Mar 30 2010

At Senate ministerial screening…Kanti to Akunyili:‘You cooked food for Turai’

Written by Abdul-Rahman Abubakar & Turaki A. Hassan:

Akunyili: ‘No, I didn’t’

The first day of the Senate screening of ministerial nominees in Abuja recorded high drama and much excitement yesterday when Senate Chief Whip Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello (PDP, Katsina North), accused former Information and Communications Minister Professor Dora Akunyili of being part of the cabal that allegedly hijacked affairs of state in the absence of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. He said Akunyili was at one time very close to the Yar’adua family and that she went so far as to cook food for the First Lady Hajia Turai Yar’adua in order to ingratiate herself with the First Lady.
Senator Kanti Bello strongly condemned Mrs. Akunyili for alleging that a cabal was ruling the country due to Yar’adua’s illness. He said, “You were a very close friend to President Yar’adua and his family and I know that from your background as a pharmacist you have been preparing some nice dishes for Madam and you were a member of the ‘Cabal’ you referred to. Based on these, do you think what you have done is to the best, in your knowledge, intended to foster unity of this country or an attempt to disunite the country?”
In her response, Akunyili denied ever cooking dishes for Hajia Turai. She said, “Sir, I never cooked for Madam. I was not in any way part of the cabal. I want to state here very clearly that President Umaru Yar`adua my boss, my big brother, and he remains my brother and everybody knows that he is a fine gentleman and with beautiful spirit and I am loyal to him.”
Senator Kanti Bello’s heated questions and Akunyili’s response threw the Senate into a rowdy session, with several senators talking at the same time, and Senate President David Mark had a hard time restoring order to the chamber. At one point, Mark stood up, and he said, “Once the Senate President is standing, everybody must stop talking. This is the first time I am standing up as Senate President.”
In the midst of the rowdy session, at 5.50pm, Senate Leader Teslim Folarin moved a motion for extension of time so that the Senate would sit beyond 6pm, but the motion was shouted down. This forced Akunyili to round up her appearance peremptorily, after a much shorter time spent on the Senate floor than the first two nominees.
Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Chief Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN, who was screened just before Akunyili, had an easier time, though he was asked many important questions. He was asked by Senator Garba Yakubu Lado [PDP, Katsina South] to explain if the ‘doctrine of necessity’ relied upon by the Senate to transfer full presidential powers from ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to Acting President Goodluck Jonathan had any constitutional backing. Kayode defended the principle, saying it is an international principle adopted to be able to be able to wriggle out of tight situations when there is a lacuna in the law. He also praised the National Assembly for adopting the principle, saying it was first used in Nigeria in 1973.
Kayode said, “It is a matter of necessity to make progress and move forward and the doctrine is not our creation but an international creation. It was first applied in Uganda in the early 60s and we have applied it before in Nigeria. And what it means is that when there is a vacuum within the law, just jump over that bridge to make sure you do the right thing and there is a ruling in the Senate few weeks ago but some of us who studied the doctrine of necessity believed that it was rightly applied for the right thing to be done for the country to move forward and I think the whole of Africa would be grateful to the Senate for the application of that doctrine in that circumstance.”
Soon after yesterday’s screening, Daily Trust learnt that several senators had earlier expressed opposition to Akunyili’s nomination and have vowed to stop her confirmation. Her confirmation is likely to divide senators along the lines of pro and anti-Yar’adua.
However, one of the staunch anti-Akunyili senators told Daily Trust last night that the emotion expressed by Senator Kanti Bello during screening of Akunyili gave her a soft landing. He said, “Most of us were prepared to really grill her, but the way he (Kanti) started with emotion as if it was a personal issue gave her soft landing. You can see now she answered only one question and when senators refused to support extension of time, she just took a bow and left. I will surely vote against her confirmation.”
He also said Akunyili is through with the screening because “if you want to bring her back now, it must come through a substantive motion supported by majority senators.” On whether the controversial Professor of Pharmacy will scale the screening, another senator said, “I will not vote for her, but I will tell you that the voting could be affected by this National Interest Group (NIG) in the Senate. The issue is not about region; there are several southern senators that are against Akunyili and there are some Northern senators that I know will vote for her.”
As yesterday’s Senate session was ending, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu summoned a meeting of the South East Caucus. Senator Annie Okonkwo (PDP, Anambra) said, “There is no need for campaign for her (Akunyili) because she is qualified. Her record speaks for her, she has done good works in the past for Nigeria and I know she will be confirmed.”
The first ministerial nominee to face screening, Mrs. Fidelia Akuabata Njeze said the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources has commenced the process of disbursing N200 billion agriculture loans to farmers. She said the problem of the agriculture sector in the country was as result of poor packaging of agricultural products.
The screening continues today with the re-appointed ministers being screened first.  They include Mr. John Odey, Alhaji Isa Bio, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke, Mr. Godsay Orubebe, Mr. Remi Babalola, Senator Alabi Olasukanmi and Mr. Humphrey Abah.
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday sent 5 additional ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
Reading a correspondence from the Acting President, Senate President David Mark announced the names of 4 re-appointed nominees and 1 new nominee.
The re-appointed nominees are former Minister of Transport, Ibrahim Isa Bio (Kwara), former minister of state finance, Mr. Aderemi Babalola (Oyo), former minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey (Cross River) and Barrister Humphrey Enemaku Abah (Kogi).
The new ministerial nominee is Mr. Sam Ode from Benue state who is a Special Adviser to Governor Gabriel Suswan.
This brings the number of ministerial nominees so far sent to the Senate to 38. They are expected to join in the screening exercise that commenced yesterday.

