NASS inauguration: When legality trumped politics

The events at the inauguration of Nigeria’s eighth National Assembly (NASS) and election of its presiding officers raise a lot of issues. There are a lot of ways to discuss the events, but I will focus on three areas namely law, democracy and politics, even as I realise their interconnectivity in the present case.

On legality, President Muhammadu Buhari had issued a proclamation for the inauguration of NASS, pursuant to Section 64(3) of the Constitution. It must be noted that the proclamation, as read by the Clerk of NASS, specified 10am as the time for the inauguration. Therefore, the clerk was right to proceed as planned.

Some people queried why the clerk went ahead when all the senators-elect were not present. The fact remains that 10am was fixed for the inauguration and if majority were there at that time or within reasonable time thereafter, there was no legal impediment on the clerk to proceed, moreso when by Section 54(1) of the Constitution, the quorum for the legislature is one-third, and that number had been surpassed. In fact, more than 50 per cent of the senators-elect were present when the inauguration commenced. As an analogy, would an airline be expected to delay the operation of a flight at its designated time when majority of checked-in passengers have boarded and some others are nowhere in sight?

There was a question also as to why the election was held before the members were sworn in. By Section 52 of the Constitution, the elections of the Senate president and deputy as well as the House of Representatives speaker and deputy actually come before the members take their oaths of allegiance and of office. The elected officers thereafter take the oaths of allegiance and of office before the clerk. It is only after then that the elected Senate president or speaker of the House administers the oaths of allegiance and of office to the rest of the members.

In considering how democratic the process was, we should acknowledge that democracy stresses the rule of the majority. In this case, the majority of the legislators-elect freely chose their leaders within the chambers, as required by law. Nobody was restrained from nominating or standing election. I was happy to see that after Yakubu Dogara from the North East geopolitical zone was elected speaker, another North East member was again nominated to contest the deputy speaker position. And although a few persons tried to query that, he agreed to contest and was not disqualified. That, to me, was the spirit of democracy at work.

The area that has generated the most discussion is the politics of the entire exercise. The APC, being the majority party in government, had tried to reach an agreement on the leadership of NASS. That is to be expected in politics. But what they failed to appreciate was that the election for the leadership of the legislature is held in the chambers of the legislature, not outside. I had in recent writings cautioned the APC against becoming as megalomaniac as the party it dislodged, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It seems to me that the effort to foist the leadership of the legislature on the members and by extension the country had an overdose of arrogance driven by a cabal of ‘kingmakers’, and it backfired, like it happened to PDP in the House of Representatives in 2011.

It was such arrogance that made APC call for a meeting in the morning of Tuesday, when the members-elect ought to be heading for NASS for their inauguration. Whatever internal misunderstanding APC had should have been settled in-house prior to the inauguration time. To suggest that the Clerk of NASS should have deferred to the presidency by holding on was to suggest that the NASS, as the representation of all the people of Nigeria, should wait indefinitely until a few bickering politicians in one of several political parties could settle their differences.

Besides, since the clerk already had a proclamation duly issued by the president in his hands, the only way he could have delayed would have been by another written request issued by the president, not based on some information trending in the media (including social media) that morning or by persons claiming to act on behalf of the president. And this is why I am equally concerned by the president’s failure to name some other of his critical aides, including the Chief of Staff, given that some of his party bigwigs are beginning to make statements or act in manners that are being passed off for presidential positions on issues.

On the issue of ‘supremacy of the party’, I find it difficult to accept the attempt by Nigerian political parties to push that concept too far in a presidential system which we operate, as though we were back in the First Republic (1960s) where we operated a cabinet system. We saw how PDP used this same principle to push for the inclusion of ‘third term’ in the Nigerian Constitution. The party had then threatened its members in NASS to support the third term as the official position of the party, even when it was glaring that such purported party position was obtained by subterfuge, driven by a cabal in the party. Since that time, I always stressed that no party position was so important to supplant national interest.

And for those who underestimate what happened in the Senate with the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate president, they should recall that the very next day, those senators-elect who missed out or shut themselves out of the inauguration on Tuesday went back to the same chambers and before the same Senator Saraki to be sworn in as senators. If in fact they were convinced of the illegality of the Senate presidency, they would not have submitted to his authority to admit them into parliament by way of administering the oaths of office and allegiance on them.

First published in The Niche on June 14, 2015 http://www.thenicheng.com/nass-inauguration-when-legality-trumped-politics/

Belonging to everybody and keeping the oaths

One of the most-talked-about take-away lines from President Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural speech a few days ago is the “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” sentence. It is a sublime expression of what an elected leader ought to be in a democracy, even when we hardly experience that in these climes. But we must try all the same. And we must help the president and all public office-holders to realise that and uphold it.

The starting point is to underscore the basis for this “leader for all” expression. For most of the offices created under the Constitution such as the president, vice president, governor, deputy governor, ministers and commissioners, as well as all the legislative offices, there is a common oath of allegiance they swear to. It is a short sentence that says the oath-taker swears to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to protect and defend the Constitution.

