IT was meant to be a moment for reflecting on past deeds of the 58 senators from the 19 states of the country.
But a retreat at the weekend in Bauchi, Bauchi State, turned out to be for exchange of hot words among the top echelon of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Northern Senators Forum (NSF) and the leadership of the Senate among others. It also provided an opportunity for a senator, Idris Kuta, to inform of plans to cut the current derivation formula in revenue sharing from 13 per cent to 10 per cent.
The meeting was attended by the governors of Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara and host Bauchi. Former Second Republic President Shehu Shagari and two former military rulers, Maj.-Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami, also attended the forum, in addition to other northern elders.
At the opening ceremony of the retreat, which had as theme: "Humility in leadership as a Northern cherished value," ACF Chairman, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, condemned President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration's approach to the anti-corruption crusade.
Awoniyi argued that the crusade was not only selective but also a blackmail against the President's perceived political enemies and the National Assembly.
The ACF chief also called on the entire Senate to confess and apologise to Nigerians over their alleged roles in the raging bribery scandal in which former Senate President Adolphus Wabara has been named.
But in a sharp response, the Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, defended the anti-graft war of President Obasanjo and submitted that the crusade was the most courageous and impartial one since the history of Nigeria.
Mantu berated Awoniyi for his criticisms, noting that such a stand resulted from a quest to settle personal and political scores with the President.
The Deputy Senate President said it was improper for Awoniyi to call on the entire Senate to apologise, adding that only those who had committed any crime ought to do so.
In a seven-page paper, Awoniyi had traced the origin of corruption in the country to the Presidency. He claimed that Obasanjo had surrounded himself with people of questionable characters, adding that it was therefore no surprise that such people were being accused of corruption.
"The fountain head of our corruption is traceable to the spiritual corruption flowing out from Aso Rock," Awoniyi said, adding: "When a man is afflicted with spiritual corruption, he corrupts everyone around him. He prefers to bring near himself, men who are tainted; men who are filthy and morally depraved and easily blackmailed or manipulated." The ACF leader urged the Senate to expose to the world what he called "the selective nature of the pursuit of corruption by Aso Rock". He wondered why those who were involved in alleged embezzlement of funds in the Ministry of Defence had not been prosecuted.
Awoniyi said: "Corruption is not only about stealing public funds or receiving gratification. It is corruption and a crime to deny those who won elections their victory, and to award victory to those who lost. It is corruption to misuse the apparatus of government, particularly the security agents, to rig elections as was widely done in the general and presidential election of April 2003. Corruption includes the deceit of trusting Nigerians whom you promise one thing, and do something` else. Corruption includes creating situations of uncertainty and stress, for the entire populace to gain selfish advantage. Corruption includes playing one religion against the other and one ethnic group against another for whatever gains." He continued: "Corruption includes the betrayal and the squandering of the trust and hope reposed in you by the people for a better and democratic deal in governance to better the lot and protect their lives and property." Turning to senators, Awoniyi said that only the truth could save them from their present credibility problems, noting that until the entire senators were ready to confess and apologise for their sins, nothing would work in the upper chamber.
His words: "Senators, your credit with the Nigerian populace is abysmally low today. Make no mistake about it, Aso Rock will endeavour to keep your credit perpetually low with Nigerians. It will use its many powerful resources of money and propaganda to make you continue to look very bad in the eyes of your fellow Nigerians. My plea to you today is that you must pick yourselves up.
"Accept the painful truth that you are down, and that you therefore need fear no fall. Repent of your errors.
"Boldly, come forward, collectively and penitently, to apologise to Nigeria for your mistake." But in a swift response, Mantu said: "The NSF should not be politicised. It should remain a common ground for the common yearnings and aspirations of all Northerners. The NSF should not be a forum for settling personal or political scores; if we do that, we will be dividing ourselves." The Deputy Senate President continued: "Today, even Obasanjo's worst critics are appreciating his war against corruption. I know that as a Nigerian, as a legislator and as a Nigerian politician who has been around the political arena for quite a long time, I have seen some of his closest allies being made to face the music. We all know that the late Chief S. M. Afolabi was one of those people who together with Dr. Sunday Awoniyi, urged Obasanjo to even accept to run as a candidate. And for the president of Nigeria to have surrendered or sacrificed his best friend to face the music, if he didn't believe in what he is doing, I don't thing he would have done that. It takes a lot of courage to do that. And I wish we can appreciate that.
"Also, today, we in the Senate know the role that the President played in bringing Wabara to be our Senate President. We know that. And for him to forsake him when he has committed what he considered bad, I think the President has courage in doing that. Only last week, one of Obasanjo's closest ministers, Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo, Minister of Housing, was also sacrificed." Mantu argued that if the President could descend on the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tafa Balogun, the speculations that he (Balogun) was used to rig the 2003 election could no longer hold water.
On the call for apology from senators, the Deputy Senate President said: "As a senator, I am not proud of the recent development in the Senate. Unlike the President of the country who appoints ministers and is required to be responsible for their actions if they fail to meet public expectations, he may remove them from public office or he himself can resign depending on the gravity of his offence. In the case of the Senate, the Senate President is responsible for his actions and all the senators are required to do if he fails to meet their expectation is to remove him or he resigns. Apology is an admittance of guilt, but when you have not committed any offence and you apologise, what are you apologising for?" Meanwhile, the Senate Ethnic Committee probing the N55 million bribery scandal resumes sitting today. But the expected reappearance of Wabara may not happen today because of what sources close to him said followed advice by his lawyers that he should not speak openly again until the government files charges against him in court.
It was not exactly known last night whether the former Education Minister, Prof. Fabian Osuji, will appear before the Senate Ethics Committee as Mamora disclosed last week.
Wabara had indicated to the committee that he wanted to exercise his right of reply to the monumental allegation against him by Senator Chris Adighije that the former Senate President was the one who asked Osuji for N50 million but the minister delivered N55 million, the extra N5 million being a gift to Wabara.
Kuta at the forum said that a new derivation formula is in the works at the National Assembly. It is to slash the current rate of 13 per cent to 10 per cent.
He said that the reduction would specifically rectify the anomalies created by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDCC) Act.
The derivation fund represents the income from oil sales that go to the host states of the black gold.
Interestingly, the latest move at the National Assembly comes at the height of agitation for resource control or higher derivation formula by the people of the Niger Delta. Their delegates at the on-going National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) have made resource control and ownership their core demand on the Nigerian federation.
But Kuta told the senators' forum, which was attended by prominent northern leaders, including two former heads of state that the National Assembly would be moved to settle the controversy over the derivation fund once and for all.
He said the Senate had originally pegged the fund at 10 per cent, but was overwhelmed by the House of Representatives position of 15 per cent, a situation that brought about 13 per cent as a compromise.
He said the situation had starved other sectors of the economy and federation of the needed funds.
Kuta canvassed the support of his colleagues and other northern leaders present at the meeting to ensure that the bill scaled through.`
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