THE Senate has ramped up its penchant for rascality and
arrogance with two actions. In quick succession, it first passed a
resolution asking the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to sack
Ibrahim Magu as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission.
It followed this up by announcing that it was suspending
consideration and confirmation of appointments sent to it by the
Presidency. For weeks senators have donned boxing gloves and come
to the legislative chamber each morning ready to throw a punch at
the executive. A few ignorant ones even muttered the idea of
impeaching the Acting President. For how long must Nigerians put up
with terribly poor service delivery by our lawmakers?
This legislature stands among the least productive since 1999.
It’s a distressing result of the power intrigues that brought in
the National Assembly’s leadership in 2015. But unchecked, impunity
will always run riot and this is playing out in the Senate. The
rascality was set in motion in December, when, citing a curious
damaging memo from the State Security Service, the upper
legislative chamber declined to confirm Magu in the post he had
occupied several months in an acting capacity. In March this year,
after his re-presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari, and a
hearing, the Senate declined once again to confirm him. Despite
wide public disagreement with the reasons cited by the lawmakers
for rejecting the crusading cop, no one disputed that Section 2 (3)
of the EFCC Act conferred on the Senate the power to confirm an
appointee as substantive chairman.
However, both Buhari and Osinbajo, who is filling in for the
ailing President, have reiterated their full confidence in Magu
continuing to act until a substantive chair is found. But the
Senate is going beyond its brief, seeking, as alleged by Itse
Sagay, a professor of law, to “be co-executive with the
Presidency…” It has now backed its insolent demand that Magu be
removed with an unenforceable resolution. To demonstrate how
desperate they are to see Magu off, their refusal to undertake
their statutory function of confirming some federal appointees is
underscored by what some see as a veiled threat to impeach
Osinbajo. The Presidency should strongly resist the blackmail.
Though falsely wrapped up as a campaign for separation of
powers, what is playing out is a strong push-back against the
anti-corruption war. For instance, the Federal Government has filed
an appeal challenging the Senate President, Bukola Saraki’s
acquittal at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Magu, like Nuhu Ribadu,
before him, is the nemesis of the rich and powerful accused of
corruption. No fewer than 10 senators, Saraki inclusive, are under
EFCC investigation and prosecution for alleged corrupt
practices.
Many senior lawyers have argued that while the EFCC Act requires
Senate confirmation for a substantive chair, the chamber has no say
in who sits thereon in acting capacity. Those who say Magu should
go, having been rejected by the Senate, have been met with further
arguments that Section 171 (1) of the 1999 Constitution that
states: “Power to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices to
which this section applies and to remove persons so appointed from
any such office shall vest in the President.” The Senate has a role
in who is confirmed as the substantive chair; it has none in who
acts in that capacity, until a court decides otherwise.
Nigerians who may be beguiled by the hypocrisy of the anti-Magu
forces should remember that as substantive Director of Operations,
he is the most senior EFCC operative and the standard practice in
the public service is that when there is a vacuum at the top, the
most senior official acts until he is either confirmed or a new
head is appointed.
But for the desperation of the Senate and other entrenched
interests out to kill the anti-corruption war, Magu’s should not
have been different. The Senate’s decision to stop confirmation
hearings beginning with headship of the lottery commission,
ostensibly in response to Osinbajo’s comment that certain
appointments don’t need confirmation, is arrogant and disdainful of
the electorate. They were not elected to fight ego battles at
public expense. They can, if they wish, seek judicial
interpretation of the cited constitutional provision in Section 171
that Osinbajo, Sagay and other senior advocates say supersedes laws
that compel Senate confirmation.
While the Senate indulges in egotistic battles and threatens to
cripple governance, it is neglecting important state affairs.
Nigeria is beset with political, economic and social problems.
