The call for Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to resign is both ridiculous and hypocritical, just as the bile heaped on Senate President Bukola Saraki for not obeying the directives of his party, the All Progressives Congress, to have Senator Ahmed Lawan as the Senate President.
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Both Ekweremadu and Saraki learnt from former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, as well as the leadership of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria and the current ruling All Progressives Congress.
In 2011, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party zoned the office of the Speaker to the South-West for the sake of equity and fairness. The PDP chose Mrs Mulikat Akande-Adeola as its candidate to become the Speaker from the South-West. Her choice was also meant to ensure that there was a woman in the top five officials of the nation (President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of Nigeria). Leaders of the South-West, which produced a majority of the ACN legislators, decided to forgo the office of the Speaker and support Tambuwal from Sokoto State to emerge the Speaker. The candidate of the PDP lost, while the candidate that was supported by the opposition led by the ACN became the Speaker. The opposition parties and their sympathisers argued repeatedly that the PDP should not dictate to members of the House of Representatives who to choose as leader, because the constitution empowers the House of Representatives to elect its leaders. The election of Tambuwal was hailed as the triumph of democracy over party imposition.
This thwarting of the PDP’s plan made the North-West to have the Vice-President as well as the Speaker, while the South-West had no national officer from No 1 to 5.
All through his tenure as Speaker, Tambuwal antagonised his party (the PDP) and the President (who was a member of his party), and kept away from most national functions, including National Day celebrations, while honouring events held by the APC governors and top shots. Those who opposed Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency hailed him as a “hero of democracy” and an independent-minded man.
Tambuwal continued in that guise until Tuesday, October 28, 2014 when he formally announced his defection to the opposition APC at the House plenary. He brought an aberration to the National Assembly by being the first Nigerian Speaker of the House of Representatives to emerge from a minority party. The PDP and some others asked Tambuwal to resign as Speaker, since he was no longer a member of the majority party in the House. But the APC and its sympathisers argued that the constitution did not say that the Speaker must emerge from the majority party. Tambuwal continued as Speaker until he resigned on May 26, 2015 to pave way for his inauguration on May 29 as the current Governor of Sokoto State.
Today, Saraki, Yakubu Dogara and Ekweremadu are following his footsteps. First, Saraki and Dogara emerged as Senate President and Speaker respectively contrary to the directive of their party, the APC. Curiously, the same people who hailed Tambuwal as a hero for working against the directive of his party are today condemning Saraki and Dogara for doing the same thing. What can this be called?
As if that was not enough, the same people who became master interpreters of the Constitution when Tambuwal defected to the minority party and still retained his post as the Speaker are angry that Ekweremadu became the Deputy Senate President from the opposition party. No day passes without one hearing some of them shouting and wasting their breath, asking him to resign. What do we call people who behave like this?
If Tambuwal did not engage in the aberration of leading the House of Representatives from the opposition party, the PDP would not have had the audacity to align with sympathisers in the APC to produce the Deputy President. If Tambuwal had not teamed up with the opposition to thwart the desire of the PDP to balance the top national posts, Saraki and Dogara could not have been very bold to do the same with the opposition to thwart the wish of the APC leadership.
However, by thwarting the wish of the APC, Saraki and Dogara caused another imbalance in the system. Their emergence created a scenario that made the three arms of government to be led by people from the northern part of Nigeria for the first time in history. President Muhammadu Buhari leads the nation and the executive arm; Saraki and Dogara head the legislative arm; while Justice Mahmud Mohammed heads the judicial arm. In addition, the two arms of the legislature are headed by Northerners: Saraki and Dogara.
This is the consequence of setting a bad precedent. Once a bad precedent is set, those coming behind don’t care anymore about justice or equity or fairness. Their thinking is usually: If the rules have been broken before, it does not matter how badly we break them now. As the English say: What goes around comes around. The measure you use for others will be used for you.
It is not only what is written in the constitution that people should do. All things may be lawful, but all things are not expedient. Laws are made for human beings: human beings are not made for laws. Shylock would have got his pound of flesh if the law was followed. That was what was stated in the agreement, and he would have been right to cut off Antonio’s pound of flesh. But he would have ended up murdering someone because he wanted to follow the law or agreement to the letter. Adults should know what is good and what is bad, whether it is written in the Constitution or not.
Since those who supported and justified the aberration caused by Tambuwal are kings of the law, let them follow the law to remove the Deputy Senate President. Chapter 5 (50) of the mighty Constitution gives the following conditions for removing the Senate President or Deputy Senate President:
“(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office –
“(a) if he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives; or
“(b) when the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution of that House; or “(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.
Therefore, if they want these officers removed, let them follow the constitution or hold their peace and stop causing noise pollution in the land.
Just like Tambuwal opposed his party, the PDP, for many years before defecting to the APC, the APC and its sympathisers should brace themselves for the possibility of Saraki and Dogara also defecting to the PDP and even retaining their positions as Senate President and Speaker respectively. In the type of politics practised today in Nigeria, everything is possible. As my people would say: “If the teacher breaks the chalk, the students will break the chalkboard.”
