour-free but inclusive and participatory relationship that has at its heart the welfare of Nigerians.

“Finally, as we await the unveiling of the policy directions of Mr. President through the members of his executive, the senate is poised to work harder and better to support the emergence of a changed Nigeria of our collective dream,”.

Suffice to say that the position of the Unity Forum secretary, Senator Hankuyi from Kaduna state was clear and unambiguous, it simply reawakens the earlier stand of the group not to regard Senator Ekweremadu as deputy senate President for two positions, first that the process that brought him into office, secondly is, what many refers to as aberration for having a PDP senator in a dominated APC senate.

The response of the senate spokesman however, was neither here nor there, because many analysts have doubted the workability of the senate supporting the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC with a PDP senator in the driver’s seat, particularly on issues that require constitutional amendment. Deputy senate President and Deputy Speakers chair the ad-hoc committees of the two chambers during constitutional amendment exercises as a tradition in the National Assembly since the exercise started during the fifth National Assembly.

This is in spite of President Muhammadu Buhari’s consistency that the present hopeless state of the economy was as a result of the recklessness of the PDP. This stand point is undoubtedly the position of most financial and political analysts, who on many occasions attributed the dwindling economy to the high level impunity and lawlessness on the part of the PDP-led administration in the last 16 years and, their penchant for deceit.

Interestingly, the senate minority leader and immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom, Senator Godswill Akpabio had admitted during an interview session on one of the television stations that, the managers of the nation’s economy were economical with the truth even when it was obvious that the economy was going down. According to senator Akpabio, if the governors were told about the true state of the economy, perhaps they would have adjusted their spending profiles by cutting down on a lot of things that were not necessary.

It is necessary to stress also that the former National Security Adviser, NSA under President Goodluck Jonathan, the late Andrew Azazi had told a PDP gathering in one of the South-South states that the behaviour and actions of the PDP were responsible for the insecurity in the country. This was complimented by some international researchers and Non-governmental organisations that have also alluded to this same fact.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as others elder statesmen equally blamed the immediate past administration under the PDP for allowing the insecurity to escalate for reasons that are far below the collective interest of Nigeria, peace and unity.

The ordinary people on the street roundly attribute poverty, infrastructural decay and other vices which have literally grounded Nigeria and brought the nation to the present precarious situation to the PDP misrule and insensitivity to the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

The cascading corruption witnessed ever in the history of Nigeria since advent of democratic rule in 1999 has also being roundly attributed to bad leadership of the senator Ekweremadu’s PDP when he was deputy senate president in the 6th and 7th Senate .

These are some of the hard facts that will be difficult for a party that came into power under a change mantra and a president who is determined to correct the ills and chat a way forward through people oriented and developmental projects will certainly not want to overlook or, dismiss by a wave of the hand by allowing those who played key roles in an administration that brought about such woes to be part of programmes and policies that will bring about change.

It is important to stress that the issues might not be about the Senate President Bukola Saraki, who from all indications, his party has come to terms with his emergence, the issues really will be about the fear of a mole, who would always pursue same unpopular agenda that saw to the defeat of his party by creating a huddle that will halt the wheel of progress, just to ensure that his party bounces back in the next elections.

It would be recalled that the shutting down of the senate was not necessarily because of Senator Saraki’s personal trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, but to avoid deepening the gulf by allowing his deputy to preside, when a good number of the APC senators do not regard him as their deputy senate President.

The position of a deputy senate President is central and sensitive in the business of the senate, the business of the senate on the other hand determines success and otherwise of an executive President in every democracy, and where the deputy Senate president becomes a spanner in the wheel of progress is what analysts will wait to see as the musical chair begins with the message of a walk out by APC senators over Ekweremadu. The question would be, for how long would the walk out continue and when will it stop?

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