Senator Adamu: APC Needs Strong Leadership to Survive Its Current Crisis
Amid a ripple of acrimony in All Progressives Congress caused by the election of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the minority Peoples Democratic Party as Deputy Senate President, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, one of the
Our party’s leadership’s actions – or inactions – caused the disenfranchisement of senators elected by their people in selecting the senate’s leadership. Some of us saw this unnecessary crisis coming and we called on the leadership of the party but all that seem futile
Your party, the All Progressives Congress, has a majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, but it allowed the minority PDP to wield a decisive influence in the election of the principal officers of the bicameral legislature. How do you feel about this development? The majority won by my party is a result of the goodwill Nigerians showed us during the elections. Nigerians are yearning sincerely for a change in their status and the APC offers better prospects for this aspiration. Our party is offering a manifesto of change, which is premised on the capacity to deliver improvements on the welfare of the citizenry in terms of development in all strategic sectors. The APC also offers the capacity for human development because we in the party believe the fulcrum of development is the people and our programmes are human-oriented.
If you look inwardly, you would find that our party is centred mostly on progressive ideas, ideas that should stand the test of time, ideas that should deliver practical good to the people of Nigeria. What the APC offers is in clear contrast to the prevailing political culture of self-service and corrupt politics that made some of us leave where we were. Nigerians have appreciated that the APC manifesto could better serve their collective interest and this is how the party came to enjoy so much national goodwill.
There have been public outcry about the high cost of governance in Nigeria; do you see the National Assembly reducing its budgetary provisions?
Nigerians have a right to call attention to the rising cost of governance. Government is about the people and when the
burden becomes overbearing on the people, you will definitely hear complaints that are rightly placed. Nigerians elected us and we cannot afford to over-burden the people in trying to govern them.
We are experiencing national economic crunch, obviously, from the mismanagement of the economy by the immediate past administration. When you look around, some states have not been able to meet up their wage bills recently and this development is queer and unfortunate. The economic hard times makes it imperative to take conscious steps to reduce the cost of running government and I believe President Buhari has started on the right footing by making effort to plug many leakages on the peoples commonwealth. The president recently announced measures to save money for development, among them the reduction of presidential fleets and I believe these are steps in the right direction.
For the National Assembly, I believe the right leadership could do us a lot of good in acting according to the interests of majority of Nigerians. Some of us have advocated a reconsideration of the cost of the legislature on governance and this informs our vision at the Senate Unity Forum. Many of us who share similar views on administering the legislature came together to ensure that the National Assembly, particularly, the Senate, gets it right on leadership. We wanted a Senate leadership that is responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians; a leadership that is people-oriented and all-inclusive in approach. I believe that if we have the right leadership in place in the National Assembly, the issue of spending the people’s commonwealth on frivolities would be discountenanced and Nigerians would be happier for it.
The APC appears to be embroiled in crisis recently, what is at the heart of this crisis?
Political parties are aggregation of varying interests and the capacity to whip these interests to conform to a purpose of serving people defines the seriousness or otherwise of the party. The political party should have mechanisms of managing these interests to avoid needless crisis. This, the present leadership of APC has not done properly.
The unfortunate development in the APC is a fallout of indiscipline and unbridled ambition of a fraction of the party. There are those who believe that their ambition to rule at all cost supersedes the aspirations of Nigerians for change. These people
could jettison common sense and team-spirit in the pursuit of their selfish ambitions for power. They could betray their party and join hands with opponents to bring their party turbulence and this is not healthy for our democracy.
If you cannot respect the interest of the party that gave you platform, how could you respect the interest of the populace? Simply put, some people inadvertently serve some ulterior interest and collude with opponents to inflict the APC with a needless crisis capable of sabotaging the vision of our great party.
As one of those at the forefront of the Senate Unity Forum that backed Senator Ahmed Lawan, how do you and members of your group view the election of Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic?
