President of the 9th Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, appointments of his aides came with some uproar, which is perceived in some quarters as capable affecting his performance if left unchecked. ABDULRAHMAN ZAKARIYAU takes a look at these appointments and the running of the red chambers.
His emergence
Dr. Ahmed Lawan is said to be one of the most experienced senator currently in the red chamber. He has been a senator since 2007, and was reportedly endorsed by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the position but he lost to the immediate past Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who allegedly revolted against the party’s interest. However, Senator Lawan became the Senate majority leader after Senator Ali Ndume was humbled out on January 10, 2016, a position he held till the 8th Senate wind down.
Interestingly, in the build-up to the election of the principal officers in the 9th Senate, the leadership of Lawan’s party the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari had endorsed him as their most preferred candidate for the president of the Senate in the 9th Assembly. Consequently, Lawan defeated his only rival, Senator Ali Ndume having garnered 79 votes against Ndume’s 28.
Obviously, in the keenly contested position Lawan was accepted by majority of the senators, even though he was considered candidate of President Buhari and the APC.
Political pundits have observed that with the support he enjoyed from the party and the President it would may be difficult for the Senate President to run an independent Senate, without interference from the executive.
They argued that Lawan would find it difficult to balance between the senators’ interest, national assembly interest and President Buhari’s interest which he is obviously loyal to.
Separation of powers
In a democratic system of government the three arms of government: executive, legislature, and judiciary are expected to operate independently.
Also to serve as checks and balances on one another. Therefore, the arms are not supposed to enjoy perfect relationship and they are not also expected to be in confrontation or conflict all the time.
They are partners in progress in the general interest of the people. However, the overwhelming support, the 9th Senate President received from the executive cum his emergence made many Nigerians ask whether the 9th Senate would be a rubber stamp Senate. That is a Senate that would be submissive, flexible and loyal to the executive and passes everything that comes from the executive without vetting it.
Speaking on the rubber stamp issue, Lawan, whose emergence was facilitated by the executive arm said, “A parliament is not a primary school or a secondary school where you have a headmaster or principal that will dictate to his students. Parliament is an aggregate or an assemblage of people that have equal status.
“Being elected as Senate President does not mean that I am the boss of the other Senators. I am simply to coordinate and aggregate views and lead debates. Whoever is in the majority that will be the decision on of the Senate appropriately and accordingly.
“But one thing I must tell you is that while the desire to remain sufficiently on our track, we will ensure that oversight function is properly carried out but we will cooperate fully and give total support to the administration to ensure that there is good governance.
“There is no need for any fear that we will be a rubber stamp National Assembly. Perhaps and probably with time, Nigeria will come to see that what we desire and what will happen by the grace of God will be a working relationship that endears the entire administration and government to the people of Nigeria. So there is no cause for alarm”.
The appointments
On June 19, the Senate President appointed some of his aides and surprisingly he retained three media aides who worked with his predecessor, Senator Saraki. They are Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mohammed Isa; Special Assistant on New Media, Olu Onemola; and Special Legislative Assistant on Photography, Tope Brown.
He also retained another Saraki aide, Dr. Betty Okoroh and announced a former Special Adviser Media to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu State) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo State), and journalist with the Nigerian Tribune newspapers, Dr. Festus Adedayo, as his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
The announcement of his aides was followed by public outcry from members of the public. Some were in defence, while others were against his choice of aides.
In defence of Lawan’s decision to retained some Saraki’s aides, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Ruben Abati, said: “By retaining former aides of Senator Bukola Saraki, a former Senate President who had been declared persona non grata by the Presidency and the ruling APC, Lawan was obviously looking at continuity.
“He didn’t want to start his career as Senate President on a tabula rasa. It helps to have in place persons with institutional memory who may know where all the corpses in the office are buried.
“Part of the problem we have in the governance process in Nigeria is that every new person who assumes an office believes that the first thing to do is to get rid of staff who may have worked with the predecessor and who may still be loyal to that predecessor. Lawan took the moral high ground. He showed confidence by re-appointing some of the persons who worked with Bukola Saraki.”
On the other hand, a political analyst, Mohammed Abubakar, told Blueprint Weekend that: “The way the appointment was made and the entertainment of Saraki’s ex aides shows the Senate President was not prepared to lead. Considering how the contest was heated up and the kind of campaign that was run by the aspirants, Dr. Ahmed Lawan I believe have some media aide who carried out his campaign why not appoint from them?
