There is growing anxiety in the Senate over allegations of impropriety and fraud leveled against the leadership of Senator David Mark by Senator George Akume. Two newspaper reports bordering on the allegations of award of N400 million contracts for the renovation of the official Apo Mansion of the Senate President by Mark and his alleged smuggling of N2.5 billion into the 2007 Supplementary Budget for the furnishing of the new Senate building engaged the attention of the Senate last week.
The development in the Senate is a product of the acrimonious contest for the Senate top job, which Mark won on June 5, this year. The pre- and post-election bitter rivalry has sharply and deeply fractured the Senate, thus exposing its underbelly to vagaries of internal and external plots and assaults. Mark’s leadership has been working hard to stave off the opposition’s darts. The opposition camp, typified by Akume, is also working round the clock to rake odium against the Mark leadership.
The Senate, as it were, is gradually and steadily being polluted. Mark and Akume have imported Benue local politics on to a national platform. Both Mark and Akume are indigenes of Benue State , but they are of different ethnic nationalities. Mark is Idoma while Akume is Tiv. Given the historical domination of the Idoma by the Tiv, the defeat of Akume by Mark on June 5 to clinch the Senate Presidency is far from being salutary to the fighting spirit of the Tivs. But then the Senate, analysts contend, is not Benue State.
Last Tuesday, the Senate passed a resolution to refer a report in the Abuja-based Leadership newspaper that the Senate leadership would be probed for awarding a N400 million renovation contract to its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions for the purpose of finding out the source of the allegation, which the Senate dismissed as “mere rumours”. The Committee is expected to submit its report to the Senate plenary on Tuesday, this week. The resolution was consequent upon a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Services Committee, Senator Effiong Bob.
While debate on the motion was on, Mark had offered to step aside for his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu to preside to allow for an unbiased consideration of the motion since the matter in question involved him. The Senate rejected his offer, saying it would set a bad precedent. Senator Nuhu Aliyu had captured it more succinctly when he drew a comparison between the development in the Senate and the situation in the House, saying that they were not the same. He said while the development in the Senate was that somebody had just created a rumour, the situation in the House was that wrongdoing had been proved and a report was available for debate.
It was learnt last week that Mark’s offer was a political strategy to bolster his rating in the Senate and in the public domain as one who is committed to due legislative process and also as one who is not desperate to hold on to his seat as Senate President. It worked and became a basis of political discourse against the backdrop of the refusal by the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh to step down to allow for the election of a Speaker pro-tempore to preside over the debate of the Hon. David Idoko Panel that investigated the N628 million contract scam in the House.
Analysts had also contended last week that it would have been a two-edged sword had the Senate allowed Mark to step aside. The concern was that if a much more serious issue crops up and it becomes politically inexpedient for him to step aside, the Senate and the public would not be restrained to conclude that he might be hiding some things. And, this may not be so. The indications last week were that Mark might still have the opportunity of stepping aside this week when the report of the Ethics Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Omar Hambagda is submitted and listed for debate. The Deputy Senate President will preside. Then, he would be seen to be acting on something.
But the politics of stepping aside is just an aspect of the battle that is raging in the Senate. It is believed that Mark and Akume are engaged in a propaganda war. The Senators were agreed, for instance, last week that there was no award of N400 million renovation contract. The allegation was, therefore, considered without being prejudicial to the mandate of the Ethics Committee as a tissue of falsehood by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Information, Senator Ayogu Eze. However, the Senate had insisted on probing the source of the allegation, perhaps, with a view to officially slamming Akume to whom finger of guilt had been and is being pointed as having masterminded the newspaper reports.
The fear in Akume’s camp last week was that the ground was being prepared to suspend him from the Senate, dent his record and make him un-sellable for the position of Senate President in the event that a vacancy occurs in respect of the position. Last week developments in the Senate appeared to have pointed in that direction. For being overtly ambitious, the Senate leadership has marked Akume down.
And, from indications, the former Benue State Governor may end up being the opposition’s cannon fodder in the unfolding politicking and lingering contest for supremacy in the Senate. How he will survive the onslaught is left to time to reveal.