Twitter @BrandAzuka
Both Ekweremadu and Saraki learnt from former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, as well as the leadership of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria and the current ruling All Progressives Congress.
In 2011, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party zoned the office of the Speaker to the South-West for the sake of equity and fairness. The PDP chose Mrs Mulikat Akande-Adeola as its candidate to become the Speaker from the South-West. Her choice was also meant to ensure that there was a woman in the top five officials of the nation (President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of Nigeria). Leaders of the South-West, which produced a majority of the ACN legislators, decided to forgo the office of the Speaker and support Tambuwal from Sokoto State to emerge the Speaker. The candidate of the PDP lost, while the candidate that was supported by the opposition led by the ACN became the Speaker. The opposition parties and their sympathisers argued repeatedly that the PDP should not dictate to members of the House of Representatives who to choose as leader, because the constitution empowers the House of Representatives to elect its leaders. The election of Tambuwal was hailed as the triumph of democracy over party imposition.
This thwarting of the PDP’s plan made the North-West to have the Vice-President as well as the Speaker, while the South-West had no national officer from No 1 to 5.
All through his tenure as Speaker, Tambuwal antagonised his party (the PDP) and the President (who was a member of his party), and kept away from most national functions, including National Day celebrations, while honouring events held by the APC governors and top shots. Those who opposed Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency hailed him as a “hero of democracy” and an independent-minded man.
Tambuwal continued in that guise until Tuesday, October 28, 2014 when he formally announced his defection to the opposition APC at the House plenary. He brought an aberration to the National Assembly by being the first Nigerian Speaker of the House of Representatives to emerge from a minority party. The PDP and some others asked Tambuwal to resign as Speaker, since he was no longer a member of the majority party in the House. But the APC and its sympathisers argued that the constitution did not say that the Speaker must emerge from the majority party. Tambuwal continued as Speaker until he resigned on May 26, 2015 to pave way for his inauguration on May 29 as the current Governor of Sokoto State.
Today, Saraki, Yakubu Dogara and Ekweremadu are following his footsteps. First, Saraki and Dogara emerged as Senate President and Speaker respectively contrary to the directive of their party, the APC. Curiously, the same people who hailed Tambuwal as a hero for working against the directive of his party are today condemning Saraki and Dogara for doing the same thing. What can this be called?
As if that was not enough, the same people who became master interpreters of the Constitution when Tambuwal defected to the minority party and still retained his post as the Speaker are angry that Ekweremadu became the Deputy Senate President from the opposition party. No day passes without one hearing some of them shouting and wasting their breath, asking him to resign. What do we call people who behave like this?
If Tambuwal did not engage in the aberration of leading the House of Representatives from the opposition party, the PDP would not have had the audacity to align with sympathisers in the APC to produce the Deputy President. If Tambuwal had not teamed up with the opposition to thwart the desire of the PDP to balance the top national posts, Saraki and Dogara could not have been very bold to do the same with the opposition to thwart the wish of the APC leadership.
However, by thwarting the wish of the APC, Saraki and Dogara caused another imbalance in the system. Their emergence created a scenario that made the three arms of government to be led by people from the northern part of Nigeria for the first time in history. President Muhammadu Buhari leads the nation and the executive arm; Saraki and Dogara head the legislative arm; while Justice Mahmud Mohammed heads the judicial arm. In addition, the two arms of the legislature are headed by Northerners: Saraki and Dogara.
This is the consequence of setting a bad precedent. Once a bad precedent is set, those coming behind don’t care anymore about justice or equity or fairness. Their thinking is usually: If the rules have been broken before, it does not matter how badly we break them now. As the English say: What goes around comes around. The measure you use for others will be used for you.
It is not only what is written in the constitution that people should do. All things may be lawful, but all things are not expedient. Laws are made for human beings: human beings are not made for laws. Shylock would have got his pound of flesh if the law was followed. That was what was stated in the agreement, and he would have been right to cut off Antonio’s pound of flesh. But he would have ended up murdering someone because he wanted to follow the law or agreement to the letter. Adults should know what is good and what is bad, whether it is written in the Constitution or not.
Since those who supported and justified the aberration caused by Tambuwal are kings of the law, let them follow the law to remove the Deputy Senate President. Chapter 5 (50) of the mighty Constitution gives the following conditions for removing the Senate President or Deputy Senate President:
“(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office –
“(a) if he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives; or
“(b) when the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution of that House; or “(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.
Therefore, if they want these officers removed, let them follow the constitution or hold their peace and stop causing noise pollution in the land.
Just like Tambuwal opposed his party, the PDP, for many years before defecting to the APC, the APC and its sympathisers should brace themselves for the possibility of Saraki and Dogara also defecting to the PDP and even retaining their positions as Senate President and Speaker respectively. In the type of politics practised today in Nigeria, everything is possible. As my people would say: “If the teacher breaks the chalk, the students will break the chalkboard.”
Twitter @BrandAzuka
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