Posted by By KENNY ASHAKA, Kaduna on
National Chairman of the People Salvation Party (PSP), Dr. Junaid Mohammed, says the kid glove manner with which the N628 million contract scam involving the speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, is being handled can only beget accidental discharges.
National Chairman of the People Salvation Party (PSP), Dr. Junaid Mohammed, says the kid glove manner with which the N628 million contract scam involving the speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, is being handled can only beget accidental discharges.
Junaidu insisted in an interview with Saturday Sun that the Speaker must go, saying her colleagues have lost confidence in her leadership as a result of the indictment, just as he said the indictment has cast a big question mark on the Speaker's sense of judgement.
According to him, the Presidency has no option than to allow the Speaker to go" if they (Presidency) claim to be the Presidency of the whole of Nigeria" adding 'they should not keep quiet"
He predicted that the lower chamber of Nigeria 's legislature would never be the same again following the Etteh contract scandal.
'The National Assembly is supposed to be one the three tiers of government in our system. It is like a tripod or a triangle. If one of the legs of the tripod or triangle is discredited and broken then the entire system is discredited and broken.
The choice before the PDP, he says, is to either send off the Speaker or 'allow the crisis to fester and probably trigger the collapse of the government or a break down of law and order somewhere in the country.
'I would rather they allow the crisis to fester because it would bring down this bloody government which is illegitimate in the first place. Personally, I prefer the PDP to mishandle the issue so that this may possibly be one of the reasons to bring down this bloody illegitimate government."
In this interview, Junaidu explains why the Speaker of the House Representatives must go; his perceived signals from the Yar'Adua government, the choice before the PDPin the N628 million contract scam and says what is happening in the House of Representatives is a test for the Yar'Adua government.
His impression about the scandal in the House of Representatives
'Personally, I am saddened by what is going on there if you call it a drama. I will rather call it a tragic comedy in the House of Representatives and the way the members of the PDP who are the overwhelming majority in the House are handling the problem of our own democracy. That the people who have not won elections can be declared to have won elections trivializes and bastardises our democracy."
Why Madam Etteh must go
'There are two options in public life. If you have stopped having the confidence of your peers - the people who elected you, the honourable thing to do if you are an honourable person, is to resign. But if you are not honourable...," he said.
Junaid is not happy with the PDP Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, and did not mince words when he said the scandal which Mrs Etteh has plunged herself into should not be treated as a PDP affair. According to him, 'this is a national affair because this woman is the number four citizen according to our protocols which is contained in our constitution."
As he speaks, the anger in him is palpable. He took a swipe at the PDP for attempting to shield the Speaker. 'It is sheer arrogance and the irresponsibility of PDP as a party and particularly about its leadership which is thoroughly corrupt".
Etteh's scandal, test for Yar'Adua
'The Presidency played itself into a political dead end by trying to wash their hands off the matter in the beginning. It is wrong for the Presidency to do so. If they claim to be the Presidency of the whole of Nigeria, they cannot keep quiet on a matter, substantial numbers of Nigerians are concerned with. The decision resulting from this matter would affect Nigerians. So how can it be keeping quiet? For now, the Presidency has lost the moral high ground to claim to be an honest broker when they said it is the business of the PDP. The Presidency cannot now resolve the problem without doing damage to the National Assembly. What the Presidency should do is to ask the woman to go. If she refuses to go, the Presidency should ask the PDP to sack her from the PDP and declare openly that they have lost confidence in her.
Yar'Adua's danger signal
The PSP National Chairman who was also in the House of Representatives between 1979 and 1984 when a military putsch swept off the second republic took a critical look at the Yar'Adua Presidency and concluded that he is incapable of addressing Nigeria 's problems going by the reversals of key policies he has done on a number of occasions.
'It shows clearly that the man is not up to the task." What are the pointers? You ask. 'Well, within the first 100 days, his government has been forced to reverse itself on at least two major issues. The stupid naira decimalization by Soludo is another way of devaluing the currency through the back door. This has been rejected by Nigerians. In addition, some of his choices - for example, his finance minister - have been overwhelmingly and roundly condemned by people who know what they are talking about. And his Minster of Finance doesn't have a constituency within the PDP in Kano State. The third area where he goofed was his appointment of Justice Uwais. And my guess is; the presidency would have to reverse itself on the choice of Justice Uwais and the composition of the panel and of course the time span and terms of reference of that panel. This is my case. They would have to reverse themselves. The government of Yar'Adua has been forced to reverse itself three times. The question is: Are these people for real? Do they know what they are talking about? Governance is a serious business.
The choices before PDP and the Presidency
Junaid predicts that the House of Representatives, after this stand-off over the scandal currently rocking it, would never be the same again. He explains; 'The National Assembly is supposed to be one of the three tiers of government in our system. It is like a tripod or a triangle.
If one of the legs of that tripod or triangle is discredited and broken, the entire system is discredited and broken. So, the PDP has a choice; either to dispose off this lousy, hairdresser woman (quote me) who should never have been the Speaker in the first place or allow the crisis to fester and probably trigger either the collapse of the government or a breakdown of law and order somewhere in the country.
This is the choice of the government and the presidency itself. It is also for PDP. They should allow the woman to go quietly. They can push her to go quietly or allow everything to collapse. Frankly, and I am being honest with you and you can quote me, I would rather they allow the crisis to fester because it would bring down this bloody government which is illegitimate in the first place. Personally, I prefer the PDP to mishandle the issue so that this may possibly be one of the reasons to bring down this bloody illegitimate government. This government is illegitimate abinitio.