Akume, no doubt, had more than he bargained for last week. About 48 hours after it mandated its Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee to investigate the source of the report of an alleged N400 million renovation contract by its leadership, the Senate ordered a fresh probe into another allegation that the Senate President was at the centre of a N3 billion budget scandal. The Senate was on the boil last Thursday as Senators reacted to the report published in the Daily Trust edition of Wednesday, October 17, 2007 and credited to Adoka Adaji who is a Special Assistant on Media to Akume to the effect that the said amount was smuggled into the budget by Mark leadership for the purpose of furnishing the new Senate building. The building has 84 offices. All Senators who voted for Mark on June 5 were allocated offices in the new building.
The report had specifically alleged that the Senate President smuggled the sum of N2.5 billion into the 2007 Supplementary Budget for the procurement and provision of furniture in the new Senate building. Besides, it was also alleged that N500 million was paid to some television stations for the live telecast of ministerial nominees about July ending. The attention of the Senate had been drawn to the allegations by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Iyiola Omisore who came under Order 15 (Privileges) to move a motion to the effect that the allegations should be investigated.
According to him, “By the grace of God and the Senate, I am Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation established under Rule 98 (10) of our Standing Rules. Appropriation is at the heart of the National Assembly and indeed a constitutional matter.
“Appropriation is a process. When a proposal is received from Mr. President, it is referred to the Committee on Appropriation of which at that point, all Committees of the Senate are sub-committees. The sub-committees make their input and the Committee brings it back to the Senate, which as Committee of Supply, takes it clause by clause and Senate in plenary now reads it for the third time.
“Mr. President, Distinguished colleagues, I read in the Daily Trust of Wednesday, 17 October, 2007 a story credited to one Adoka Adaji presenting himself as Special Assistant on Media to Senator George Akume, that the Senate President smuggled N2.5 billion into the Supplementary budget recently passed by this Senate.
“By this story, the entire constitutional Appropriation process meticulously carried out by this Senate is being discredited and my privilege as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation and Senator Iyiola Omisore breached. I have been portrayed as incompetent and untrustworthy. It may well be that Senator Akume knows something that this Senate does not know. I therefore move that in the terms of Order 15, this matter be referred to our Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.”
Omisore had argued that his privilege had been violated by the publication while the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) who seconded the motion, stressed that his privileges had also been breached on account of the newspaper publication. According to him, “My own privileges have also been breached. I was the one detailed to provide the cost of live broadcast for ministerial screening. But that publication alleged that over N500 million was spent on the broadcast. For any Senator to go out and disclose what was discussed in a closed session is irresponsible. He should have confirmed from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and others whether any money had been paid. Nothing has been paid so far.”
Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Abubakar Danso Sodangi, on his part, said that “This is no longer an attempt to destroy the image of our Senate President, but the integrity of the entire Senate is at stake here. All our privileges have been breached here.” His counterpart in the Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator Smart Adeyemi said that the source of the story was not in doubt, even as he pointed finger of guilt at Senator Akume. He stated: “The content and the authority of the source of the story is not in doubt. Every minute counts for the Senate. We must ensure that this will be the last story published to tarnish the image of the Senate. It is unbecoming of Akume and his group to engage in this. This story is unfair, unbiblical, un-Islamic and unconstitutional.”
Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora said that the media report was targeted at smearing the institution of the Senate. According to him, “There is also the allegation that Mark has started furnishing the new wing of the Senate Complex when there has been budgetary provision for it. I believe this is a smear campaign. We can’t continue like this.” Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Joy Emodi said that the allegation was targeted at the Senate, stressing, “This is a rumour against all of us and I don’t think we should allow this to continue because the National Assembly is the symbol of democracy in this country.”
The matter was referred to the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee. The Committee is expected to consolidate its investigations into the two allegations and submit a report to the Senate plenary Tuesday, this week. There are a number of conjectures with respect to the objective of these probes: one, it is believed that the probes are aimed at putting the lie to the allegations; two, it is believed that a vote of confidence will be passed on the Senate President subsequently; third, it is believed that the source of the allegations (who is likely to be Akume) would be sanctioned, anyhow, consistent with the standing rules of the Senate and that it would be the most decisive, if not final, move that should expectedly portray Akume as an over-ambitious office seeker who would dent the image of the Senate to actualize his ambition. This, as believed should “silence” Akume and rule him out of any possible succession race for the position of the Senate President.
By Sufuyan Ojeifo
This Day
Saturday, October 20, 2007
