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Recall
fever in the Senate: Governors unleash supremacy
battle
Segun Fatuase, Senior Correspondent, Lagos and
Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, National
Assembly Correspondent, Abuja
Never at a time like this has
the Senate been under siege. For any erring Senator, who is not in the
good books of his governor, the recall threat is more real than imagined.
Senators are in a battle for their political lives and they now tread with
caution for no one knows when the recall axe will be wielded against them.
The recall threat being played out on them now points towards 2007.
The recall saga, it was
gathered, is meant to not only shake the legislators, it is also alleged
that some of the governors have declared their intention to come to the
Senate in 2007. The political calculation, according to a source, is to
let the Senators know that they are holding the ticket in trust and that
it is not theirs to keep, as it can be withdrawn at any time.
A gale of
threats
Last month was a particularly
bad month for some lawmakers in the upper chamber. And the two main
political parties, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP) seem to be embroiled in a battle to outdo the other.
Consequently, none of the affected Senators can claim to be smiling now.
Their political fate hangs in the balance. From the ANPP, two Kebbi
Senators, Farouk Bello-Bunza and Usman Sani Sami, are not spared, while
from the PDP, Senate President Adolphus Wabara, Bode Olowoporoku, Jibril
Aminu and Abubakar Daso Sodangi are not spared either. For Bello-Bunza and
Sami, work on their recall has begun, as real and perceived sins have been
levelled against them. While Olowoporoku has drawn the battle line, having
identified the perpetrators behind his ordeal, that of the Senate
President is still discussed in hushed tones.
When the story broke early
September that Abia State was concluding moves to recall Wabara, a Senator
dismissed it with the wave of a hand, insisting that, "they are not
serious. They just want to shake him. It is not possible." The antagonism
seems to have whittled down. There is calm, at least, for
now.
Deputy Senate President
Ibrahim Mantu is not spared either. Although the recall threat on his head
early in the year may be over, but not the political battle he has to
fight with suspended Governor Joshua Dariye. Dariye was said to have
expressed interest in the Senate, a fact that did not go down well with
Mantu, who is also interested in coming back in 2007. But the fact that
they both come from the same Senatorial district is not heart warming,
hence the need to deal with Dariye when the opportunity presented
itself.
In the case of Sodangi, who is
a two-time Senator, it is alleged that he is interested in coming back to
the Senate for the third time in 2007. But the snag is that his governor,
Abdullahi Adamu, is alleged to be one of the governors who want to come to
the Senate when his tenure is up. Ditto for Governor Adamu Aliero of Kebbi
State. Sodangi and Bello-Bunza have the unique bad luck in that they both
come from the same Senatorial districts as their governors.
For Sani Sami, respite may
take a long time in coming because, just as Olowoporoku, he has been
expelled by the ANPP. Whether it is at the state or national level is yet
unclear. But his own sin was that he not only engaged in anti-party
activities, he was said to have been at loggerheads with the state ANPP
chairman. In fact, Sami got to know of his sins from the grapevine and
some of his constituents.
How Senators Forum contributed
to distrust
But the groundswell for the
recall of the affected northern Senators stem, partly, from the retreat
held by Northern Senators Forum (NSF) two months ago. Before the Senators
left Abuja for Sokoto, some governors said to be opposed to the intent
behind the retreat allegedly called their representatives to shun the
parley. In fact, some of the governors allegedly called them to come home
for the weekend, as a proof that they would not honour the Sokoto call.
With that agreement, some legislators made themselves scarce.
In the case of Bello-Bunza,
reliable sources said that he had earlier agreed not to go to Sokoto. At
the last minute, he confided in a colleague that he was under immense
pressure to attend the retreat. And so to Sokoto he went. Interestingly,
the senator and his governor were on good terms before the Sokoto event,
but that relationship was ruptured when he attended the NSF retreat,
against pleas that he should not.
For Aminu, it may be nunc dimitis yet. Last
week, seven sacks packed with signatures from his Adamawa Central
Senatorial constituency were dispatched from his state, ostensibly at the
instance of the powers that be. On Wednesday, the sacks were brought to
Abuja before they were taken to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) for submission. From there, the recall process is
surely, but steadily on.
