The National Assembly Show…

“I am for everybody and for nobody” – President Muhammadu Buhari, in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2015.

There is a Yoruba proverb which roughly translates thus: The younger wife, who rejoices at the assault on the older wife by their husband, fails to understand the transiency of her position. Four years ago, when Aminu Tambuwal rebelled against his ruling party’s high-handedness and authoritarian tendencies to emerge the “democratically” elected speaker of the House of Representatives, it was hailed by the then opposition as a victory for democracy. In fact, it was the opposition which helped him smoothen the rebellious operation.

Now, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APC) have switched role; the latter now the ruling party, when another Tambuwal/ Saraki rebellion was re-enacted earlier this week, guess who was crying foul…the new ruling party!     

The word ‘nascent’ is overused in our polity, this underscores the fact that we are building a democracy, and in a democracy, what has just played out at the National Assembly is a step in the right direction. Although many might argue that a politician’s first commitment is to the people, and their first loyalty to their party, the polity should at all times be ready and willing to challenge dogmatic status quos without violating the law. 

In Company Law, there is something called "lifting the corporate veil". This is the investigative means exposing those who run or own a company, so that in the event that there is a challenge, shareholders or affected parties are not disenfranchised and can seek justice. People who follow politics closely may be aware of what happened last Tuesday, but for the layman, I think it is important to break it down.

The APC is made up of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Political Change (CPC), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and NPDP, a break-off faction of the Peoples Democratic Party. President Buhari, riding on the sheer political goodwill of the masses, had over 12 million votes during the 2011 presidential election. He constituted huge political currency because he was regarded as an outstanding, truly patriotic fellow.

     

The ACN, under the command of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saw an opportunity. The cracks on the PDP walls were getting wider and wider, so much so that they became a den for various species of worm. At the party’s congress in Abuja in 2014, the walls finally gave way when the New PDP (or NPDP), led by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, held a parallel congress at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre. Having divided the once powerful Governors’ Forum.

It was this rainbow coalition that constituted the APC that worked to defeat former president Goodluck Jonathan and his warped PDP.    

Tinubu’s antecedence is not a secret. His quest for power has seriously stalled the aspirations of many on a merit basis as he has demanded loyalty to the Jagaban. The man has power and wealth, and, until Tuesday, an uncanny kind of cult loyalty. Tuesday’s event was a break from godfatherism but highlights to all of us what strange bedfellows the APC are. There are clearly various blocks with their individual aspirations. The President's very delicate job is to now ensure that what their unity has brought to pass will not now fall apart in sharing the spoils.

As it is, the leaderships of the National Assembly, Governors’ Forum, Presidency and even some states in his South West power base, are longer under the control of the ACN block. Groomed by the politically savvy late “Oloye”, his father, Bukola Saraki has succeeded in outfoxing the Jagaban himself. He has demonstrated that it is not business as usual and the party cannot just present a consensus or consensus candidates. I will not address any moral issues that may arise in this discussion. What is clear however is that democracy has won. Bukola Saraki clearly won the election and it seems to me that even if the missing APC senators were in that chamber, Saraki would still have won. After all, the party preferred candidates in the House of Representatives also lost.

It is great to have an independent legislature, which will not just do the bidding of the executive or the party. What is clear, from the perspective of a citizen, is that these guys are all co-conspirators.

The straw poll that the APC pretended to have and the fact that they called a meeting on the morning of the inauguration is very suspect of foul play. The comments of the president are very mature but he needs to understand that this is politics and he must call his “troops” to order if he is going to deliver on the promises he has made to us. I do not envy him.