For us at the Senate Unity Forum, made up of eminent Nigerians who have each contributed their fair share to national development, and to all well-meaning Nigerians, what transpired within the hallowed chambers of the Senate on Tuesday, June 9 was a coup against the aspiration of Nigerians for democratic consolidation. What happened was clearly against good conscience and an assault to the principle of the rule of law, which our very democratic system is premised on. It was the height of impunity and indiscipline to see how certain individuals placed their selfish ambitions before the collective aspiration of Nigerians and brought division into the very party that provided them political platform. As for me and others who share my view, it is my considered opinion that there was really no election, as the very processes of an election were all manipulated to suit the unbridled ambition of a few individuals.
If you look at the kangaroo process that you are now referring to as election, the adherence to the rule of law was lacking in all ramifications. A process that saw the participation of 57 senators in a 108 member senate (excluding the late Senator Ahmed Zanna from Yobe under APC) is lacking in fairness and legality, as the Senate Standing Rule stipulates that at least two-third of senators form a quorum for election of principal officers. Evidence of amendment of the Senate Standing Rule by the Clerk of the Senate to allow less than the stipulated numbers participate was a default and an insult to our democracy.
Another point has to be made on the disregard of party discipline perpetrated by those who are beneficiaries of this disorder. We all belong to political parties as senators and when your party tells you something in the interest of all members and you go behind to work with those who do not want to see your party succeed, you have invariably said you are a betrayer. A situation where the president’s directive is flaunted and your party members are meeting at a venue and you went ahead to serve your personal ambition amounts to sheer disloyalty. This unfortunate development must not be condoned in our in our changing political culture.
Considering that the president gave a Proclamation Order opening the 8th National Assembly for 10 O’clock and your party invited its members in the senate for a separate meeting at another venue for 9am, don’t you think your party should take the blame for whatever happened?
The Proclamation was not cast in stone. The same Order of Proclamation slating the inauguration for 10am could further be extended at the prerogative of the president. At least, the inauguration would still have taken place on the same Tuesday, June 9. It was just a case of disregard for constituted authorities.
Furthermore, the Proclamation Order puts it that all members of the Senate would be inaugurated and not 57 members as was the case we have at hand. This puts further questions on the credibility of the entire process and cast serious aspersions on the character of some members of the senate. It is simply not done and we must not begin by setting such dangerous precedent in our clime. That was clearly a slight on our constitution and such excesses must be discountenanced.
Since President Muhammadu Buhari said he could work with anyone that emerged as Senate President, should your group not allow sleeping dogs lie?
President Buhari did not say he would work with just anyone thrown up by a discredited process that smacks of mischief and betrayal of confidence. The president is a man known for his sound moral standing and the statement he released after the process where he said that due process could have been adhered to in electing principal officers of the National Assembly vindicated our grievances. We cannot claim to want to bring a change for the better in Nigeria and at the same time allow political opportunism and betrayal to be the hallmark of the leadership of the assembly. President Buhari, as leader of the party, would not have been the one to encourage disloyalty to the party and his statement that he would not interfere with the leadership selection process should not be taken out of context by political saboteurs.
How would you situate the role of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the development?
Invariably, this is a two-pronged attack on President Buhari’s visions for Nigeria and the chances of the APC in the politics of 2019. Unfortunately, it is too early to drag the entire country into unnecessary pressures all in the bid by PDP to reassert itself politically. The most unfortunate aspect is that members of the APC went into an unholy alliance with their supposed political opponents to unleash disorder and ridicule on their party.
An interest was served to spite APC and President Buhari in the charade that took place and some of our members allowed themselves to be fooled to serve such ulterior interest. The masterminds of the ‘coup’ are not even talking; they are quiet because they know what they have done.
David Mark’s imprints are all over the drama. What Senator David Mark did was to install his second-in-command in the scheme of things as in military tradition so that he would continue to call the shots. The PDP recently empowered Senator Ike Ekweremadu to enhance the party’s chances in future elections after an abysmal outing and him (senator Ekweremadu) being Deputy Senate President would occupy a strategic position to actualise this purpose. Senator Mark clearly refused to take the top job of the Senate President and instead pushed his 2-I-C so as to avert the political turmoil that would emanate and some people from the APC fold failed to see beyond the Greek Gift dangled before them. The APC senators who colluded with PDP to bring our democracy into so much disorder were clearly instruments in the hands of PDP to cause disharmony in the APC.
Is your group satisfied with the role of the leadership of the APC in the unfolding scenario?
