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Sunday, September 05 2004 Search : Vol 17 No.30

News Opinion Features Sports Chic Columnists Faith Personage Magazine Interview Business Week Sunday Politics Ecowas Report Family Line Foreign News El-Rufai begs Senate NDIDI OKAFOR, Abuja FEDERAL Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai yesterday finally pleaded with the Senators to forgive him because he had erred in calling them fools. "It was an inappropriate statement, I made a mistake and I am sorry," El-Rufai said, and then begged the Senate to forgive him. Mallam El-Rufai who called Senators "fools" in a reaction to his indictment by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, pleaded with the Senate to forgive him at a press conference at the headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja. He described the Senate as "one of the pillars of democracy" stressing that "as a human being, one can lose one’s sense of balance." He reiterated his confidence and respect for the Senate in these words: "I respect the Senate. I respect all the institutions of democracy. I deeply regret this. The National Assembly is my legislature as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory. I did not mean what I said and I probably did not mean it to refer to the whole Senate. But even if I meant it to refer to one person, it was an inappropriate statement. We are all human beings and we all make mistakes." He further pleaded with the Senate to give him an opportunity to appear before it and apologise on the floor of the "it hope as the National chairman said, if the Senate deems it fit, me to be given the opportunity to apologise to the ... House, I will. But I have been going round and speaking with many Senators, explaining the statement. But I hope the Senate itself will give me a fair hearing so that I can explain and end up with an apology." Earlier, the National chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Audu Ogbeh and other party officials who had held a closed-door meeting with Mallam El-Rufai also apologised to the Senate and the entire federal legislature. Apologising to the Senate Ogbeh said: "We are deeply deadened by the development and wish to join our president in ordering our unreserved apologies to the august Senate of Nigeria and the entire political class for the pain and anguish which the minister’s conduct has caused them all." Ogbeh appealed to the Senate to reconsider its stand since "you do not burn a soiled garment, you wash it." The Senate had given president Olusegun Obasanjo 48 hour ultimtum to sack el-Rufai for calling it and its members "fools". President Obasanjo had quickly apologised on behalf of el-Rufai but the Senate rejected his apology insisting that the minister be sacked. Pleading for him, Ogbeh argued that the Senate should be lenient because "he is a youngman with great potential and we are encouraging the younger generation to come into public life and replace us as we age and fade away. So were one errs, we correct him, but we must forgive and forge ahead."

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