David Ugolor, Executive Director of African Network for Economic Justice (ANEEJ), a popular economic group, speaks on a number of issues affecting the polity, in this interview with Special Correspondent, TITUS OISE
Crisis in Edo House of Assembly
David Ugolor,
It is really unfortunate that this is happening. All these are obviously pre-presidential election problems. You know very well that as we are preparing for the presidential election next year, we expect this kind of thing happening across the country, especially in areas where the ruling party may probably not win. So, there is that tendency. It is not only in Edo; it is also happening in Rivers State. That is what is on-going in Adamawa and what happened pre-election in Ekiti. Before now in Edo, you would agree with me that there was relative peace and, to a large extent, there had been development in the last six years.
If you put all these together, you would agree with me that the recent crisis in the Edo State House of Assembly has relationship with the presidential election. We in the civil society have intervened in a more peaceful manner, with the understanding that the members of the Assembly would reasonably act in the interest of people. Unfortunately, that is not what we are seeing. As I said, it is a fight and build up to who becomes president by next year. So, everyone wants to show to his masters that he is in control. To a large extent, they are not doing so in decent manner.
The presidency is encouraging impunity in the House of Assembly by pushing a minority group to create chaos in the House. This is not good for the group. A situation where the police would allow a minority group to make it impossible for the majority to have its way is not good for democracy and transparency.
We have Boko Haram crisis and we have not been able to deal with the problem because of the culture of impunity. Now, government is extending this to other parts of the country and we are talking about going for election in 2015.
If you look at the root of the matter, you would agree with me that if it is handled with the purpose of honesty, rule of law and due process, it would not have gone to this extent. With different permutations going on, people are looking into the future, and the credibility of this democratic process is being questioned.
The crisis in the House of Assembly is not between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Before that crisis occurred, we had not heard that there was any issue of leadership and dictatorship. In fact, to a large extent, there was a consensus by everybody in the House that APC had done well and must be commended. So, there was peace, and the people were free to express their views. Across Nigeria today and in Edo State, the level of consciousness has improved dramatically.
Now that the crisis has crept in, you can expect trouble and suspicion everywhere. The victim is the common man. The commercial life of the people has been affected because of the crisis, and this is obviously not good for the economy.
Court orders not obeyed
You have a country where the rule of law is no longer a basis to operate a governance system. Then, there would be breakdown of the system. That is how the judiciary was messed up in Rivers State because the governor, who is constitutionally empowered to nominate and recommend the Chief Judge, is not allowed to do that. And when you have crisis, the executive is overwhelmed. When we talk about separation of power in Nigeria, it is just in theory. In practice, the executive arms make it impossible to access funds. Whether PDP or APC is right is not my own take. I am looking at it from history to where we are going because it happens in Rivers. It happened in Adamawa, nothing happened; in Ekiti, nothing happened; and now it has taken its foothold in Edo.
This kind of governance is not good for the system. The members of the House fighting today are not fighting for the people or value, but for their primary interests. What I am appealing to them is to wait for the elections. The president must urge the police to enforce the rule of law. But if the government chooses to undermine the process, I can assure you that the effect will be dangerous for everybody because of the danger it poses to the democratic process.
I want to commend the Oba of Benin for his intervention, just as I commend the civil society and other groups because Edo belongs to all of us. More importantly, the religious leaders must speak out. They cannot stay in their churches and Mosques and be praying, because when the crisis will happen, they will not have time for worship.
Efforts at brokering peace
I am speaking now as the executive director of ANEEJ. We work for development and partner with government. First thing we did as ANEEJ was to initiate the process and we met few of our colleagues like Olu Martins, Austin Osakwe and Comrade Eboigbodin. Before now, I had provided support and capacity building for civil society groups in Edo, and we are happy that civil society awareness in the state has increased. That was our general aim. Now, when this crisis happened, we saw it as another opportunity to play a role. If you knew our history before now; in the health and education sectors, we had tried to intervene. So what we did was that we came out on the platform of Development Alliance Platform (DAP), where we addressed all the parties to sheathe their swords because we believe that without peace, we cannot be talking about development and good governance, knowing very well that the capacity of these people to create problem is there. Nobody funded us. In fact, it was ANEEJ that brought the resources for all we did. We didn’t stop at that; we went further to engage both parties. In fact, I want to commend the police who graciously created the venue and security where the two warring parties met and listened to their concern. We raised both technical and political issues and encouraged them to come together because we are just civil societies. Unfortunately, they couldn’t come to terms. We realised that there was external interest influencing moves to settle the matter. At that point, we, members of the civil society, decided to stand on justice because there are principles that guide us; if it is white we call it white, and if it is black we call it black. We want to encourage and speak the truth to those who are in power; otherwise at my individual level, the crisis has absolutely nothing to do with the people. It is a pre-presidential system election crisis that is capable of damaging the whole political environment, if it is not managed carefully.
I don’t see the reason the suspension of some four lawmakers should snowball into this crisis, because this is not the first time parliamentarians are suspended and it is definitely not going to be the last. Again, initially, the role of the police was well commended. But you know, when the ‘oga at the top’ (boss) has a different interest, it is difficult for the ‘oga at the bottom’ (subordinate) to be able to act appropriately.
This, to me, raises a fundamental question as to the role the police want to play in this crisis. This manifested when the minority parliamentarians wanted to have access to the Assembly. For me, it was a shame on democracy.
The minority having their way and receiving pay
In the first place, the rule in democracy is very clear and it is sufficient to know that the minority cannot legislate for the majority. What is happening is really unfortunate. The earlier we arrest it the better for all of us in this country. It is not just an Edo issue; but it has a potential to engulf the entire country. And people are just watching.
The issue of receiving salary is neither here nor there. There is contract existing between Edo people and the members of the House of Assembly by virtue of their election. I am not aware that any of them has been recalled by his constituency. So, I don’t see any reason their salary has to be stopped. Crisis happens all over the world. As we speak today, the legitimate speaker is Uyi Igbe. Even the deputy speaker addressed him as such when we engaged both sides. Naturally, who do police take instruction from? If Igbe was a PDP speaker, would this be happening? If the speaker says we have suspended you, it is not by using the rule of force. But the police have made it impossible for the APC-led lawmakers to have access to the House. So, instead of fighting the police, it is only normal for them to have an alternate place to have their sitting. What is happening is very abnormal.
Fears about 2015 election considering recent developments in Edo
My fear is that with what has happened so far in Rivers, Adamawa and Nasarawa states, it is clear that we need to raise urgent call to the international community and mobilise our people for this government under Jonathan. I fear for the country because election rigging does not happen on the day of election. If the rules guiding pre-election are not followed and are skewed, then we have a problem. My take is that this pre-election phase suggests that 2015 election is going to be rigged. If military could be used to stop people from going to campaign in Ekiti, opposition leaders arrested, the precedent we are setting is bad.