Olowoporoku versus Bode
George
But the biggest casualty of
the recall fever is Olowoporoku. When efforts to recall him failed, push
came to shove. Using the machinery of state power, Olowoporoku, a Second
Republic minister, a lecturer at the then University of Ife, and a
grassroots politician was simply pushed out of the party he helped give
credibility in his homestead. But the truth is that Olowoporoku has had a
running battle with Governor Ayo Fayose since 1999. Things took a turn for
the worse on October 21, 2004, when, upon a pronouncement from the PDP
National Secretary, Vincent Ogbulafor, Olowoporoku was expelled. He was
suddenly in the cold. A man he claims he contributed to his electoral
victory on April 19, 2003, had bloodied Olowoporoku�s head. But the
lawmaker says he is not down yet
At a press conference last
Thursday, Olowoporoku unmasked those behind his travails and stated
categorically that his expulsion was premeditated. He specifically pointed
fingers at Fayose and interestingly, PDP Vice Chairman (South West) Chief
Bode George, who he said was simply on a vendetta mission against him.
Olowoporoku traced George�s vendetta against him to the animosity, which
existed between them when the latter was military governor of the old Ondo
State, and which eventually culminated in his expulsion from the military.
To Olowoporoku, George is only back to exact his pound of flesh, using a
tool in Fayose.
"The newspapers carried my
purported expulsion on October 22, 2004. Barely 10 hours after the
pronouncement by the PDP, Mr. Ayo Fayose, the governor of Ekiti State,
launched a 16-page printed colour photographs programme of events by 10 am
on October 22 in which my position as a Senator of Ekiti South was
declared vacant. The pamphlet was printed a week earlier ready for the
ceremony, specifically to be announced that my Senate seat has been
declared vacant. This means that the decision of the body that purported
to have me expelled was already known a week in advance by Fayose and his
faction of the PDP in Ekiti State," he told
reporters.
The struggle for Ekiti State
seems to transcend the tussle between Olowoporoku and Fayose. Already,
there exist factions within the PDP in the state. Party men who dare take
sides with those against the governor, said Olowoporoku, stand the risk of
either running out of the state or be killed. Again, the embattled senator
said that the governor has a godfather in George, who he added would
ensure that any opposition to Fayose is decisively dealt with.
He said: "I am not on the same
pedestal with Bode George, who has just come into politics and has no
record of success even in his constituency in Lagos State as a politician
and even in his assignment in Ports Authority. He now believes he will
bully every leader in Yorubaland into submission and extinction. Because
George has never won any election in his life, therefore, he does not
appreciate nor does he know what it takes to be a Senator. When a failure
is asked to preside over the affairs of successful men, he naturally
becomes tyrannical. George feels that he does not need men of political
assets and credibility in Yorubaland, and especially in Ekiti State, to
deliver votes in 2007 once he will command the army and mobile policemen
to deploy throughout Yorubaland in 2007. I have heard him say that all
factions in Ekiti State other than that of Fayose will be expelled and
will win, meaning that mobile policemen will be used to carry boxes and
mass thumbprint to win the elections in 2007."
Olowoporoku in dire
straits
Senator Olabode Olowoporoku is
in dire straits following an order from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
that he should vacate his seat in the Senate, having been accused of a
misdemeanour. Specifically, Olowoporoku, who is representing Ekiti South
Senatorial District in the Senate, was accused of working against the PDP
by overtly supporting and campaigning for the All Nigeria Peoples Party
(ANPP) during the last local government election in Ekiti State. Reports
have it that when he could not stomach the alleged excesses of the PDP at
that particular election, he reportedly told his wife who was slated for
the position in dispute, to move to the ANPP, his former party, a
development which the ruling party found
objectionable.
At the initial stage,
Olowoporoku was expelled by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) for
anti-party activities before the party sledgehammer descended on him and
he was told to vacate his senatorial seat by a Disciplinary Committee
headed by Senator Ibrahim Safara who is also the Deputy National Chairman
(North) of the party. To further compound his problems, PDP�s National
Publicity Secretary, Venatius Ikem said that the party would find an
immediate replacement for the seat now declared vacant apparently to show
that the party means business and can discipline any erring
member.
�We will soon commence the
process of his replacement. He cannot work against the party and enjoy the
benefits of the party. He has ceased to be our member and can no longer
represent us in the Senate�, he said.
Olowoporoku is not new to
controversy. As a politician of the old hue, he has seen a lot of rough
political battles. The former minister of state for science and technology
under the Shehu Shagari�s administration was at various times in the
defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the National Republican Convention
(NRC), Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN), and the All Peoples Party (APP).
