I have studied with unimaginable awe the unraveling drama that has beclouded the appointment of an acting Clerk to the National Assembly and must state that this is not one of the best moments for the nation's legislative arm.
Since the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly its leadership has tried to struggle out one crisis situation from another not with the attempt of the executive which promised to ensure the independence of other arms of government making a u turn of its pledge and attempting foist its choice against that of leadership.
The latest field of play for their intrigues and petty scheming now is on the appointment of an acting Clerk to the National Assembly a position which based on the bureaucratic strata in place at the Assembly, should have been fluid. But the fluidity in appointing an acting CNA has been stalled by the inordinate determination of one man to foist his ignoble choice on the National Assembly.
Recall that the Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation a non governmental organisation had while reacting to the imbroglio at the National Assembly accused the Chairman of the Commission of lying when he said all the Commissioners had supported his memo that Mohammed Sani Omolori clek of the House of Representatives be appointed ahead of Ben Efeturi the current Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly as acting Clerk to the National Assembly.
The position of the Niger Delta Renaissance was reiterated by a letter written by seven out of the 12 Commissioners in the Commission on April 26th which distanced the Commissioners from Fika's attempt to rubber stamp Omolori as acting CNA.
The Commissioners had insisted that Ben Efeturi is the most senior and should assume the position of acting CNA buttressing the position of Sen. Bukola Saraki who had insisted on seniority as basis for assumption of office of acting CNA a position which Fika punctured in his response to Saraki through a letter dated 21st April 2006 where he employed an incredible array of mendacious manipulations.
One lie which Fika told which exposed him was on the number of those who voted for his memo to install Omolori. This has already been quashed by the letter of the Commissioners dissociating themselves from him. Another lie Fika told was when he said Omolori is senior to Efeturi considering that he was appointed into senior cadre position before Efeturi. This is another lie whose motive can not be comprehended because record shows that Efeturi is clearly his senior and that Fika distorted information by saying that Omolori was appointed Deputy Director on 1st January 2003 instead of 2005. The trail of lies does not end there especially when one considers his attempt to mislead the Senate President and the leadership of the National Assembly when he stated that civil service rules preclude a civil servant who has six months to retire from being appointed into office. It is either Adamu Fika is just being mischievous or lacks proper interpretation of the section he quoted to justify his illegality. The position of acting Clerk to the National Assembly is not an appointment. It is rather a promotion. Efeturi assuming the position is based on the fact that he is the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly and it is on an acting capacity and not substantive as Fika is wont to insinuate.
As I write this opinion, I wonder what the role of our anti corruption agencies are. Why they have failed to look into the corrupt tendency (ies) of the Chairman of the Commission to distort facts. I had thought that considering the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party PDP had also openly accused the Chairman of the Commission of having received bribe, they would have investigated the allegation considering the dust the crisis has raised in the country.
The attempt to foist any other person outside Efeturi on the National Assembly will amount to nothing other than an ignoble attempt to cause disaffection within the fold of the National Assembly management employing a fiendish and disgusting tactics and this will only end up laying down an ugly precedence that will be detrimental to the stability of the National Assembly. This is what Sen. Saraki in his wisdom is trying to stop and if Fika and his backers whoever they are or whatever intention they have fail to understand this then it is indeed so sad for the country.
Davidson Madu wrote in from the National assembly
Davidson Madu wrote in from the National assembly