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Mar 30 2010

Akunyili: I’m Loyal to President Yar’Adua… I’m Loyal to Nigeria

From Kunle Akogun and Sufuyan Ojeifo:

• Jonathan sends 5 more nominees to Senate

There was a blend of agitation and drama yesterday when the role of former Information and Communication Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, in the dissolved cabinet of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua came under focus in the Senate.

It all happened during her screening by the upper legislative chamber as a prospective returnee-minister.
Senate Chief Whip and arrow head of the pro-Yar’Adua men in the Senate, Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello, put Akunyili at her wits’ end, saying her role was divisive and against national unity.

Bello’s question tended to portray the former minister as a traitor “cooking dishes” for First Lady Turai Yar’Adua only to allegedly move against the family.
In her response, which came amid bouts of rowdiness in the Senate, Akunyili defended herself, saying, “I’m loyal to him (President Yar’Adua), I’m loyal to the constitution and I’m very loyal to the country, Nigeria.”
At the height of President Yar’Adua’s prolonged absence from the country on medical ground, Akunyili had written a memo to members of the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF), asking for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to be empowered.

She also granted a series of interviews to some newspapers and television stations where she alluded to a cabal in the Presidency holding the country down.
Yesterday, Akunyili was the third and last nominee to appear before the upper legislative house on the first day of the screening that may extend beyond the next two days.
Meanwhile, Acting President Jonathan has forwarded the names of five more ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation, bringing the total to 38 now before the upper chamber.

Senate President David Mark read Jonathan’s letter under announcement.
Four of the nominees who were members of the dissolved cabinet are former Minister of Environment, John Odey; former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Aderemi Babalola; former Minister of Transport, Hon. Ibrahim Isa Bio; and former Minister of State for Commerce, Mr. Humphrey Abbah.
The fifth nominee representing Benue State is Special Adviser to the state Governor Gabriel Suswam on Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Sam Odeh.
Of the 14 nominees slated for screening yesterday, only four – former Minister of State for Agriculture, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), and Akunyili – were screened.

But Akunyili’s screening, which ended yesterday’s session, turned dramatic when Senator Bello (PDP, Katsina North) rose to ask her questions.
He questioned her nationalism and patriotism against the backdrop of the role she played as Information Minister.
Bello questioned her claim of the existence of a cabal in the Presidency, wondering how she could not have been a member of the cabal when she identified with the First Family and, in fact, was a very close friend of the First Lady Turai Yar’Adua.