The new political dispensation first saw him in the Alliance for Democracy
(AD) during which he contested the primaries against former Governor
Adeniyi Adebayo and lost. He then moved to the All Nigeria Peoples Party
(ANPP) and when he could not realize his ambition, he shifted to the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before his present trouble. He was said to
have managed to leave a mark in every party as a dogged and principled man
who will not hesitate to act even in the face of overwhelming
opposition.
�Olowoporoku can be very tough
when it comes to issues he considers important to him. He does not talk
much but when he does, he goes all the way. It is a trait with Ekiti
people, so he is just behaving true to type,� said a source close to the
Ilawe-Ekiti-born politician.
Is Governor Fayose to blame
in Ekiti?
As if the heat from the PDP is
not enough, Olowoporoku also has to contend with the problem in his home
state, which may hasten his exit from the Senate if not properly handled.
For a start, there is no love lost between him and Governor Ayo Fayose.
While Olowoporoku is from Ekiti South, the governor is from Ekiti Central
and this has always been a sore point with the embattled politician who is
among the elite group clamouring for any other candidate outside Ekiti
Central to be at the helm of affairs. Expectedly, Olowoporoku found it
hard at the initial stage to come to terms with Fayose�s leadership and
was among the elite who reportedly saw the governor as a �peculiar Ekiti
experience��. He even reportedly supported the cancellation of the results
of the PDP primaries that brought Fayose to power in Ekiti State. He is
said to be in league with the Chief Samuel Kolawole Babalola group,
believed to be a thorn in the flesh of the governor. Babalola lost the
primary to Fayose in 1999. If the issue of recall should come up or if the
state government has a say in the matter, then Olowoporoku may need to do
more than seeking to intensify his underground moves to save his political
career.
Fayose on his own part sees
Olowoporoku as a principal member of Chief S.K. Babalola�s group, which
tried unsuccessfully to block his ascension to the Ekiti State Government
House. And so without any concrete pillar of support from the Ekiti State
government, it appears that Olowoporoku may have a hard task ahead if he
wants to retain his seat.
Any way out for embattled
senators?
Should the PDP decide to carry
out its threat, it may adopt many approaches to oust Olowoporoku from the
Senate. One of such is to institute a court case as happened in the case
of Senator Ajadi who was forced to vacate his seat after a prolonged
battle. Another approach, which the party seems to favour, is to invoke
Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution which deals with the manner a
political party can take care of political aspirants by canvassing for
votes or contributing to the election expenses of any
candidate.
Specifically, the party can
use the National Assembly through Section 228 to disqualify any person
from holding public office on the ground that he knowingly aids or abets a
political party in contravening Section 225 (3) of the
Constitution.
PDP also has the option of
using the electorate to recall Olowoporoku, a process, which is being
experimented in Adamawa State against Senator Jibril Aminu with minimal
success.
While Olowoporoku is keeping a
very low profile for now, preferring to make some underground moves to
stave off the trouble confronting him, analysts have come up with several
postulations about the issue. The posers being raised border on the right
of any party to remove an elected senator or declare his seat vacant. It
is also pertinent to know if the electorate can successfully be used to
recall an elected political office holder.
Meanwhile, the PDP is expected
to hold a crucial meeting soon to look critically into the Olowoporoku
case and come up with a plan of action as stated by Venatius Ikem. For
now, Olowoporoku is on a tight rope pitching his wide political experience
against the might of the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party.
As for Aminu, there is only a
faint hope that his opponents may not succeed. The former Nigeria�s
ambassador to the United States is said to be banking on the fact that he
is in touch with the conservative elements in the PDP as well as the core
North. In which case Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Boni
Haruna said to be sponsors of the recall bid may have a hard time
achieving their objective.
But Senators Sodangi,
Bello-Bunza and Sani Sami are likely to take advantage of the ANPP crisis
to hold on to power. All they need to do is pitch camp with the former FCT
minister, General Jeremiah Useni laying claim to the national chairmanship
of the party, since as it were, their governors are loyal to the embattled
National Chairman, Chief Don Etiebet.
No matter the outcome, it is
doubtful if the PDP and in particular the ANPP can successfully kick out
the erring senators, more so when the demand for their recall is at the
whim of some powerful shot in the respective states. This means Nigerians
can look forward to an ensuing diatribe whose end may take long in
coming.
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