Dynamics of Kogi’s ministerial slot

Umaru Yar’AduaIn this report, Taiwo Adisa takes a foray into the intrigues that are unfolding in the efforts to fill Kogi State’s ministerial slot in the federal cabinet.

Just as in many of the states of the federation, the implementation of the Federal Character principle has come with many challenges in Kogi State.

Those who invented the principle in the Nigerian constitution took a deep look at the configuration of the states and the Nigerian entity as a whole. Before the coming into place of the country called Nigeria, there were city states, kingdoms and all kinds of traditional administrative systems operating in the lands that are today grouped together as states and local governments under the Nigerian federation. There are also different languages and dialects to showcase the diversities that characterise the country.

In view of that reality, there can be no other guarantee for protection of minority, or the week against domination other than the Federal Character principle. Thus, during ministerial screenings, the most popularly quoted section of the constitution is Section 14(3), which guarantees the right of every group in a state and the federation to what is commonly referred to as the national cake.

Section 14(3) reads: “The composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby, ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, was to be the first victim of the application of the section during the last ministerial screening exercise in the Senate. Senators from his native Abia State, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, had petitioned the Senate President, Senator David Mark, alleging that the provisions of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution had been violated in nominating Maduekwe as a minister.

The Senators contended that Abia North, where Maduekwe hails from, had been represented in government since 1999, while Maduekwe himself had been recycled in governance. The Abia protest was eventually settled on the altar of politics and Senators Abaribe and Nkechi Nwaogu withdrew the petition following some interventions.

During the ministerial screening proper, the Kogi dimension was added to the cry of sectional marginalisation on the Senate floor when Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP Kogi West) rose to oppose the nomination of Mr. Gabriel Adukwu.

He declared that justice and fairness should remain the hallmarks of a true democratic system, adding that the nomination of Adukwu would further marginalise his people of Kogi West. To the Senator, Adukwu was well qualified for the post of a minister, but that the nomination amounted to the perpetuation of Kogi East in public office against the dictates of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The Senator spoke vehemently and insisted that he would not be seen as a good representative of the people of Kogi West Senatorial District, if he woul sit in the chamber and allow injustice to be perpetrated in the name of marginalisation. Senator Adeyemi’s voice was echoed by a Senator of the Action Congress (AC) Senator Otaru Ohize, who represents Kogi Central. The AC Senator also insisted that the marginalisation of his people would have been completed if Adukwu was made a minister.

Somehow, an accord was reached among the warring parties. The Senate President, Senator Mark, was said to have led the peace parley for the Kogi warlords, and an agreement was reached that the spate of marginalisation would cease. The complaint from the state has been that Kogi East has cornered most of the political appointments including the seat of the governor and other federal appointments.

Another variant of the marginalisation blues was to play out shortly after the nullification of the re-elected governor of Kogi state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, when the acting governorship seat went to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Clarence Olafemi, who hails from Kogi West.

Though the period of an acting governor was short, the people of Kogi West saw the need to protect that seat in their area for the period it was to last constitutionally. That was why concerted efforts were pulled together to ensure that the AC candidate who had taken Olafemi to election tribunal withdrew his case from the tribunal.

Senator Adeyemi, who initiated the effort had called the parties to a meeting in his office in Abuja and when the effort did not yield the desired fruits, based on the counter pressure mounted on the AC candidate by his party, some leaders of the area took a fresh case to the Abuja High Court, seeking to throw away the initial ruling of the election tribunal nullifying Olafemi’s election. The people appeared vindicated when the Appeal Court upheld Olafemi’s election and upturned the verdict of the election tribunal.

For a people who have shown such level of bonding, it is expected that each time they talk of marginalisation, there will be passion and outpouring of emotions. And that is the case with regards to the quest for the next ministerial slot from Kogi State.

The stage was set when Mr. Gabriel Adukwu got his name into the list of suspects in the N300 million Health Ministry scam, which led to his resignation as Minister of State and that of the substantive Minister, Prof. Adenike Grange. Before then, another scenario had played out in the Senate. It was at the screening of presidential nominees for the Federal Character Commission (FCC).

Senator Adeyemi was at the centre of activities again as he heads the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs which has the duty to screen the nominees and recommend them for Senate confirmation. Notwithstanding the said agreement and the hell raised by Senators from Kogi West and Kogi Central during the ministerial screening, the name of Alhaji Sule Yagi, a former deputy governor in the old Benue State, was forwarded as the nominee from the state.

The scenario provided a perfect setting for Senator Adeyemi to make his point, just as his people flooded the committee with petitions. There were ten petitions against the nominee and it was obvious that the screening by the Senate Committee was going to witness some drama. While most of the petitions against Yagi described his nomination as a further attempt to marginalise other parts of Kogi, Senator Adeyemi and Senator Ohize also raised objections against him.

Somehow, Yagi scaled the Committee hurdle and it was a surprise to many. It was later gathered that another peace parley between the warring Kogi parties was said to have done the magic. This time, it was said that the parties agreed to end the marginalisation once and for all and that the next federal appointment would go to the people of Kogi West. That was the setting as at last week, when the new twist crept in. The former chairman of the PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, who dropped off the ambassadorial ladder is said to be angling to get nominated as the ministerial nominee from Kogi State.

Ali, just like Adukwu, Yagi and the governor are from Kogi East. It is clear that a collision is in the offing and an open war could be witnessed between the people of Kogi East and their compatriots in Kogi West and Central Districts. Although President Umaru Yar’Adua is yet to present names of ministerial nominees who will replace the dropped ministers to the Senate for confirmation, it has been gathered that the president was waiting to dissolve his cabinet ahead of the May 29 first anniversary of his government.

Even at that, a group said to be sympathetic to Ali’s cause was said to have met last week to strategise on how to make the former PDP national chairman a minister. If Ali’s name does surface on the Senate floor for confirmation as a minister, Senator Smart Adeyemi and his counterpart from Kogi Central, Senator Ohize, will have their hands full. Some sentiments will come into play, including those who would want Ali cleared, being a former chairman of the PDP which has a convenient two-thirds majority of the Senate chamber. But then, the relevance of Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution will also be put to test and it will be interesting to see how events will unfold.