Attempts by Senator Lee Maeba (PDP, Rivers South-east) to block Bello’ s question through a point of order were frustrated by the Senate President who clarified Bello’s question and refocused Akunyili on the specific issue she was asked to address.
After an initial rowdy session on the floor, Akunyili said: “I want to state here very respectfully that I have always tried my best to be a nationalist right from when I was in NAFDAC.

“I worked for the whole country. The people that were supposed to be involved in drug counterfeiting were actually my own people. But I did not spare them because of my interest in Nigeria as a nation and the Nigerian people as my own people.”
Some senators applauded her; some others murmured their disapproval of the statement.
Then Akunyili continued: “Then coming to the cabal, Senator Kanti Bello mentioned…
Distinguished senator said that I was supposed to be part of the cabal and he went on to say that I was cooking dishes for Madam (Turai).  Sir, I never cooked for Madam (Turai).”

Mark interjected, saying “That bit is not part of the question.”
Akunyili went on: “Thank you Sir,” adding, “Again, I was not in any way part of the cabal and I want to state here very clearly that President Yar’Adua is my boss, my big brother. And everybody knows he is a fine gentleman and with beautiful spirit, but when we started having issues in the system; when we started having problems, I decided…”
It was at this point that some senators became somewhat rowdy again; forcing the Senate President to stand on his feet and to repeatedly hit the gavel on the table to call the house to order.

Mark cited Order 63 of the Senate Standing Rules (2007 as Amended), which states inter alia: “Whenever the President of the Senate or the Chairman rises during a debate, any senator then speaking or offering to speak shall sit down and the Senate or the committee shall be silent so that the President of the Senate or the Chairman may be heard without interruption.”
According to him, “For those who are new on the floor here, once the President of the Senate stands up, you must stop talking.  Let me just remind everybody that we must conduct ourselves in a responsible manner.

“We are on live television; whatever your views, you have an opportunity to express it.  This is the first time that I would stand up as the President of the Senate.  I would not want this to happen again.  We have got a nominee in our front here.  We must conduct ourselves properly, please.”
Facing Akunyili, he directed her to wind up on the question she was answering.
Akunyili responded: “Consequent upon my close relationship with Mr. President, when he became ill, I organised a fast with my workers and my household and the Director-General of the FRCN was part of the fast.

“I also booked 90 days Novena mass for him in Saint Leo’s Parish, Ikeja, when he went to the hospital. This can be cross-checked.  That shows you that I have nothing against our President.  I am loyal to him; I am loyal to the Constitution and I am very loyal to the country-Nigeria.”
She wanted to continue, but the Senate President ended it for her, though the rowdiness on the floor also continued.
Mark, at this point, thanked her and asked her to take a bow.

As Akunyili was leaving the chamber, she went in the direction of Bello and greeted the senator.
The former minister’s screening is to continue this morning in the same Committee of the Whole Senate.
Earlier, former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Kayode told the Senate that the Acting President had already given approval for the establishment of dedicated courts to deal with the cases of corruption in the country.

He said the four weeks he assumed duties at the ministry before the dissolution of the cabinet afforded him the opportunity to undertake wide consultation on the issue.
Kayode said: “On the problem facing the management of corruption or anti-corruption cases, immediately I was made the Minister of Justice and Attorney- General of the Federation, I consulted quickly on this matter and it occurred to me that we have two basic problems.

“One, these cases are so important that they ought to be heard in dedicated courts; that is even if it is to be on a six–monthly basis; we must have dedicated courts thrashing out these matters rather than a judge who is taking libel case, land case, divorce case is also in the same cause list taking these matters as a normal business of the day.
“Actually, there is an approval by government, by the Acting President, to have a dedicated court for these corruption cases, especially in cases of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), which is the higher profile of the corruption matters.  That is the name the EFCC uses.

