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Senate gives Obasanjo 48 hrs to sack el-Rufai
•President apologises
NDIDI OKAFOR, Abuja
SENATE
yesterday gave President Olusegun Obasanjo 48 hours to remove Mallam Nasir el-Rufai
as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (MFCT) for allegedly describing its
members as "fools."
The Senate passed a resolution to that
effect following a motion based on Order 14 (Privilege) moved by Senator David
Brigidi (Bayelsa) and seconded by former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of
Police, Senator Nuhu Aliyu.
But barely two hours after the legislative
chamber issued the ultimatum, President Olusegun Obasanjo apologised to the
members and said he had queried el-Rufai.
Senate also indicated its preparedness to
amend the FCT Decree when Senator Idris Ibrahim Kuta said the law gave Mallam
el-Rufai undue and unbridled powers.
Senator Kuta told the Senate that it
should "demolish the minister before demolishing the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),
insisting that he (el-Rufai) had crossed his bounds.
Kuta said having successfully "demolished
churches and mosques, el-Rufai now thinks that it is time to demolish the
Senate, but my advice is that we should demolish the Minister of FCT before NLC."
Mover of the motion, Senator Brigidi had
told the Senate that his privilege as a senator and that of the Senate as an
institution had been breached by the minister, who was reported as calling
senators "fools."
Senate had adopted the report of its
committee on Public Accounts asking el-Rufai to refund the sum of N20 million
said to have been wrongly paid to his aides.
In his reaction to the Senate’s resolution
regarding the said refund, el-Rufai was alleged to have said that "silence is
the best answer to a fool."
Taking very strong exception to the
minister’s remark, Brigidi asked the Senate not to accept the collective
insult."
He told his colleagues that even though
the national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh
drew the attention of the minister to the said insult to the Senate, "he neither
apologised nor retracted it."
Consequently, Brigidi prayed the Senate to
give President Obasanjo 48 hours within which to remove el-Rufai as FCT
minister.
Senator Brigidi also prayed the Senate to
reconvene after the expiration of the 48 hours to consider whatever response it
gets from President Obasanjo.
Senators Patrick Osakwe Abubakar Danso
Sodangi, Kanti Bello and Mohammed Aruwa, all condemned the said utterance or el-Rufai.
But in a rather dramatic manner during
debate, Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, paused and asked aloud, "does the
fool include me?"
Senators chorused in unison "yes! and the
word as used by el-Rufai is a collective noun."
Meanwhile, Obasanjo’s letter of apology
dated yesterday (August 31), was red on the floor under announcement by the
Senate president, when the Senate resumed at 2.00pm to ratify its resolution for
el-Rufai’s removal.
In the one-page letter, Obasanjo said he
had queried el-Rufai over the "alleged wrong deployment of language of the
Minister of Federal Capital Territory on a member or members of the Senate of
the Federal Republic. I asked the Honourable Minister to give me an explanation
in writing."
However, President Obasanjo noted that the
minister’s reaction may have been necessitated by the unspecified action of an
unidentified senator.
Consequently, he warned the Senate and its
members of what he described as "words amounting to alleged threat or blackmail
(which) will cease to emanate from distinguished and honourable members of the
National Assembly.
Nonetheless, Obasanjo apologised, saying
"therefore, if any offence had been caused, I apologise on behalf of the
minister."
However, Senate went ahead to ratify in
the plenary, its resolutions on el-Rufai thus:
• "That the Senate do request the
President, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to relieve
Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of his position as a Minister of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria within 48 hours."
• "That the Senate do reconvene in a
plenary session at the expiration of 48 hbours to consider the response or
reaction of Mr. President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to the Senate’s resolution."
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