Politics
Yar’Adua HandOver: The Voice Of God
“If we fail to act now, history will not forgive us,” – Dora Akunyili
Only very few persons have good conscience to say no even when majority believe all is well in a system. Obviously Dora Akunyili, a professor and Nigeria’s Information and Communications Minister is among the few that can off-load a burden, feel free to take a principled stance and damn the consequences if need be.
It takes the singular heart of a lion and a principled character like Dora Akunyili to make a positive difference in a rotten drug industry even when dare-devil drug traffickers want her life out to pave way for a free drug business in the country.
The drug traffickers fled the illegal drug trade and the image of the Amazon (Dora) blossomed to the good health of Nigerians, and history was made of her glorious outing in the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Last Wednesday, Dora with a heavy heart, not in relation to death but saddened with “the State of the Nation”, rattled the Federal Executive Council (FEC) with her memo on the continued absence of ailing President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua from the country and the need to handover to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to save the nation from further embarrassment.
Dora Akunyili’s memo which was later withdrawn say in parts “ I wish to call on the Federal Executive Council to act now in the best interest of our dear President and our dear nation. We also wish to save ourselves from shame because our stand is becoming very embarrassing… The name of our President and all his achievements are being rubbished by this unfortunate debacle. The President and his family are also being put under undue pressure, which will not help his recovery. If we fail to act now, history will not forgive us.”
Of a truth, history do not forgive those who keep silent in the face of challenges especially if such challenges have to do with conscience and integrity. Thus, when Dora Akunyili decided to send her controversial memo to the FEC, she did that not for want of it, but to stand on the side of history irrespective of the earlier position of FEC that all is well with Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia hospital.
On January 27, the Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Micheal Aondoakaa had told Nigerians after a FEC meeting that the cabinet unanimously agreed that Yar’Adua is fit to continue in office, even with his poor health.
Every element of charade has an expiring date. When Dora sent in her memo to FEC that Jonathan Presidency is now imperative, it was an indication that the FEC’s charade has expired to the chagrin of most other FEC members. Who is fooling who?
Dora Akunyili is not alone for Jonathan Presidency now. Media stakeholders, February 1, had expressed worry over the political crisis in Nigeria and called on ailing Yar’Adua to handover power to Jonathan within seven days or resign. Unfortunately, Aondoakaa would not stop at nothing to secure rulership in absentia for Yar’Adua, and that is why the media stakeholders have given him (Aondoakaa) red card even as they advised the National Assembly to impeach Yar’Adua if he fails to abide by Sections 144 and 145 of the 1999 constitution. The beauty of democracy can be seen in the unity of 36 state governors for a transfer of power to Jonathan in order to save the country from impending anarchy and threat to political instability. The governors’ stand over Yar’Adua’s continued absence from the country is enough to send strong message to Nigerians that deceit has lost its face value in the game of offshore Presidency.
For how long will Nigeria continue to exist with leadership vacuum? This is the worry of another set of political figures in the country led by former House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Bello Masari and a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani. Their demand for the resignation of Yar’Adua and the assumption of leadership by his vice will only encourage the efforts to strengthen the nation’s weak democratic institutions that have failed to respond appropriately to the popular clamour for Yar’Adua to transfer power to his deputy.
Arewa Consultative Forum, an umbrella body of the Northerners has pitched its tent with history. It lent its weight in support of an orderly transfer of power to the Vice President.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a Pan-Igbo organization shares the sentiment of Arewa Forum, that time has come for Jonathan to take charge of leadership in absence of his master.
All these calls represent voices of reason which of course are those of God and they should not be ignored even as the evil cabal that has pocketed Yar’Adua administration is not leaving any thing to chance to secure Yar’Adua’s rulership in absentia. Perharps, the cabal is worried that once power shift, their economic base and that of their aides, dependents etc will cease, hence the efforts to keep the flame of offshore Presidency burning.
Whether we like it or not, two sets of Nigerians are locked up in prayers which are equal and opposite. The first prayer point is for God to facilitate the transfer of power to Jonathan at least to enable the country move forward. Others are praying for Yar’Adua to recover immediately to retain power and shame his perceived enemies. But when we realize that many national issues including the review of the Electoral Act, the Niger Delta crisis, the 2010 National budget have been put on hold, it is only expedient for those in power to listen to voice of reason which is that of God.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.