Ademola Adeyemo
5 July 2009
analysis
Lagos — Niger State has been in the news for some times now, playing host to political intrigues and drama. Within seven days, the drama had produced three Speakers for the state House of Assembly in quick succession.
The crisis was an aftermath of the White Paper issued by the Niger State government on the report of the Commission of Inquiry set up by Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu to probe the administration of his predecessor, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure.
The Commission, headed by Justice Aliyu Maiyaki, investigated the non-execution of contracts and other financial irregularities alleged to have been committed by Kure's administration. In the White Paper, the former governor, who is now the Chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and five others were banned from holding public office for the next 10 years.
Others affected by the ban include the former vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party for the North Central Zone, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji; the former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the state, Alhaji Umar Kawu. Former gubernatorial aspirant and former Permanent Secretary of the state's Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Alhassan Jibrin Bala, and a former director in the ministry, Alhaji Mohammed Katuka.
Specifically, Kure was indicted for the supply of 200metric tones of iron rod. He was also ordered to account for N99million the state lost on wrong computation. The paper further indicted the former governor in the supply of ductile iron pipe fittings and water pumps to Lapai Agaie, Katcha, Kontagora, New Bussa, Lambata, Mokwa and Gawu Babangida by BEEDASH Nigeria Limited under the multi-million Naira statewide water scheme during the latter part of his administration.
Kure was also directed by the government to account for N708million, failure which he would be prosecuted. The White Paper also found Alhassan and Katuka wanting over financial malpractices in their handling of the state/local government joint account, while the former Commissioner for Justice, Kawu, was indicted over his handling of the state tender board as the chairman. However, the probe exercise and the subsequent white paper issued by the government was interpreted by the supporters of the former governor as a witch hunt exercise deliberately put together by the Aliyu administration to spite Kure and incapacitate him politically.
Even, the name of former President Ibrahim Babangida was dragged into the issue as it was alleged that governor Aliyu had initiated the probe not only to stop Kure, but also to checkmate the political influence of the former President who is believed to be Kure's godfather in the state.
Two weeks ago, the effect of the indictment of the principal officials of the former administration reverberated in the State House of Assembly as in a dramatic turn of the event the Speaker of the house Mohammed Alkali was shoved out of power by 18 out of 27 members of the Assembly. Alkali's offence according to the House was that he was too close to the state executive led by Governor Aliyu.
Among the charges levelled against Alkali by the lawmakers is undue romance with the Government House as he was said to have almost made the place his second home while his position as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly expected to check-mate the affairs of the executive arm of government suffered. The former Speaker was said to be a supporter of the governor and was accused of hobnobbing with the executive to the detriment of the welfare of the Assembly members.
In his place, Saidu Ndako Idris a member representing Mokwa Constituency was sworn in as the new speaker. He was said to be a supporter of Kure. The development however, sparked off a supremacy battle between Governor Aliyu and Kure as the state government viewed the removal of the Speaker as a slight on the administration of Aliyu. The installation of Idris as speaker was also interpreted by the government as an attempt by those indicted by the Commission of Inquiry to stage a come back and rubbish the white paper which banned them from holding public office for ten years.
It was also said that with Idris as Speaker, the governor may not be safe as he may be targeted for impeachment in creating an avenue for another government to come on board and overturn the decisions of the state government as contained in the White Paper. The drama in the House thus brought to the fore the struggle for the political soul of the state between Kure and Aliyu. Some supporters of Governor Aliyu even insinuated that the problem in the House was masterminded by General Ibrahim Babangida in a bid to get at Aliyu.
However, the State Government had to move swiftly by commencing the implementation of the white paper which also indicted the new speaker. According to the white paper, Idris was asked to refund N89 million he allegedly misappropriated when he was the Chairman of Mokwa Local Government Area of the state. He is also asked to refund over N97 million to the government coffers being the amount illegally withdrawn from the local government joint account and the treasury of the Mokwa Local Government Council.
The State Police Command was called in to arrest the speaker. Sensing danger Idris went into hiding and Police had to declare him and eight others wanted. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Richard Oguche (ASP), confirmed that a warrant of arrest had been issued against the speaker.
According to Oguche "The Police had no choice than to take the action after the affected persons had failed to voluntarily hand themselves over to the police after summons were served on them. We have not seen them up till now but I can assure you that we will get them to ensure they face prosecution," Oguche said.
Sensing danger, the new speaker had to send his letter of resignation to the house from hiding. His tenure lasted for only seven days. The only function he performed was the speech he read the day he was sworn-in. He was not allowed to preside over legislative function as he had to go underground when security agents launched a manhunt for him.
The house, after accepting Idris resignation, accused governor Aliyu of using the white paper report to witch hunt Idris and the House. However they went ahead to elect Umaru Musa Ma'ali believed to be a pro-Aliyu as the new speaker.