Allegiance refers to duty of fidelity owed, or freely committed by someone to his/her state. What this oath therefore means is that the oath-taker commits to wholly and, without any reservation, be faithful to the country and to do everything within his/her powers to uphold the Constitution of the country. By taking that oath, the person is publicly swearing or affirming that any other allegiance he has is subject to the Constitution. That is why we must stress that public office-holders cannot claim to be under an obligation to support any other interest, including even their political party on whose platform they got into office. Public office-holders cannot also owe allegiance to their ethnicity, region or faiths against the oath of allegiance to Nigeria and its Constitution.

This is where I find it totally unacceptable for state governors to decorate the public spaces they occupy (office, official vehicles etc) with the colours of their political party. In fact, I had cause to object when I saw the video clip of the swearing-in of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State with the flag of the All Progressives Party (APC) fluttering directly behind him. I equally saw a photo of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos on his first day at work with the flag of APC by his side.

It is not a practice limited to any political party. Until recently, in front of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) office, there used to be a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag flying alongside the Nigerian flag. I also see state governors and local government chairpersons fly the flags of their political parties on official vehicles. Has anyone ever wondered how silly it would be for the official aircraft of the president to be painted in a political party’s colours/flags?

There are various oaths of office, depending on the office. Let us start with the oath of office of the president for which many of the other oaths have some similarities with. The Nigerian president swears or affirms to an oath of office to discharge his/her duties to the best of his ability, “faithfully and in accordance with the Constitution …and the law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity … of Nigeria”.

The president further swears/affirms to “strive to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in the Constitution” and not allow any personal interest to influence his/her official conduct or official decisions. Citizens who are related to public office-holders or belong to the same society (political, religious, ethnic, cultural, educational, professional etc) as those officers must not mistake such closeness as suggesting that the officer then belongs to them exclusively.

Under the same oath, the president is under a duty to use his/her best ability to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. This no doubt reiterates the oath of allegiance which he/she first swears to before the present oath. It is important therefore for public officers to be conversant with the provisions of the Constitution to be able to preserve, protect and defend them.

The president is under the provisions of the oath of office obliged to abide by the Code of Conduct contained in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution and, in all circumstances, to do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. It is important to stress here that under the Code of Conduct, it is a crime for any public officer to maintain a foreign bank account. Until that law is changed, every one of them must abide by it.

And should anyone be found to have erred, whether in or out of office, our laws must be allowed to take its course and their community people should not get in the way. That is the way to show that the officer belongs to everybody and to nobody.

First published in The Niche on June 7, 2015 http://www.thenicheng.com/belonging-to-everybody-and-keeping-the-oaths/

My Change wish list (parts 1 and 2)

PART 1:

By this time next week, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) will become President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB). Since he will transmute from being GMB to PMB, let me play a pun on the new tag of PMB by sending my ‘Change wish list’ to his private mail bag, albeit publicly. I do so in my capacity as a proud holder of the ‘Office of the Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’, the highest and most important office in Nigeria. The list is a very simple one, focusing on governance issues. It requires clear steps to be taken by the new administration to save us some of the problems we face as a country, especially since 1999. Here we go.

I call on President Buhari to limit the number of political appointees to the barest minimum. To be honest, we don’t need more than 20 ministers of government. However, having regard to the provision of the Constitution, I will ask that he limits this to 37 ministers. He should not appoint more than 10 special advisers by whatever nomenclature. I submit that many of the governance and administrative duties carried out by some of the large retinue of aides of government officials could be effectively carried out by senior civil servants in those ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and that would even be carried out in a professional manner.

The president should ensure that there are specific job titles and descriptions to all officers of government, to avoid overlaps and thus cut inefficiency. The government should streamline the functions of different agencies that overlap at the moment. PMB needs to pick out a few tips from the recommendations in the Orasanye Panel Report which is in the presidency and I believe should form part of the hand-over notes/briefings he will get from President Goodluck Jonathan.

Experience shows that it is easier to prevent corruption than investigate, prosecute and punish infringements. The government must commit to implementing and strengthening the existing mechanisms for preventing corruption, to reduce the level of corruption. This includes ensuring that proper audits are carried out when due and the reports of such audits implemented. PMB must work closely with the legislature to do more with the reports of the Auditor-General, to ensure that sanctions are carried out as appropriate.

It also follows that the Auditor-General’s office has to be reformed in a way that builds the confidence of the head and all the auditors, that their professionalism would not be compromised or they made to suffer for whistle-blowing. This above should be done along with the proper prosecution, to its logical conclusion, of all cases of corruption that have remained in court for many years. We need to speed up and conclude the prosecutions for corruption that started in 2007 against many of the former state governors.

Still on the issue of cost of governance, the new president should show leadership by ensuring a drastic reduction in the budget of the presidency and by extension the executive arm, so as to be on the right moral platform to request similar reduction from the other arms. PMB can start by reducing the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet. Reports indicate that there are currently between nine and 11 such aircraft. I opine that our country does not need more than three of such aircraft. He must see to the offloading of the excess aircraft and pay similar attention to the number of other facilities such as vehicles of government as well as those assigned to government officials.