Insecurity is rampant. Some groups have threatened to disrupt
elections in the South-East and South-South regions; police have
become helpless in the face of kidnapping and cult violence across
the country; the economy is limping along and the prediction that
Nigeria will exit recession by the third quarter is threatened by
renewed decline in oil prices; floods, accidents and communal
clashes are ubiquitous, and unemployment at 14.2 per cent
understates the youth jobless rate some estimate at 40 per
cent.
There is a signal lack of concern and leadership from the
National Assembly as separatist agitation and intemperate exchanges
among ethnic militants raise tension in the country. Their
preoccupation is with flushing out a diminutive detective whom the
Presidency has said has its full confidence to prosecute its
anti-graft agenda.
We should not continue to allow reactionary forces to derail the
national quest for clean government. The coalition that forced out
Ribadu, the pioneer chair of EFCC, and his successor, Farida
Waziri, should be fiercely resisted. We are confronted with a
failure of party cohesion and discipline since the majority of
senators belong to the same ruling party. Where their personal
interests are concerned, party differences become irrelevant to our
unconscionable legislators. A report last week revealed how the
parliament reportedly inserted 1,170 unplanned, self-serving
projects into the 2017 budget under the Ministry of Power, Works
and Housing alone, raising its total outlay by N22.4 billion and
sabotaging several major infrastructure projects.
Rather than cave in to blackmail, Osinbajo should reinvigorate
his full backing for the EFCC to crush corruption, no matter who
the dragnet snags. He and Magu should not strike any deals that
will weaken the anti-corruption crusade. In the face of judicial
ambush, connivance by influential lawyers, a hostile and
well-heeled political class and perceived mischief by a shadowy
cabal within its ranks, the Presidency needs to fight the 1,000
elites that EFCC says are holding Nigeria to ransom. The leadership
of the political parties should place national interest above all
else and prevail on the power-drunk senators to put national
service above ego, pursuit and protection of ill-gotten wealth and
elite privilege. As the storms gather, the Senate must be ready to
square up with the Nigerian people.
Punch
THE Senate has ramped up its penchant for rascality and
arrogance with two actions. In quick succession, it first passed a
resolution asking the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to sack
Ibrahim Magu as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission.
It followed this up by announcing that it was suspending
consideration and confirmation of appointments sent to it by the
Presidency. For weeks senators have donned boxing gloves and come
to the legislative chamber each morning ready to throw a punch at
the executive. A few ignorant ones even muttered the idea of
impeaching the Acting President. For how long must Nigerians put up
with terribly poor service delivery by our lawmakers?
This legislature stands among the least productive since 1999.
It’s a distressing result of the power intrigues that brought in
the National Assembly’s leadership in 2015. But unchecked, impunity
will always run riot and this is playing out in the Senate. The
rascality was set in motion in December, when, citing a curious
damaging memo from the State Security Service, the upper
legislative chamber declined to confirm Magu in the post he had
occupied several months in an acting capacity. In March this year,
after his re-presentation by President Muhammadu Buhari, and a
hearing, the Senate declined once again to confirm him. Despite
wide public disagreement with the reasons cited by the lawmakers
for rejecting the crusading cop, no one disputed that Section 2 (3)
of the EFCC Act conferred on the Senate the power to confirm an
appointee as substantive chairman.
However, both Buhari and Osinbajo, who is filling in for the
ailing President, have reiterated their full confidence in Magu
continuing to act until a substantive chair is found. But the
Senate is going beyond its brief, seeking, as alleged by Itse
Sagay, a professor of law, to “be co-executive with the
Presidency…” It has now backed its insolent demand that Magu be
removed with an unenforceable resolution. To demonstrate how
desperate they are to see Magu off, their refusal to undertake
their statutory function of confirming some federal appointees is
underscored by what some see as a veiled threat to impeach
Osinbajo. The Presidency should strongly resist the blackmail.
