Issues
Towards Deepening Democracy …Of Acts Of Commission, Omission
When calls for an early formation of Federal Cabinet peaked during President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the United States of America (USA) in August, four months after his inauguration, Nigeria’s Commander-In-Chief assured that a Federal Executive Council would be formed by September. But at the end of that month, what Nigerians got was a list of 21 ministerial nominees.
The constitution requires President Buhari to nominate a ministerial nominee each from the 36 states of the federation. This means, Nigerians must wait a little more longer to behold a complete Federal Executive Council, amidst urgent national needs.
The Senate, constitutionally charged with responsibility of screening the nominees has fixed Tuesday, October 13, for take-off of the exercise, in hope that the remaining 15-member list of nominees shall reach the upper chamber of the national Assembly.
With criteria set for the screening of nominees and mixed reactions among Senators, there is no telling how much longer, the Buhari government would operate as a Military regime. The question is did the All Progressive Congress (APC) not anticipate electoral victory in the last general elections? Were they not remotely optimistic of forming a government? Or are they still shocked that they won the elections? Could it be that they had prepared more for an unfavourable outcome and planned elaborately on how to make government ungovernable, but instead met a peaceful response from former President Goodluck Jonathan and thus have to replan?
These questions have become imperative because many can no longer rationalize the unnecessary delay in forming a government, at a time when many national concerns are waiting for attention. The explanation that the new government needed to study the hand-over notes of the past one and reduce the number of ministries to manageable levels to reduce cost of governance does not really hold waters.
During the campaigns, the APC and its presidential flag bearer Gen Muhammadu Buhari claimed knowledge of all the nation’s problems and indeed bandied a blue-print that would help it hit the ground running once obliged the mandate. That blue-print should have captured the number of ministries, identified its first among equals, that would form the federal cabinet and save itself the embarrassment of public criticisms, over lack of preparedness to govern.
Worse still, the list of 21 nominees eventually sent to the Senate did not depict the result of a rigorous search and a time-consuming thorough investigation. It is not the product of a search for apolitical technocrats and indeed experts in the diaspora in various fields whose knowledge and service would help turn things around for the country.
The list instead turned out to be the expected, the same within the public domain and indeed canvassed by the social media for nearly one-month prior to its eventual unveiling by the Senate.
The delay in the appointment of ministers has in some ways criminalized some actions of the federal government. For instance, the prosecution of Senate President Bukola Saraki or any other, for that matter by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) should be ordered by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) or anyone delegated by him or her to do so.
The Buhari administration has yet to appoint a Minister of Justice or Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) so, who authorized the trial of the nation’s number three man? What was the cause of the haste by the CCB to prosecute the Senate President even before an AGF nominee has been screened by the accused himself? Interestingly, such AGF, with powers to authorize Saraki’s trial, must first appear before the Senate, with Saraki presiding and clear him for the job.
In the same vein, there are some public officers appointment and removal which procedure is clearly defined by law. Such enactments outline the process of nomination by the executive and confirmation by the legislature before they can be seen as constitutionally appointed.
While the Senate was on recess early September, President Buhari appointed Mr. Babatunde Fowler as Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Ahmed Kuru, new Managing Director/CEO of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Mr Kola Ayeye, Ms Eberechukwu Uneze and Mr Aminu Ismail respectively, as Executive Directors of AMCON. These officiers functioned and performed official duties without official confirmation by the Senate as required by the constitution.
In like manner, Professor Umaru Danbatta, was nominated as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and indeed started work without official confirmation. In situating the weight of such violation of the law, The Guardian, quoting a dependable Senate source wrote, ‘This is an offence and a gross breach of the constitution. Some of us are peeved by this conduct of the nominees…, adding, “we consider it an abuse of the respect we have for President Buhari.”
“This sort of thing cannot happen in America or any other civilized democracy. President Buhari should avoid unconstitutional acts by his nominees,” the Senator warned.
“We have confirmed several nominees of past presidents who had to wait for weeks and sometimes months before they could assume office.
“Take the case of Ms Aruma Oteh, who waited for three months because when she was nominated by President Yar‘Adua to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) we were on recess and by the time we got back, she had an accident that necessitated the postponement of her screening and confirmation for several weeks.
“Yet she never took over office at SEC until she was duly confirmed by the Senate. The same is applicable to those who previously headed the same parastatals for which Buhari recently announced new nominees,” the Senator was quoted as lamenting.
The same procedure attended the appointment of security chiefs, who though in acting capacities, started performing the constitutional duties of their positions without prior confirmation by the Senate, as required by law. These actions, without doubt, attempt to question the independence of other arms of government.
Like President Buhari, the Senators and members of the House of Representatives were elected by the people to form the legislative arm of government and indeed represent their various constituents in law-making and perform other over-sight functions of the Executive. Therefore, each time such duties are denied the elected law-makers, it not only amounts to impunity of sorts, which in opposition, APC repeatedly protested against, it indeed undermines the very essence of democracy, and of separation of powers and indeed of checks and balances, necessary for good democratic governance.
Though a retired army general, President Buhari must, at all times demonstrate his total rebirth as a democrat, democratically elected through a democratic process. And as a beneficiary of a free and fair election, guided by laws, the President must at all times uphold the rule of law not minding whose ox is gored. He must be as non-partisan as he can be on some issues, if he must earn the respect and approval of the citizenry.
The decision to send half-list of ministerial nominees, while the constitution stipulates otherwise is indeed undemocratic and should be corrected. He must not give the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a reason to celebrate early democratic missteps to underscore his military pedigree.
These indeed were issues regularly criticized by the then opposition APC as acts of impunity and it will be unfortunate should the APC elect to repeat what it constantly preached against, because it is now in power.
The Senate and indeed the House must be respected as another independent arm of government. Same goes for the Judiciary, both of which owe Nigerians distinct services ordered by their constitutional independence. They must not function as extensions of the Executive Arm because that would amount to absolute power which also corrupts absolutely.
My Agony is that even with such required separation of powers and checks and balances, there are very visible signs that the same executive wants to set rules and define criteria for the screening of its own ministerial nominees. Or have the screeners face its full executive weight, including, dishonourable trips to the CCT? Is that a consideration or part of the bargain? Pray Not.
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
