Posted by By JAMES OJO, Abuja on
Nigerians expecting the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh to resign her position on accounts of public outcry that followed the verdict of a panel that found her culpable in the controversial contracts to renovate her quarters might wait for eternity, as she has no plan to throw in the towel.
Nigerians expecting the embattled Speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh to resign her position on accounts of public outcry that followed the verdict of a panel that found her culpable in the controversial contracts to renovate her quarters might wait for eternity, as she has no plan to throw in the towel.
The House is expected to reconvene next Tuesday after a forced two week recess and there is high expectations that the reports of the Idoko-led 9-man panel would be debated and a decision would be taken either to return a clean bill of health to the Speaker, or get sanctions for the roles she played in the contract saga, as well as the management of the National Assembly.
As the day of reckoning beckons, opposition to the Speaker, both within the House and in the public court has continued to soar giving vent to the speculation of an abrupt end to the reign of Nigeria 's first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Leading the opposition flank of the House is the Integrity Group, a . coalition of members across party lines led by the trio of Hon Farouk Lawan, Mercy Alumona-Isei and Halims Agoda, who were members of the Speaker's party, the PDP.
Providing a rear cover for the group are the nucleus of AC members form Lagos state, ANPP members from the North axis and some new and old PDP members with an axe to grind with the Speaker.
Just as the opposition are waxing stronger with the release of the reports of the panel, supporters of the beleaguered Speaker are not only tearing the reports apart as lacking in merits, they are united behind her to retain her seat..
A strategic meeting of the pro Etteh camp that snowballed into the early hours of Wednesday in a three-star Hotel at the Central District of Abuja reviewed the reports of its contact group to reach out to members who by constitutional duties, have the power to decide the Speaker's fate in view of the Idoko's reports.
Attendance at the meeting must have buoyed the chance of the Speaker to remain on the seat as it now has enough members to stave off impeachment threat.
Two members of the pro Etteh group, Hon Sada Soli Jibia from Jibia/Kaita federal Constituency of Katsina State and Hon Tam Brisbe from Burutu Federal Constituency of Delta state, spoke to Saturday Sun absolving the Speaker of wrong doings, if the interpretation of the Idoko reports is to be used as yardstick, to determine the Speaker's indictment for her roles in the renovation contracts.
Blame the system , not Etteh -- Hon Sada Jibia
Yes, I have read the reports tabled before the House by the chairman of the 9-man panel that examined the award of contracts to renovate the official residences of Madam Speaker and the Deputy Speaker and the purchase of vehicles for our principal officers
I went to avail myself the imports of the reports bit by bit. I have studied the reports so that when we are going to debate it, I will see patriotism, politics and politicking, selfishness, I want to see nationalism.
We must give kudos to the Idoko Panel for helping to bring to fore, lapses in the administration of the National Assembly as a whole and I am sure that Madam Speaker will come out of the present attacks , unscathed because she has not done anything wrong as far as the contract issue is concerned.
I have spent a total of fifteen years in the National Assembly, first as a staff, as a legislative aide and now as a lawmaker..So, I don't see any member saying that the Speaker must go because of this contract issue, having a better knowledge and understanding of the workings of the National Assembly than me.
What I am happy about on the whole issue is that we have reached a point at which we need to correct certain anomalies that we have condoned since 1999, but not that the Speaker should be made a sacrificial lamb of a not perfect situation she inherited.
The report said that due process was not followed, by the standards and practice of the National Assembly, due process was followed, but not as the panelist wanted. This is why they concluded that it was not completely followed. The implication is that there was a process of doing things before, which the Speaker and the management did not depart from in the award of these contracts.
Not that one is supporting corruption, but I would like to be shown where government had lost a kobo in the contract by the accusers of Madam Speaker, particularly, those calling for her resignation or impeachment.Time has come for us to stop playing on sentiments because we could not get what we want in an establishment, the panelists came up with grounds to buttress their submission that due process was not followed, but forgetting that since 1999, money had always been voted for maintenance of the National Assembly buildings.
Those calling for the prosecution of the speaker now have participated in allocating money for maintaining phase 1 and 2 of the National Assembly and we know what happened.
Has the Speaker been found guilty of inflating the contracts? No where in the reports was the poor woman found to have benefited from the contracts.
As I have said, I have read the report to see that the amount so far paid one of the contractors was covered by a bank bond, which means that the contracts if it was fully executed would have been secured.
It was not said in the report that the Speaker inflated the contracts. We have in the panel, professionals who should have known if the cost of the scope of works to be done was outrageous or not.