A situation where the government provides too many vehicles to an official, such that some of the vehicles are put to the use of the official’s family members, as though they were state officials, must stop. Let every paid official and worker be responsible for organising their families and their transportation needs, and not pass such the public coffers.

I have severally canvassed against government getting involved in the private affairs of citizens. One of such is the issue of pilgrimages. While citizens should be allowed the right to practise their religions and while government can do well to protect the welfare of their citizens wherever they are, I believe that can still be done without government getting involved in pilgrimage arrangements. This is because, currently, the country is being haemorrhaged through the pilgrimages by both Christians and Muslims. What is more, this has become a colossal waste of state resources on the elite class or for currying political favours by those in government.

(End of part 1 published in The Niche on May 24, 2015 http://www.thenicheng.com/my-change-wish-list-1/)

PART 2:

As I was saying last week and now that President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has been inaugurated, I wish to continue with my change wish list. I am excited to hear that some of the suggestions contained in my last week’s wish list may be implemented by the new president, especially the one about a leaner government in terms of cabinet appointment. The decision we heard of not taking or working with a list from the state governors for the composition of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is a welcome one. It is a political masterstroke to save the country from the clutches of the governors who constitute one of the most powerful political cabals.

The new government must take adequate steps to reform the criminal justice system to allow for speedy prosecution for crimes. Happily, the vice president is not only a professor of law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), but was for some years the attorney-general in Lagos State, where he drove some reforms in the justice sector.

Agreed that there are peculiar situations that warrant the entering of plea bargains, we suggest that even where such is entered into, the minimum the state should ensure is the recovery of stolen sums/proceeds of such corruption and a conviction which would therefore disqualify the criminal from certain privileges. On no account should this new administration consider granting state pardon, whimsically, to convicts whose only seeming qualification for such consideration is the fact that they are politicians and as such part of a ‘family’. The cases of the pardon and active involvement of Salisu Buhari and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in the public space should never be used as precedent and must be seen as an embarrassing milestone of our political history.

To provide the basis for driving development, we need data for proper planning. The government should immediately strengthen and expand the national citizens’ registration system to ensure that every citizen from birth is captured in the database. It should be very easy to register new-borns in hospitals and during the monthly immunisation exercises, and such registration should feed directly into the national database. There should also be a harmonisation of every other citizens’ data capture such as from the voter registration, international passport, telephone SIM registration and the bank customers’ registration.

There is no doubt that our country and the component units are broke! Much of what led to the present situation include corruption, greed, poorly thought out projects with poor funding architecture and, very importantly, the failure to make savings.

PMB and team must commence a process of getting all stakeholders to buy into and approve a legal framework for saving a percentage of our earnings for the future. They need to revisit all issues associated with the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and address all obstacles. If well managed, it is even possible for states to also set up similar savings and wealth management schemes at their levels.

My other wish is for the PMB government to immediately commence a thorough audit of government agencies which currently operate in an opaque manner, detrimental to the wellbeing of Nigeria and its citizens. These include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It is clear that there is something fishy and faulty about the financial DNA of those agencies that make them perpetual cesspit of corruption, while a few crooked citizens benefit from it.

We also need to review the budgeting system to ensure citizens’ involvement in a bottom-up approach. This would ensure that citizens’ needs are addressed in the budget. This would save the country the burden of government officials mortgaging our future through white elephant projects that do not have positive effect on generality of citizens, even as many of such projects get abandoned after huge sums of money have been splashed on them.

We must take every step to end impunity. This means that PMB must not only live by example (and I have no doubt he can) but he must lead his government to ensuring that every breach of the law and regulation is punished. On this account, the new government must re-open investigation and ensure appropriate sanctions for certain glaring cases of impunity in the recent past. Of particular note is the bungled recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) where money was extorted from applicants and the process was mismanaged, leading to the death of about 20 citizens and injuries to many others across the country.

There are certainly a lot more things too wish for. But I would leave them at these few, knowing that many others also have their wish list. It is left now for President Buhari to consider the list and address them. It is a new dawn for the country and we all must work hard to make this work.

(Concluding part published on May 31, 2015 http://www.thenicheng.com/my-change-wish-list-2/)

Prayer for NASS members on their inauguration

To all who would be sworn in today as Senators and members of the House of Representatives, whether deserving or by stolen mandates, whether you would last or be kicked out when your fraud or other skeleton in your cupboard is discovered, I commend you to God that He may arrest your entire being and use you to achieve His purpose for our country. I pray when you read your oaths of allegiance and of office, you be convicted by it and uphold it at all times, even against your will. May you strive to serve and not see the National Assembly as your farmland, goldmine or oil block. May you help reduce the cost of governance by your taste and actions. May you not be as corrupt and wayward as most of your predecessors were. May God save you from the pressures and negative influences of your political parties, family, friends, neighbours, associates, town unions, religious groups, old boys leagues, former work colleagues etc who may see you as the conduit to loot the public treasury. And if you ever try to defraud or act against the interest of Nigeria. and the welfare and security of its people, may God visit His wrath upon you in His own spectacular way and bring you to shame. And may the Good LORD see you through this national assignment. Amen!