But the Director of Media and Public Affairs to the Governor, Bala Abdulkadir absolved the governor from the commotion in the House. Bala said "it would be unfair to say the governor used the white paper as a tool of blackmail against the ousted speaker. The commission of inquiry was set up by Aliyu and had its recommendations discussed by the state executive council before the white paper was issued. So the security agent manhunt on the Speaker was never an assault on the legislature but an act done according to the rule of law."
But Speaking to journalists on his predicament, former Speaker, Saidu Ndako Idris, disclosed that he had to take to his heels following an invasion into his home by security agents barely 20 hours after he was made Speaker. He said he had to step aside in order to prevent the crises that may erupt from his clinging to the position of Speaker since it had started to create ripples in the state's political circles.
"My resignation was just to give peace a chance. Imagine that less than 24 hours after becoming Speaker, my apartment was invaded by security men who ransacked it in search of what, I don't know. As a peace-loving person, I had to sacrifice myself to allow peace to reign in the state since my being a Speaker was causing much problem. If anybody says my resignation was a sign of weakness, well, I don't have anything to tell such a person but to say I did resign to give peace a chance", he said.
However, the political crisis took a different dimension last week as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth Network, Malam Isa Lanpene stirred the hornet's nest when he openly accused former military ruler, General Babangida, of being the brain behind the rumpus in the House of Assembly. According to Lanpene, supporters of Babangida were using the crisis to prepare the former president's son, Mohammed, for governorship bid in 2011. Lanpene said "General Babangida is very angry with Governor Aliyu because his cousin was detained for a month."
He also said that under Kure, the Niger State government sponsored all Babangida-for-President political projects which he said were stopped by Governor Aliyu. He pointed out that that "is why you don't see IBB associations proliferating all over the country these days".
Lanpene also alleged that the Niger State Assembly members who were recently mobilised to impeach the former Speaker, Alhaji Mohamed Alkali, were offered N5 million each. "You know it was not the state government that did it. Who else in Niger State has N100 million to spend just to impeach the Speaker?" he asked. He said the speaker's impeachment was meant to be a first step towards denying Governor Aliyu the chance to contest again in 2011.
According to him, the crisis erupted because Babangida's top lieutenants in State, which include former Governor Kure and former PDP National Vice Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji were both indicted by the white paper of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry that probed the last regime. "They therefore launched a political counterattack to stop Governor Aliyu from securing the PDP nomination for 2011" he said.
The Special Assistant alleged that the two cases in the tribunal instituted against Governor Aliyu, were all instigated by the Babangida boys. He also defended Aliyu of the accusation that he was high handed in running the affairs of the state. He said, "The governor is not fighting anybody. He is only trying to be sincere with the people. Kure was misled for eight years by the political elite in Niger State. He was doing their bidding so much so that his regime could not achieve anything in two terms."
As expected Lanpene's outburst caused a political wild wind in the state. Sources said that even Governor Aliyu was embarrassed by the statement of his Special Assistant and therefore ordered a rebuttal. Few days later, the Senior Special Assistant on General Matters to the governor, Alhaji Yahuza Abdullahi disowned Lampene's comments as his personal views and not those of the Niger State government.
"He spoke on behalf of himself and not the Government of Niger State," Abdullahi said. According to him, "IBB and Governor Aliyu "are in the best of relationship at the moment. If at all there was anything, certainly not now. Governor Aliyu also has no problem with his predecessor, Engr. Kure at the moment," He blamed the rumoured frosty relationship between Governor Aliyu and General Babangida on "those hangers-on who thought they could only benefit when there is crisis."
Also, one of the Babangida's close associates, Alhaji Nma Kolo, while defending the former president said that he did not know anything about the crisis in the state House of Assembly. He denied the insinuation that Babangida was working towards blocking the incumbent governor's second term bid.
He said, "the former military president does not meddle in the state's politics, let alone engineer the removal of its speaker, Mohammed Alkali. He had no idea of the wrangling in the state House of Assembly; those accusing him of involvement in the plot were doing so based on their imaginations".
However, as political events continue to unfold in the state, the new Speaker, Alhaji Ma'ali, has been accused of working for the executive and thereby protecting Governor Aliyu. According to the critics, the refusal of the present House leadership to act on the petitions written by some people against Governor Aliyu smacked of hypocrisy
The House had last week, attributed its decision not to investigate a petition alleging financial improprieties by against Governor Aliyu brought before it by one Mr. Musa Muhamud to "improper presentation of the petition". The House claimed that the petitions were written by "faceless" people, hence its decision not to treat them.
Chairman, House Committee on Information, Isah Kawu, who made the clarification in Minna, while briefing reporters on the Assembly's activities in the last two years, said "faceless or anonymous petitions" were not allowed by the House standing rules.
According to Kawu, the Assembly would only entertain any petition whose author is identifiable in person and traceable to a known address, as the petitioner would be needed for questioning. "The lawmakers' action was not taken with a view to protecting the executive arm of government," he said.
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