Panelists did a tidy job, but …
No doubt, the panelists did a good job, but I watched the Director of Legal Services of the National Assembly testifying that all the four companies that won jobs were registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission [CAC] and official of CAC came to confirm it, so where is then the basis to say that some of the contractors were not registered with the CAC?.
The long and short of the report is that it has brought into the open, the need to have in place a clear cut guidelines of how contracts should been awarded in future, not for the Speaker to be crucified as being done on the pages of newspapers by those who should know and those who did not know.
Etteh must be the judge on her case
When we resume on Tuesday, we shall debate the report, but I can assure you that nothing will happen to the Speaker, she is in firm control of majority of members that have seen that the underlining factors for her vilifications was borne out of selfish interest, rather than nationalistic interest.
Whether Madam Speaker should step down or not to allow for debate because she is involved, my view on that is that since those pushing for her removal are accusing her of not follow ing due process, which is the kernel of the conclusion of the Idoko panel, we shall canvass that the laws guiding the operations of the House be followed. That will be the real due process in action. Nobody can preside over the House when the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is on seat. This is what the law says.
Panel exonerated Speaker -Hon tam Brisbe
Having studied the Idoko report ahead of our debate on it, I conclude that the attacks on Madam Speaker and the call on her to resign her position did not arise. It is the cry of those who are not sincere and had been misinforming the public to conclude unjustly.
My candid view is that more information is still needed beyond the copy of the reports made available to us. I am saying this because of several unanswered questions that agitated my mind while perusing the report.
I think it is only fair because of the seriousness of the matter to be abreast of all facts that formed the backgrounds of the conclusions made by the panel, since the report is the working tools that would guide us in arriving at a destination on the issue.
From my understanding of the reports so far, I have not seen where the Speaker was indicted for wrong doings. That is why I don't see the need for her to resign, knowing fully well that there was no reason to commence impeachment moves against her.
House, a law unto itself
The conclusion arrived at by the panel did not say that the Speaker was guilty of any offence. I think that we are going to start the debate on the issue of Due process. Due process would be defined by members as it affects the National Assembly and not by any standard outside it.
Due process is according to whose guidelines?. The constitution has given the House of Representatives the power to run itself according to the rules it set out by itself. Lo and behold, due process that everybody is talking about which I think some of the panelists imported into making its conclusion was a creation of the Executive for the Executive.
The Judiciary has its self accounting mechanism. The Legislature has its own too. For the National Assembly that I know, I am yet to see its rules of awarding contracts for capital projects. All we can rely on is the submissions of the technocrats who testified before the panel and submitted that due process was complied with as far as the Assembly was concerned.
As far as I am concerned, due process was followed by Madam Speaker, which had been the methods used since 1999, except otherwise stated.
I think what the renovation contracts had brought into the open is that the House of Representatives did not have an established guidelines on how to do contracts, which should be our major concern to put in place a clear-cut ways of doing things and not to be looking for who to punish for the lapses in the system.
Tam Brisbe ruled out the possibilities of another brawl when the House resumes, saying that there was no reason for it as the rules guiding such a debate is well known by members and the need to conduct decorously on the floor.
Not withstanding, we are supposed to be honourable members in name and conduct, some had threw decorum away, but we would not allow such characters to further damage the name and reputation of the House.
After debate, we will caste our vote and I can assure you that I will vote in support of Madam Speaker because she has not done anything wrong on the contract issue.
I don't mind to repeat that my vote will be that the report did not indict the Speaker or anybody, including the management. What they have done was to follow the process they have been used to. I don't think the purpose of the panel was to look for a scapegoat because the issues had come out.
We should not look for a scapegoat in something all of us are guilty off. Because we had all condoned it since 1999, we should be looking for a way out of a wrong process, not to hold Madam Speaker for the mistakes of the past.
It is not fair to punish her for a law that was never in place, except the people against her are saying that we should go back to the years of military rule when retroactive laws are promulgated.
In politics, morality doesn't count
On whether Madam Speaker will step aside to pave way for t he opening of debate of the report, Brisbe said that such a decision would be determined by the House based on the rules guiding the operations of the House.
We shall be guided by our Standing rules, a motion could come up asking the Speaker to step aside for the appointment of Speaker Ex- Tempore, but that would be at the prerogative of the House if such a motion sailed through.
As for me, I don't see the need for the Speaker to vacate her seat, what for? It we are to follow due process, it has to be debated and decided on vote. For me, I cant' bring such motion, let those who are against her move such motion and we will caste our votes to decide.
Some might bring the issue of morality, arguing that she should not preside over the matters that she is involved. This is a good logic and I think it is also a norm in judiciary, but we are talking about politics, in politics, there is nothing like morality. This is why Etteh must remain Speaker of the House of Representatives.