“Secondly, we need to do something about our rules. I know this red chamber has been trying to do something about reforming the Evidence Act.  We need to move very quickly on that.
“But also importantly, our Criminal Procedure rules, with all due respect, are archaic.  They relate to the past not to the future.”
He added: “I believe that the Court of Appeal can also help because many of us who are lawyers, we ask for a lot of interlocutory applications, some of them interlocutory appeals; some of them stay of proceedings pending appeals.”

Kayode said the concern really was how to get out of the corruption matrix, stressing, “I believe that we are just looking at one side of it because there is a limit to what criminal law can do.  We all know that criminal law does not say thou shall not steal; it does not say that if you steal, you would not be punished.
“So, we need to find a way to bring the issue of reorientation because it is very critical and it is larger than criminal law.  The first aspect of it is blocking the loopholes, strengthening the system and making sure that once a system is beaten, we should plug that hole.”

He maintained that throwing the criminal law at it would not achieve much.
Kayode tasked the National Assembly to review all the process of governance in order to plug as many loopholes as possible.
Former Minister of State for Agriculture, Njeze, during her appearance, answered question on the N200-billion Agricultural Credit Loan.

She said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was managing, while the ministry was providing the institutional framework, adding that the first tranche of N100 billion had actually been released.
She said that the loan was meant to be recovered from the beneficiaries.
Njeze stated that N40 billion was earmarked as Commercial Agricultural Credit to small scale farmers and would be given out through the state governments.
The screening of the remaining 35 nominees already before the Senate would continue this morning in the Committee of the Whole Senate.

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Mar 30 2010

Uproar as Senate screens Akunyili, Kayode, Njeze

By John Alechenu and James Azania:

There was an uproar in the Senate on Monday during the screening of ministerial nominees by members of the upper arm of the National Assembly.

The screening had began smoothly with Mrs. Fidelia Njeze and Chief Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) but when it got to the turn of Prof. Dora Akunyili, the atmosphere changed with Senator Kanti Bello accusing her of exhibiting divisive tendencies shortly before the return of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia.

“I thought you were nationalistic and close to the cabal( in the Presidency) but your views tended to be divisive, and if you looked at Sections 15 and 20 of the 1999 Constitution, your actions as a minister would portray you as being divisive,” he told Akunyili in a near combative form.

Sensing that Bello’s attack could scuttle the exercise, the President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, reminded him that he was expected to ask direct questions.

The senator then calmed down a bit but when he began to speak again, he fired another salvo at Akunyili, a former Minister of Information and Communications, by restating that her actions were not aimed at uniting the country.

“Your actions did not seem to unite the country. You called some people a cabal but you were a part of it,” the visibly angry Bello added.

The senator also claimed that he had information that Akunyili was so close to the Yar’Adua’s household that she cooked meals for the First Lady, Turai.

He added that the former minister was not eligible for the post because there were claims of over-concentration of federal appointments in the Anambra Central District, where Akunyili hails from.

At this point, tempers ran high and Senators began to speak up depending on which side of the divide they belonged.

Senator Lee Maeba obviously trying to save Akunyili from further attacks raised a point of Order, asking that Bello should not impute improper motive to the nominee.

The session became rowdy, prompting the President of the Senate, Mr David Mark, to stand up to call the Senators to order.

Mark said, “For those (senators) who are new on the floor here, whenever the President of the Senate stands up, you must stop talking, let me just remind everybody please. We must conduct ourselves in a manner…we are on live television.

“Whatever views you have, you have an opportunity to express them; and this is the first time I am going to stand up as the President of the Senate. I wouldn’t want this to happen again. We have got a guest, a nominee, in our midst and we must conduct ourselves properly, please, whatever our views.”

While answering Bello’s question, Akunyili said, “He(Bello) said that I was cooking dishes for Madam. Sir, I never cooked for Madam.

“Again, I was not in any way part of the cabal. I want to state here very clearly that President Yar’Adua, my boss, my big brother …well he remains my brother, and everybody knows he is a fine gentleman with a beautiful spirit.