Though falsely wrapped up as a campaign for separation of
powers, what is playing out is a strong push-back against the
anti-corruption war. For instance, the Federal Government has filed
an appeal challenging the Senate President, Bukola Saraki’s
acquittal at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Magu, like Nuhu Ribadu,
before him, is the nemesis of the rich and powerful accused of
corruption. No fewer than 10 senators, Saraki inclusive, are under
EFCC investigation and prosecution for alleged corrupt
practices.
Many senior lawyers have argued that while the EFCC Act requires
Senate confirmation for a substantive chair, the chamber has no say
in who sits thereon in acting capacity. Those who say Magu should
go, having been rejected by the Senate, have been met with further
arguments that Section 171 (1) of the 1999 Constitution that
states: “Power to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices to
which this section applies and to remove persons so appointed from
any such office shall vest in the President.” The Senate has a role
in who is confirmed as the substantive chair; it has none in who
acts in that capacity, until a court decides otherwise.
Nigerians who may be beguiled by the hypocrisy of the anti-Magu
forces should remember that as substantive Director of Operations,
he is the most senior EFCC operative and the standard practice in
the public service is that when there is a vacuum at the top, the
most senior official acts until he is either confirmed or a new
head is appointed.
But for the desperation of the Senate and other entrenched
interests out to kill the anti-corruption war, Magu’s should not
have been different. The Senate’s decision to stop confirmation
hearings beginning with headship of the lottery commission,
ostensibly in response to Osinbajo’s comment that certain
appointments don’t need confirmation, is arrogant and disdainful of
the electorate. They were not elected to fight ego battles at
public expense. They can, if they wish, seek judicial
interpretation of the cited constitutional provision in Section 171
that Osinbajo, Sagay and other senior advocates say supersedes laws
that compel Senate confirmation.
While the Senate indulges in egotistic battles and threatens to
cripple governance, it is neglecting important state affairs.
Nigeria is beset with political, economic and social problems.
Insecurity is rampant. Some groups have threatened to disrupt
elections in the South-East and South-South regions; police have
become helpless in the face of kidnapping and cult violence across
the country; the economy is limping along and the prediction that
Nigeria will exit recession by the third quarter is threatened by
renewed decline in oil prices; floods, accidents and communal
clashes are ubiquitous, and unemployment at 14.2 per cent
understates the youth jobless rate some estimate at 40 per
cent.
There is a signal lack of concern and leadership from the
National Assembly as separatist agitation and intemperate exchanges
among ethnic militants raise tension in the country. Their
preoccupation is with flushing out a diminutive detective whom the
Presidency has said has its full confidence to prosecute its
anti-graft agenda.
We should not continue to allow reactionary forces to derail the
national quest for clean government. The coalition that forced out
Ribadu, the pioneer chair of EFCC, and his successor, Farida
Waziri, should be fiercely resisted. We are confronted with a
failure of party cohesion and discipline since the majority of
senators belong to the same ruling party. Where their personal
interests are concerned, party differences become irrelevant to our
unconscionable legislators. A report last week revealed how the
parliament reportedly inserted 1,170 unplanned, self-serving
projects into the 2017 budget under the Ministry of Power, Works
and Housing alone, raising its total outlay by N22.4 billion and
sabotaging several major infrastructure projects.
Rather than cave in to blackmail, Osinbajo should reinvigorate
his full backing for the EFCC to crush corruption, no matter who
the dragnet snags. He and Magu should not strike any deals that
will weaken the anti-corruption crusade. In the face of judicial
ambush, connivance by influential lawyers, a hostile and
well-heeled political class and perceived mischief by a shadowy
cabal within its ranks, the Presidency needs to fight the 1,000
elites that EFCC says are holding Nigeria to ransom. The leadership
of the political parties should place national interest above all
else and prevail on the power-drunk senators to put national
service above ego, pursuit and protection of ill-gotten wealth and
elite privilege. As the storms gather, the Senate must be ready to
square up with the Nigerian people.
Punch
Read more https://nairalaw.com/magu-and-senates-rascality/