Saraki’s ego fight is toxic politics, and must stop
I write this piece with no joy in my heart. But Nigeria faces perilous times, induced by wrong politics. Such times call for directness, not equivocation; for speaking truth to power, not showing misplaced deference towards leaders. And my bugbear is Bukola Saraki, Senate President, whose imperious, self-interested, self-validating and self-inflating politics is toxifying. It pushes my buttons, and should push yours, dear readers, that this country has such politicians whose only claim to political power and notability is a megalomaniacal ambition, borne out of a gilded background, unbridled self-confidence and a ferocious sense of entitlement.
Saraki occupies the third most important position in Nigeria, and would manoeuvre his way, if possible, to the first! Yet, over the past two years of the Buhari administration, his position as Senate President has undermined government effectiveness, detracted from good governance and desecrated the institution of the Senate. Put simply, Saraki’s influence on national politics has been generally negative; toxic, in fact! Where does one start from?
Let’s start with how he became Senate President – shall we? As many people still remember, Saraki breached party discipline by rejecting his party choice for Senate President, but, worse, he undermined the institution of the Senate by the treacherous, cloak-and-dagger, way he secured the position for himself. Knowing that majority of his party’s senators were against his candidacy, he waited until virtually all of them, 52 out of 60, including his main rival, had left the Senate chamber before staging a coup. He colluded with senators from the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, who elected him “unopposed”. If there is a world prize for political chicanery, Saraki would clinch it for the way he got himself elected “unopposed” following the disenfranchisement of his opponents.
Yakubu Dogara also defied the party line to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. But while Dogara subsequently made peace with his party through compromises on the allocations of other offices in the House, Saraki consolidated his power base, and set himself and the Senate up for a battle of will against the executive.
That battle intensified as Saraki faced corruption charges. The image of him looking flummoxed in the half-cage dock of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), labelled “Accused box”, was emblematic of the Buhari government’s anti-graft war. But, last month, he got off scot-free, sticking two fingers up at the government. For Saraki, the trial was politically motivated, linked to his breach of party discipline over the election of the Senate President. But for the government, Saraki has a case to answer. The government’s decision to appeal against Saraki’s acquittal, rather than accept the verdict, suggests that it believes it has a good case. But the appeal has sent Saraki and his supporters back to the trenches, ready for a showdown; ready to fight dirty!
Unsurprisingly, the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has become the proxy for the battle of will. The Senate has rejected Magu’s nomination twice on the basis that he was indicted by the Department of State Service (DSS) for alleged malfeasance. But the government has kept him in office in acting capacity, with the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, vowing that “Magu will be EFCC chairman as long as Buhari and I remain in office”. That seems like giving hostage to fortune. The Senate responded by passing a resolution insisting that Magu must be removed, and threatening to stop considering nominations from the executive until Magu’s removal. At the same time, some senators threatened to impeach Acting President Osinbajo, and two of Saraki’s staunch loyalists, Senators Eyinaya Abaribe and Kabiri Marafa, took the ridiculous step of moving a motion that Saraki should be made Acting President!
But let’s leave aside the shenanigans and mischiefs for the moment. Is the Senate right on the Magu issue? No, it’s not. And here are two reasons why. First, it’s disingenuous of Saraki to insist that Magu must be removed as acting chair of EFCC because of the DSS indictment, given that he himself refused to resign as Senate President when he faced an 18-count charge and became the first Senate President in Nigeria to have an arrest warrant issued against him. If the arrest and trial of a serving Senate President are not a resigning issue, what then are? The second reason why the Senate is wrong is that, according to the Constitution, it has no business approving the appointment of the EFCC chairman.
In my view, the principles of statutory interpretation support those like Femi Falana SAN, who have argued that the appointment of the EFCC chairman does not need the Senate’s confirmation. Section 171 of the Constitution states that the president can appoint and remove the “Head of any Extra-Ministerial Department”; and adds, for emphasis, “howsoever designated”. Now, an “extra-ministerial department” is defined as a “unit of government which function is independent of ministerial oversight”. The literal meaning and context of section 171 suggest that the EFCC is, as it should be, an extra-ministerial department, independent of ministerial oversight. If it’s not, that would be strange!
International practices also offer some insight. For instance, while the Director of the FBI is appointed by the US President and confirmed by the Senate, the Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the UK is appointed solely by the Attorney-General. But there is an important difference between the two. The FBI is an “agency” of government, and is supervised by the Department of Justice, and answerable to the Attorney General. However, the SFO is described as “a non-ministerial department”, and is not subject to ministerial oversight. The term used by the Constitution in section 171 is “extra-ministerial department”, which is similar to “non-ministerial department”, used in the UK, and what is common to both terms is that they refer to arm’s length bodies that are not subject to ministerial control. It seems to me that the EFCC fits the definition of an extra-ministerial department, and, in that light, the provision in the EFCC Act that requires the Senate to confirm the appointment of the chair of the EFCC is inconsistent with the provision of section 171 of the Constitution, and cannot stand.
That said, the indictment of Magu by the DSS, although not by a court or tribunal of competent authority, casts a shadow over his suitability for the critical role of chair of EFCC. What’s the government’s view about the indictment? Secondly, there is still a doubt about the independence of the EFCC. Is it both de jure and de facto an arm’s length body, free from interference by the executive? Can it operate independently without fear and without favour, regardless of whose ox is gored? For, if it’s not free from executive interference, if it’s not free from political bias, then it can’t be an “extra-ministerial department” within the context of section 171 of the Constitution, and the appointment of its chairman should be subject to parliamentary confirmation or independent scrutiny.
But, let’s be clear, the current tension between the Senate and the executive has nothing to do with the EFCC or good governance. Many of the senators are under investigations for corruption. So, this is not about the Senate being a bulwark against graft. Rather, it’s a proxy war between Saraki and the presidency. A headline in one newspaper reads: “Osinbajo vs Saraki: Who blinks first?”That’s what this is all about: an ego fight. The US Constitution tries to prevent such battle of egos by making the vice president the president of the Senate. And when Newt Gringrich, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, engaged in an ego fight with President Bill Clinton in 1995/96, leading to Government shutdown, he paid dearly for it. Executive constraints are part of democracy, and legislators must hold the executive to account. But legislative scrutiny must not morph into a battle of egos. Yet personal ambitions are driving Saraki and his loyalists to cross that line. That’s toxic politics. It must stop!
Olu Fasan