“But when we started having issues in the system, when we started having problems, I …I decided… (murmurings get louder).

“When he (Yar’Adua) became ill, I organised a fast of my workers and my household and the Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation was part of the fast.

“I also booked 90 days Novena masses for him in St Leos Parish, Ikeja. It can be crosschecked, when he went to the hospital. So that shows you that I have nothing against our President. I am loyal to him, I am loyal to the Nigerian constitution, and I am very loyal to the country — Nigeria. What I did ….”

After Mark spoke, the Senate Majority Leader, Mr. Teslim Folarin, moved for the Senate to extend the screening beyond 6pm.

Three times, the President of the Senate asked his colleagues if they should do so and three times they answered “No.”

Akunyili later numerated some of her achievements in the information ministry to include the digitalisation of national television stations, which she said would be fully operational by 2012; establishment of a website; and the Nigeria Rebrand project.

After her presentation, Mark asked her to take a bow after which the Senate adjourned at exactly 6pm.

Before, Njeze was screened, there was a minor stir in the Senate when a member drew his colleagues’ attention to a publication in a national daily (not THE PUNCH) that some senators received $100,000 each to ensure that some ministerial nominees did not scale through.

The senator, Alhaji Garbo Lado, had raised a Point- of- Order on the allegation that a number of senators distributed the money to some of their colleagues.

The President of the Senate sustained the Order but said he was unaware that any senator received such money.

Mark said, “It (allegations) is totally unfortunate. I have not received $100,000; no Senator has recieved or distributed $100,000.”

He added that such allegation would not help the system and appealed to the media to remember that they (media) were an important part of the democratic process.

Njeze, a nominee from the Enugu State, had advocated the setting up of a drug mart to check the influx of fake and substandard drugs into the country.

She observed that most countries of the World had a drug mart with which they were able to control, to a large extent, the quality of drugs that reached the populace.

“Every country has drug marts where they check the quality of drugs, even drugs manufactured in their country pass through this drug mart before they go the public,” Njeze said.

In response to a question by Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who expressed worry over the poor implementation of government policies under the dissolved Federal Executive Council, she blamed the frequency of change in government policy for the anomaly.

She explained that policy reversals had not helped the system, in the sense that each time a new person came on board he/she would reverse a policy to suit his style even when such reversals were clearly unnecessary.

“Policy reversals have caused a lot of problems for us in the system. A new person comes in and before you know it, he changes the policy,” she said.

She gave an undertaking not to reverse any policy that was good if she returned as a FEC member.

At best, she advised that minor adjustments could be made where necessary to strengthen existing policies to achieve the desired results.

While responding to a question over the quality of fertiliser pumped into the Nigerian market, she explained that during her time as minister of state in the Ministry of Water Resources, efforts were made to ensure that Nigerians got the best.

Before the screening of the three nominees ended, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan sent a fresh list of five ministerial nominees to the Senate. With the five names, the number of nominees before the Senate is now 38.

The new list consists of four former ministers and one new one.

They are former Minister of State for Commerce, Mr. Humphrey Abbah (Kogi State); former Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey (Cross River); former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola (Oyo); former Minister of Transport, Mr. Isa Bio (Kwara); and Mr. Samuel Odey (Benue).

Until his nomination, Samuel Odey was Special Adviser, Local Government Affairs to Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam.

During his screening, Kayode said that in an effort to reinvigorate the anti-corruption war, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, had given approval to a frame work to establish special courts to deal with corruption related cases.

Kayode, who is the Ondo State ministerial nominee, said the Acting President was also concerned about the state of the anti-corruption war and had given his support to efforts aimed at making it effective.

He was responding to a question by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba SAN, who expressed the view of that Nigerians were disillusioned because the anti-corruption war had lost steam.

Kayode said “We must have a dedicated court even if it means they have to sit every six months to deal with anti-corruption cases especially as it relates to politically exposed persons.”

He also stressed the need for the National Assembly to move quickly in these areas by passing legislation that would speed up the process.

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