Date: 2012-05-27

Three principal officers of the Kwara State House of Assembly were removed last week. SUCCESS NWOGU writes that some stakeholders believe their removal was undemocratic

The recent replacement of the Majority Leader, Abraham Ashaolu, representing Oke-Ero constituency; Deputy Majority Leader, Abdulfatai Salman, representing Ilorin North-West constituency; and the suspended Chief Whip, Iliasu Ibrahim, who represents Ipaiye/Malete/Oloru constituency by the Kwara State House of Assembly re-echoed the rumpus in the House.

Ibrahim was replaced by Audu Seidu from Edu constituency while Abdul-Ganiyu representing Share/Oke-Ode constituency replaced Ashaolu. Salman was replaced by Saadu Tanke from Ilorin- South constituency.

Although the Kwara State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Yemi Afolanya, said the development was not a fallout of Ibrahim's letter against the Speaker, Rasaq Atunwa, many observers of Kwara politics believed it was.

Ibrahim had in the letter, addressed to Atunwa through the Clerk of the House, complained about the Speaker's leadership style.

"Indeed, ours must be leadership by example.  Unfortunately, your (Atunwa) attitude and general conduct in the management of the affairs of the Assembly has been one of disappointment and regret because you (Atunwa) have been so power-intoxicated and arrogant that you have no respect for the views and feelings of anybody on important matters of the House," part of the letter read.

He alleged that Atunwa awarded an N18m contract and signed an agreement with his

(Atunwa's) legal/consulting firm to handle the renovation of the Assembly complex.

The former Chief Whip also accused the Speaker of purchasing flat screen television sets and various electrical gadgets worth several millions of naira without recourse to the principal officers. He added that they were done without appropriate documentation by the Tender Committee, among other allegations.

The House Committee on Ethics, Privileges, Public Service and Judiciary was then asked to investigate the allegations and it turned out its findings within one week. 

The speed with which the committee carried out the investigation was such that some Kwara residents said if the House or government had been conducting official business with such alacrity, a lot would have been achieved in the state.

In a session that lasted from 10am to 8pm last Thursday, the committee Chairman, Mr. Kamadeen Fagbemi said the committee found Atunwa innocent of all the 18 allegations made against him by Ibrahim.

The committee said there was no evidence of the award of any contract by the Speaker and that no contract was single-handedly awarded by Atunwa since the inception of the 7th legislature.

It stressed that there was no N18m contract for clearing the Assembly complex but noted that the House entered into an agreement with Sole Mart Clearing Firm to clean the complex for N500, 000 per month for one year which was renewable upon the performance of the firm.  It added that the firm was not Atunwa's.

The House presided over by Deputy Speaker, Mohammed Yisa, later adopted the whole report and recommendation. It cleared Atunwa of any infraction and subsequently suspended Ibrahim for three months for falsely accusing Atunwa.

An obviously elated Atunwa reiterated his innocence, insisting on his integrity, financial transparency and managerial acumen.

"I realise that in Nigeria today, when you attempt to correct the maladjustments within the system, you will meet resistance along the way. To think that people will not attack you because you are a good person is like believing a lion will not attack you because you are a vegetarian.  This is one such instance," Atunwa said.

Although Iliasu later tried to appease the party hierarchy and the state PDP's leader, Dr. Bukola Saraki, he was not successful.

However, Afolanya in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the party decided to re-engineer the leadership of the House for better performance.

Although he noted that the sacked officials were performing well, he said there was the need for an enhanced performance.

He said, "If one is doing well, there is room for improvement. The party's leaders felt that there should be improvement in the performance of the House.

"It is not fallout of the letter by Ibrahim against Atunwa because the House has its rules and the party has its own.

"In any case, party positions like the chief whip, majority leader and deputy majority leader are party decisions. They are not positions contested on the floor of the House and they are not officials sworn in on the floor of the House. It is purely a party matter."

A social critic and President, Afonja Descendants Union, Ilorin, however chided the House and the PDP for the action they took.

He said, "We want a free election.  If election is free, we will have people of opposing views in the House and debates will be vibrant. If there is proper democracy, all these things would not have happened.

"The House is teleguided from outside.  It is what the executive and the party leadership want.   The Assembly is a mere assemblage of the mind of the Executive and the party leadership. The executive determines what the House should debate and the direction of the debate in the Assembly. The people they do not want, they can easily send them away.

"There is no democracy in Kwara yet.  If there is no democracy in the House, then there is no democracy in the state yet."

Similarly, the Vice-President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Mr. Taiwo Otitolaye, said the House was being run like a dynasty.

He said, "The accusations must not be swept under the carpet.  There cannot be smoke without fire.  We call for the full investigation of what transpired and the hasty approach of the sack of the Chief Whip.

"We call on opinion leaders, men and women of conscience to rise against what happened. Some people cannot be running the state like a personal estate.  The earlier Kwara people realised that their destiny lies in their hands and not that of God fathers, the better for the generations to come."

Also reacting to the matter, the Chairman, Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Rafiu Balogun said Ibrahim could be punished if he had maligned Atunwa.

But he stated that punishing or removing the two other principal officers would be wrong if they were not given fair hearing and if wrong doing was not established against them.

"If they were victimised, it is too bad for our democracy. PDP is the political party that appoints principal officers and they can also remove them. However, it will be wrong of the House to remove the two other principal officers without proper investigation."