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A curious anticipatory approval as Oyofo's reign
ends in nightmare
By Chesa Chesa
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The news will continue to astound many for some
timeto come. That is, that Senator Victor Isa Kassim Oyofo has been removed as
theleader of the South South Caucus of the National Assembly and as the Chief
Whipof the Senate.
It was the climax of a busy week for the senators
whohad earlier given an unprecedented �anticipatory approval� toPresident
Olusegun Obasanjo to deploy about 2000 Nigerian soldiers to war-tornDarfur, in
Sudan. Unprecedented because the senators had never given anapproval on such an
issue that was anticipatory. The constitution also does notallow them to do
that, as they are expected to grant either an approval orrejection � no midway
conditions.
But the lawmakers had to deviate because
theircolleague, to whom they entrusted the task of urgently considering
andpresenting a report on whether to give the approval or not, could not
deliveron time. That is Senator Fidelis Okoro, chairman of the Committee on
Defence.
His excuse was that the 24-hour given his
committeeand that of the Foreign Affairs for the task was just inadequate. In
fact, asthe Senate, presided over by Adolphus Wabara, was giving the said
go-ahead toObasanjo, some military top brass were waiting in one of the Senate
committeerooms to meet with Okoro�s committee, which had summoned them.
Okoro insists that given the occasional sad tales
ofsoldiers who had been deployed on similar missions, there was the need to
getthe guarantee of the top military hierarchy that the soldiers would
beadequately equipped and their allowances paid in full as and when due.
This was why he disagreed with the Senate
leadershipthat argued that the President was in so much a hurry to send the
troops toSudan to boost Nigeria�s image and save the lives of brother
Africansthat the extra mile of debriefing the service chiefs was just
unnecessary. Aretired colonel who served in the army for 26 years, Senator Isa
Maina, also amember of the committee, shared Okoro�s views but it did not count
formuch in the eyes of his colleagues who gave Obasanjo an overwhelming�carry
go� vote that Thursday.
Wabara had even argued that there were over
5000Nigerians residing in Sudan and they must be protected as soon as possible.
Buta senator who spoke to Daily Independent wondered why �the excessive
hurry now when theSudanese crisis did not begin today.� He was at a loss as to
how all 5000Nigerians would suddenly be killed before the two days which Okoro
had requestedfor him to complete the committee�s work.
Besides, for how long will the Senate continue tomake
constitutional blunders just to please the executive? he asked as he optednot
to speak further on the matter.
Well, this senator was in the minority as
hiscolleagues opted to turn the blind eye to any constitutional errors. This
wasreally not unexpected as the general mood was that Obasanjo, having this
timearound respected the Senate enough to ask for their permission before
sendingout the troops, should be rewarded. After all, only two weeks ago, the
sameObasanjo had unilaterally given a loan of $45 million (N6.08 billion) to
Ghana,and another $5 million (N675 billion) to Sao Tome and Principe, before
writingthe Senate to take note. So, it can be seen in terms of, �If youcan�t
help it, let Obasanjo decide what is democratic andconstitutional.�
This dust had hardly settled down when the
coupagainst Oyofo was cracked open. The huge senator apparently was aware of
thediscontent pervading the ranks of the South-South lawmakers, who have
accusedhim of regarding them as his subjects, and putting the interests of the
zone heleads on the back burner. It is doubtful, however, that he knew the
extent towhich they had fine-tuned a strategy to pull the rug off his feet, and
in aquite embarrassing way.
This is because Oyofo is reputed to have the kind
ofpolitical respect and clout that could have enabled him demobilise the
renegadesenators, if only he had an inkling that things would turn out this
way. Besides,he could have saved himself the embarrassment by humbly resigning
the position.Alas, it is the same powers and reach he is believed to have that
convinced theplotters to lay an ambush instead of confronting him with a
request to resignor be removed. Little wonder also that they would not even
bother inviting theEdo-born senator to answer to the charges levelled him.
Indeed, sensing that even a 24-hour delay could
turnthe tables against them, the aggrieved senators insisted that the matter be
dealtwith summarily. This was against the background of entreaties already
beingmade by Wabara, and a few other senators, that this case of loss of
confidenceagainst Oyofo be withdrawn and treated as a family affair while he be
given anopportunity to defend himself.
Unfortunately, the pleas for mercy did not cut ice
asthe resource control senators insisted on deciding who leads them and for
howlong.
These veterans of the fight for resource controlsure knew how to do battle and they had their way, more so when the rules didnot demand that they give reasons for changing their leader. Only a simplemajority was required and they even got more than that when the decision waseventually put to vote by Wabara.As for reasons, they turned out to be a handfuland had been tugging at the minds of Oyofo�s followers for some monthsnow. Picking these minds, one discovered that the reasons ranged from arroganceand aloofness to insensitivity to South South interests on the part of
Oyofo. This impression started from his
attitudetowards the lawmakers� fight for the abolition of the
Onshore/OffshoreDichotomy in sharing of oil revenue to his most recent merciless
condemnationof a bill on Minimum Social Responsibility of oil companies in the
Niger Delta,sponsored by Senator Martyns-Yellowe (Rivers).
Also, Oyofo was said to have toed the line of
thepresidency against the wishes of the majority of the South South people
byendorsing the appointment of Godspower Ake as the deputy national
chairman(South-South) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to replace the
slainAminosoari Dikibo. The lawmakers wanted the position to shift to another
stateand not remain with Rivers State, which produced the two.
Against this background, David Brigidi, who
isbelieved to be nursing a grudge against Oyofo over his removal as chairman
ofthe Senate Committee on Petroleum, decided to mobilise his willing
colleaguesfor action.
And in a matter of minutes, it was a fait
accompli.He, it was, that drafted the killer letter which expressed the loss
ofconfidence in Oyofo by 13 senators of the South-South and his
subsequentreplacement by Udoma Udo Udoma. The motion to remove Oyofo as the
Chief Whipderived from that letter.
It was signed by Senators David Brigidi,
JohnBrambaifa, Bob Ekarika, Udoma Udoma, Victor Ndoma-Egba, Martyns Yellowe,
LeeMaeba, Bassey Henshaw, Daisy Danjuma, James Manager, Rufus Spiff, Bob
Effiongand John Mbata.
The five who did not sign include Senators Felix Ibru,
GregNnaji, Patrick Osakwe, who was out of town, and Osierhmen Osunbor, who did
notcome to the chambers although he was at the Assembly complex. And, of
course,Oyofo did not even sight the said letter, and he did not sign.
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