Senate-Presidency rift: APC leadership to meet with upper chambers on Tuesday

April 3, 2017

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Sunday that it would meet with its Senate caucus on Tuesday to explore the resolution of the festering rift between the legislature and the executive.

Both organs of the federal government controlled by the party had developed a frosty relationship over some issues relating to appointments by the executive, including the nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari of Mr Ibrahim Magu who is now acting as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Twice the Senate declined to confirm Magu as the EFCC’s substantive chairman. But the president in defiance of the resolution of the upper legislative chamber retained the anti-corruption body’s boss in an acting capacity, leading to the Senate’s filibustering of the consideration of 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) nominated by the president to fill the vacancies in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the House of Representatives, some APC members are up in arms over the extension of the tenure of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr. Jamila Shuara, whose term of office lapsed February last year.

Worried by the worsening relationships, the party embarked on series of consultations with the key actors, hoping to resolve the growing impasse. It met with the House of Representatives caucus a forthright ago.

A statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the NWC led by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, would consult with the Senate caucus on Tuesday and work to end the rift.

The party expressed happiness with the committee set up by the president to look into the rift between his executive arm and the National Assembly.

“The party considers the committee headed by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as a step in the right direction, which demonstrates President Buhari’s recognition of the paramount importance of the legislative institution in a democracy,” it said.

It restated the commitment of the party leadership to ensure that the relationship between the two critical arms of government improves further, and commended the National Assembly leadership for its maturity and pre-disposition to have all the issues resolved as quickly as possible in the interest of the party and the nation as a whole.

The party, however, warned that it would not hesitate to take appropriate action against any member whose utterances or behaviour could jeopardise the peace initiatives.

On the outcome of the earlier meeting with the House of Representatives caucus, Abdullahi said the APC national chairman had used the opportunity of the meeting to plead with the House members to continue to support the Buhari administration even in the face of some of the expressed grievances which might be considered as genuine.

He said that the chairman also cautioned that the party would not support any member or anyone appointed on its platform to disrespect the legislature.

The party, according to sources, has also waded into the ongoing controversy over the elongation of the tenure of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Shuara.

The party, it was gathered, wants to prevail on its members in the House Committee on Education not to pursue her removal from office.

But some members of the House Committee alleged that the two-year tenure extension granted to Shuara was done by some high ranking officials of the federal government without the knowledge of Buhari.

Shuara, who was due for retirement from service when she clocked 60 in February 2016 has remained in her position as permanent secretary of the ministry, in contravention of extant public service rules.

She had told the House Committee that her tenure had been extended by the president, through a memo, but had been unable to produce a copy of the memo.

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who appeared at the March 9, 2017 meeting of the committee, to represent Shuara, even though he was not invited, had also told the committee that her tenure had been further extended for another one year, ‘in principle’ by the president, from February 24, 2017 to February 24, 2018. Adamu was also unable to produce the memo from the president for the first and second extensions.

The Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, also appeared before the committee on March 9, 2017 and told the lawmakers that she acted on a memo from the president to convey the extension to Shuara.

Oyo-Ita has also been unable to produce the said memo.

The committee, in its resolutions reached on Thursday said the president did not have the power to extend her tenure. The committee also directed Shuara to vacate the office with immediate effect, and refund all the salaries and allowances she had collected in the last one year.

It was gathered that the APC had, however, invited some of the members of the committee and cautioned that the unfolding controversy and attendant bad press, could embarrass the president.

Several members of the committee spoke off the record on the development.

Said one member: “Obviously the directive did not come from the president, because if it did, it would not be so difficult to produce a copy of the memo.

“If it is true that the president granted the tenure extension, we believe he has erred, because the regulations clearly spell out the period of anyone in public service: 35 years in service, or 60 years of age, whichever comes first.

“But they cannot even produce the letter or memo from the president extending her tenure, for whatever reasons.”

The lawmaker from the North-west added that the president was legally empowered to appoint Shuara into a political position if he considered her the best permanent secretary to have ever served in the history of this country.

But he said the president would have to follow the rules to do that.

Another member from the North-east, said that the committee could not be swayed by the intervention of the APC.

“Yes, we are the majority, but we have several members who are not with the APC,” he said, adding: “But that is not the issue. To make party affiliations a deciding factor in this matter would be unfair to all Nigerians, particularly those in the civil service who someday hope to rise to the top cadres.”

Another lawmaker said: “Nigerians are watching. Civil servants are watching. We are watching; our resolutions must be carried out: she should return the salaries and allowances collected in the last one year, and vacate the office. Let her go to court, after all Hameed Ali (Comptroller General of Customs) went to court to fight a Senate resolution.”

Reacting to the development, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, said the committee stood by its resolutions.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Mohammed said the issue was not a personal one, but was being pursued for the sake of posterity.

“When some people do not retire, how would there be career progression for others? Where lies equity and fairness? This is not personal, it is for the system to go on,” he said.