Our party’s leadership’s actions – or inactions – caused the disenfranchisement of senators elected by their people in selecting the senate’s leadership. Some of us saw this unnecessary crisis coming and we called on the leadership of the party but all that seem futile. Three times the party chairman called us and three times we answered “Yes Sir!” The other group (Senators of Like Mind) disobeyed in failing to attend these parleys on the three occasions but the party’s leadership did nothing to sanction such acts of insubordination. But the national chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun, appears to be helpless in the entire circumstances and this is grossly unexpected. We expected that the party would wield her machineries of discipline to nip the dissention in the bud. So far the national chairman is yet to show leadership in crisis in this circumstance and as loyal party members, we expect them to act accordingly to salvage the situation.
The national chairman is the umpire of the interests in the party and he must do the right thing. If 51 members of your party who are elected senators were not present for election and only eight members joined hands with your opponents and you cannot stand your ground to insist that due process must be followed, then all is not well.
Senate President Bukola Saraki is reported to have begun reconciliatory moves. Would your group subscribe to this fence-mending approach?
Any peace move must be initiated by the party and not some people who disobey party decisions. The onus lies with the leadership of our party, the APC, to ensure that some of us who are loyal to the party are not relegated and disloyalty is not rewarded.
Would your group accept the remaining positions of Senate Majority Leader and Deputy Leader as compensation?
The issue of compensations, as you called it, would not have arisen if the right things were done and due process and party decisions were not abused in the pursuit of ambitions. The people who brought this needless crisis upon the hallowed chambers of the Senate have made up their minds not to allow peace prevail. I believe the party leadership has more to do to ensure that the Senate does not become an unruly gathering to the consternation of Nigerians.
What options are your group considering if the APC leadership fails to resolve the situation?
We are definitely considering going to court. The institutions of democracy are founded in the rule of law. Since the party seems incapacitated the only reasonable line of action is to seek legal redress and we are committed to ensuring that the course of justice is served. The party appears to be on clay feet, because of that we will go before the law to determine if this action was right or wrong. Whatever the law decides, we are all subject to the law. Whatever the law decides, we will abide by that the decision. If between now and whatever time the party decides to answer its name and stand up to its responsibilities we find that the party has stood by those of us who are loyal, and they don’t abandon us in the whole wind of betrayal, then of course, we will do the bidding of the party. At this point in time, the party cannot say those who stood against it are right and those of us who stood with the party are wrong. This is reduced to the simple equation of those who did not answer the party’s call, who stood against the party and disobeyed the party are right while those of us who believe in the supremacy of the party, who stood with the party and who are loyal to the party are wrong. This is the scenario playing out now and that cannot stand in our faces. The national chairman can answer the question whether those of us who are loyal to him are wrong to be loyal.
What do you see as the way out of the conflicting signals emanating from your party as regards this leadership crisis in the National Assembly?
The solution to the betrayal that played out is to allow things to be done properly and restore decorum to the polity. Some of our members colluded with PDP elements to rob APC of what rightly belongs to it in imposing Senator Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President and this is politically incorrect. You cannot bring outsiders to your home to destroy it and then pretend like nothing untoward happened. You cannot set disharmony in your own political party and then turn around to seek peace. That is hypocritical.
One cannot claim to know God or worship God and do things that both the Bible and the Holy Koran abhors. God is not associated with any evil tendencies and if those seeking peace claim to know God, they should first seek retribution and return a stolen mandate.
The only way out of this unfortunate development is to ensure that things are done properly and that Nigerians are not shortchanged because of the personal ambition of certain people. I believe our party will come out of this issue stronger if the leadership does not reward insubordination and encourage impunity by doing the right things.
Do you see APC coming out of this crisis still united as a party?
My experience tells me that if the right things are done, if party members show utmost regard for party supremacy, if the leadership becomes more responsible, then there is no doubt that we can weather the storm generated by this needless crisis. President Buhari is starting on the right pedestal to transform Nigeria and the party must not become a stumbling block to his visions because a fraction of it is unable to manage their ambitions for power.
President Buhari is starting on the right pedestal to transform Nigeria and the party must not become a stumbling block to his visions because a fraction of it is unable to manage their ambitions for power