Nigeria: Row in Senate Over Yar'Adua

Effiong Ekpo

15 January 2010

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AGITATIONS raged in the Senate, yesterday, over the continued absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, with a group of senators poised for a showdown with its leadership and President Yar'Adua.
Besides a motion seeking to urge President Yar'Adua to temporarily cede executive powers to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, the senators are also considering a shutdown of the Senate to drive home their frustration.

 

The senators, said to number about 43, were fired by Wednesday's judgment by an Abuja High Court asking Vice-President Jonathan to execute duties of the President. The judgment was immediately castigated as a kangaroo judgment by some senators who met immediately after the day's sitting to compile signatures in support of a motion to urge President Yar'Adua to handover to his deputy.

 

Following that first meeting the senators, according to sources, met again, Wednesday night through to the early morning of yesterday, where they were said to have articulated their strategies to realize their objectives. It was learnt that the meeting also appointed a senator from the Northeast as co-ordinator of the enterprise. The cohesion of the group was, however, being threatened with the alleged infiltration of the group by some senators perceived to be too loyal to the David Mark leadership and who could frustrate the objectives.

Senators Manzo Anthony, PDP, Taraba North, and Joel Danlami Ikenya, PDP, Taraba South, both regarded as foot soldiers of the leadership were two senators cited by one senator who told Vanguard that he refused to enlist because of the alleged involvement of the duo. Senator Anthony, however, denied membership of the group though he admitted being contacted to support a motion to compel President Yar'Adua to comply with Section 145 of the constitution which requires him to temporarily handover to his deputy.
Motion procedurally ineffective

While lamenting the state of inertia on account of President Yar'Adua's absence from the country, Senator Anthony, however, faulted the use of a motion saying it was procedurally ineffective. Vanguard learnt that the ineffectiveness of a motion was distilled to the senators at the Wednesday night meeting where it was also resolved that lawyers among the group should strategize on any constitutionally workable scheme to adopt to actualize their objectives

At press time, Vanguard was yet to establish contact with any lawyer among the group working on the issue, though the enlarged group is expected to meet again this evening at a yet to be disclosed venue. One of the facilitators of the group, however, told Vanguard, yesterday, that one of the schemes being considered was a possible shut down of the Senate until the fulfillment of the group's demand for a temporary handover.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senator said: "Right now we have 43 signatures but our target is to get 75 and with that we will refuse to hold sittings so that Nigerians will know that we in the Senate are serious." Several senators who were either part of the growing plot or who admitted to being contacted but turned down the approach confirmed the development yesterday.

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The senators, however, agreed that impeachment of President Yar'Adua or of the President of the Senate was not on the cards as they all pledged loyalty to the government at both the executive and legislative arms. One of the group's strategist said: "We are not interested in removing anybody from office but all we are saying is that the country needs to move forward and that this democracy should not be endangered because of a group of people acting in their selfish interest.
You say somebody should execute the office of President but he cannot be Acting President and as Aondoakaa said on the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, it means he can be queried by the President, so do you think Jonathan will do that."
Many senators were, however, apprehensive of the implications of the inertia in the executive arm of government with several of them expressing fears that it could lead to the derailment of the country's democracy. One senator said:
"You as a journalist may have no problem, but we in the legislature will bear the brunt because if anything happens we are out of job."




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