“Another aspect where I think the Senate President did not perform well as in the aspect of checking out some of these people he appointed before appointing them. I mean it will not take him anything to look at some of their jobs and then decide whether or not to appoint them”.
Aisha Buhari, APC and others kick
Upon announcement of his aides, the wife of the President Aisha Buhari and countless APC supporters lambasted the Senate President, especially on his appointment of Dr. Adedayo.
The First Lady on her twitter the noted that: “You cannot drive an agenda with people who don’t believe in that agenda…how will you achieve your purpose if you bring in people who fought against your agenda.”
Also, the APC Youth Forum in a statement read by the Publicity Secretary, Abu Andrew acknowledged that “the political right of the Senate President to appoint whoever he pleases as his aides, but said it was displeased that those appointed, so far are known antagonists of President Buhari and the Senate President.
“When the Senate President we all supported with our hearts and worked for wholeheartedly begins to compensate enemies of the government, those of the party and indeed those of the same President Buhari who endured insults for backing Senator Lawan for Senate President position; then the devil himself must be celebrated for doing a good job in turning a Senate President we brought in against us so soon and so fast.
“We may never know all the reasons behind the inexplicable appointments made by Senate President Lawan. However, we do know that every minute since the announcement of those appointments, many frontline party leaders and a large number of young people in the party have asked if Senator Ali Ndume was right after all for insisting that he was better than Senator Lawan as Senate President,” he said.
According to the group, the actions of Dr. Lawan, especially regarding the appointments he has made so far, bore “the telltale sign of betrayal.”
A member of the group, Ayo Oyalowo, who is the former Head of Social Media for APC Presidential Campaign, said they were not angry with the appointments but with the fact that the selected people do not believe in the change agenda of the party.
“It is not about the appointment, it is about the fact there is an agenda, it was initially a Change Agenda but now Next Level. You cannot drive an agenda with people who don’t believe in your agenda.
“If you have what you called a change manager, a change manager will come with the team that believes in his vision, but when you sideline them and bring people that fought against that agenda and expect them to drive your agenda”.
Political analysts said this was expected, considering the role some of them played in the 2015 and 2019 general elections. They argued that most of them were not rewarded with appointment after the 2015 election and they are ready to protest and do anything possible to ensure that they benefit from where they worked.”
Withdrawal, rejection of appointments
After about 48 hours of public criticism, the Senate President bowed to pressure and withdrew the appointment of Dr Adedayo.
Lawan in a statement issued by his Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Mohammed Isa, noted that the appointment was rescinded in his best interest.
He stated that, “The office of the President of the Senate has reviewed the appointment of Mr. Festus Adedayo as Special Adviser, Media, and Publicity to the President of the Senate and decided to rescind its decision on the appointment, and wishes Mr. Adebayo the best in his future endeavours.”
Reacting to the withdrawal of his appointment in a piece titled: “The Festus Adebayo they thought they could pull down,” the veteran journalists said, “I was told the job has been withdrawn. I thank Lawan for the offer. He will be my model of a good Nigerian forever. If those who spearheaded the attack thought it would silence me in my bid for a good country, they have another think coming. I can never be silenced. I will always advocate for a good country; whether it hurts Buhari or anyone.”
“If I had finally settled for the job, I would be doing it at a great cost. I am right now a student of the Nigerian Law School and the rules forbid my working while a student. I would have had to walk away from a painful studentship I embarked upon last November that will come to an end in about two and half months from now. It is providence in action that I am not going to have the job.”
Few days after a former media aide to the immediate past Senate President, Olu Onemola, also rejected his re-appointment to work with Senator Lawan.
In a statement he personally signed, Onemola said: “A few days ago, I was asked to continue on in my role as the Special Assistant on New Media to His Excellency, the President of the 9th Senate.
“As an individual who prides myself in always set a high standard and significant precedents — I feel honored to have been asked to fill this vital role in the service of our great country.
“I thank you, sir, for the offer to continue on to serve and promote the work of the 9th Senate of the Federal Republic, which I am sure is borne out of your patriotic desire to serve the Nigerian people”.
Analysts, however, observed that Senator Lawan acted too hastily as if he was afraid of something, perhaps intimidated by the fact that the Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, also publicly criticised his decision.
They also concluded that, with a reaction like this, the Senate President might find it difficult to lead the 9th Senate as expected.
Pundits expressed fear that he might do just the biding of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of the APC, jettisoning the interest of Nigeria people and that of the members of bi-partisan lawmakers that voted for him.
