Have You Seen The Police Website Lately? By Garba Shehu
The tenure of the current Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Sulaiman Abba has only just begun, but it may have already offered a glimpse of the way and manner the police force would obstruct the functioning of democracy.
Has anyone ventured to the official website of the police to see how politically partisan the law-enforcement agency has become?
I was a frightening seeing them post the Declaration photos of President Goodluck Jonathan on their official website, against the fact that they did not do this for any other aspirant. Why would anyone then post this one?
They didn’t post Atiku Abubakar’s methodical declaration which targeted the youth and first-time voters. Neither did the police find interesting, General Buhari’s crowd of Northern masses, nor did they find, worthy of their website, pictures of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s red-cap revolution. They equally did not find worthy of their website, the publisher and presidential aspirant, Sam Nda-Isaiah’s, which was tailored along the classical American presidential declarations.
Someone joked about the fact of the green-white uniforms worn by almost everyone at the Jonathan Declaration, arguing that it was to underscore the transformation of the country to one that resembles North Korea, where citizens wear the same uniform to state events.
Beyond this, if anyone still retained doubts about the openly partisan transformation of the police, then the recent incident of the seizure of the parliament and the tear-gassing of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and his fellow APC members should close all the arguments in favour of this being a non-partisan police.
The Police website has been fielding selected videos and quotes from just anyone who attacks the parliament.
Femi Aribisala’s diatribe against the Speaker and the House he leads, in his Tuesday Column in the Vanguard newspaper titled: “
Tambuwal and his Shameful Law-breaker Supporters” has since found a prominent place on this website. Did the Police commission this write-up?
They have also posted a series of video clips, some of them from the sordid mess they created in the parliament and others from TV commentators attacking the House, a clear indication that they either sponsored those attacks or in the minimum, such derogation of popular sovereignty meets their own taste.
A clip of this incident showing clearly identifiable legislators posted on this site asked a question: “who are these law-breakers battering/climbing the gate of the National Assembly, Abuja on 20-11-2014?”
Another one tagged: “NASS Video (part 3), quotes a lawyer, George Eke from a Channels Television discussion as saying“
Police is a constituted authority, they should also be respected.”
Another one from the same lawyer, “NASS Video (part 4) says:“
that place is not the Speaker’s house, it is the National Assembly.”
Yet another police post asks the question: “
Lawmakers or Law-breakers?
Judge for yourselves Nigerians after watching this video.”
After failing to respect the sanctity of the parliament, which is an important pillar of democracy and tear-gassing its members and leadership, the not-so muscular police Inspector-General, appeared before the House Committee wielding the full powers of his office.
He called the Speaker “A certain Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal”, and told the Committee that for him, Tambuwal, as said by Chief Edwin Clark was no longer Speaker and would therefore not honour him by calling him with the title.
Seeing it on television itself is a sorry and sobering spectacle.
By denying the Speakership of Tambuwal in a legalistic and a mean-spirited manner, IG Abba appears to have made a choice of obeying the man who appointed him rather than the constitution which he swore to uphold. His claim that the House Members attacked and harassed the police, leading to the explosion of tear-gas by itself was an afterthought that could not have fooled anyone.
Mr. Abba, in his actions so far appears to have forgotten that the position of the IG of police is a slippery post; a harsh and unforgiving post where officers with equally good records as his perish. Many had indeed reached the top through the dint of hard work only to follow greedy and unscrupulous leaders like zombies and end up being taken off its lofty pedestal in a disgraceful and humiliating manner.
The parliament, in terms of the philosophy of popular representation is an awesome pillar of democracy, standing tall above the two other arms of government, i.e. the Executive and the Judiciary. The legislature represents the nearest approximation to general will. The parliament is the manifestation of the contract between the citizen and the state. The contempt the police shows for Mr. Tambuwal and the legislature is an attack on the sovereignty of the people of Nigeria. There can’t be democracy without an elected parliament acting as the true representative of the people. Parliament is a
sine-qua-non for democracy and development.
In the light of the above, it is clear that the police attack on the legislature is a threat to the engagement between the two branches of the government involved in this open brawl. The responsibility for finding a way out lies with the President who appoints (and directs the actions of) the IG but the Police boss himself needs to take actions to show that he measures up to the position. He must conduct himself in a way to prove to critics that he has grown beyond what most people know to be, the gunman behind Mrs. Abacha. The police as a public institution must not allow its platforms to be used for anti-democratic purpose
[myad]
Issues Thrown Up By The Conduct Of Ebonyi PDP Primaries, By Maxwell Eze
The November 29th 2014 primaries for the House of Assembly aspirants under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State are now eye openers to the politicians and observers of the new political game in the state.
A few hours to the primaries, the state governor, Chief Martin Elechi suddenly announced that the primaries, scheduled to hold across the country on 29th had been cancelled.
This was even as the Acting State chairman of the party, Chief Onwe Joseph Onwe announced on the federal government owned Unity FM, that the primaries would hold and urged members to participate in the exercise.
The governor used the monthly clean-up exercise in the state as an excuse for suspending the exercise. The governor threatened that any person or persons caught outside before 10.00 am would be dealt with. At about 85 people, most of them suspected to have gone out to participate in the PDP primaries were so arrested.
At 10.00am, the Ebonyi PDP supporters, moved en mass to the party secretariat, located along the Abakaliki/ Enugu expressway, only to find the place barricaded. Imported thugs were fully on guard.
The party supporters were however redirected to another venue: Pinnacle Hotels, a few poles from the PDP secretariat where the five-man team sent by the National Working Committee (NWC) were seated with the materials for the election.
The team was led by Senator Ben Collin Ndu as Chairman, Hajia Yela, member, Rt. Hon. Simon Dogari, San Mohammed Aminu, Alh. Aliyu Bindawa, member/secretary.
The sight of the panel was greeted with jubilation by those who had waited to have the election conducted even as those who were believed to have preferred to have it cancelled on the account that they would lose should they go ahead with the primaries had frustration written all over their faces.
The people in this camp rather staged a boycott of the exercise which they saw as more honourable than to participate in the election and fail.
The turnout at the venue was unprecedented in the history of political gathering in the state. Thousands of party men and women participated in the exercise.
Elections were conducted across the state without hitches as was attested to by the observers and news newsmen who monitored the
exercise.
Surprisingly, the governor, Chief Elechi is said to be agitating that the peacefully conducted November 1st and 8th congresses which gave rise to the last Saturday’s exercise should be set aside. This brings to clear question as to where the governor wants to lead the state to.
It is unfortunate that simply because Ebonyi people no longer want to be led by the nose, the governor is becoming jittery.
It was also out of the governor’s high handedness that wife of a governorship aspirant, Senator Ofia Nwali and 27 other council officers were sacked because they said no to imposition of candidates by the governor.
Already, new Coordinators have been appointed and sworn in by the governor without having them screened by the state house of assembly.
The governor is now charging at those he considered political enemies, including the elected Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chukwuma
Nwazunku, whose sin is that he insisted that the governor should duly account for the N16.5 billion Bond he borrowed from the Nigerian Stock Exchange before seeking for another N15 billion Bond at the twilight of his administration.
The governor now prefers to recognise Mr. Blaise Orji as the Speaker of the Assembly
The Ebonyi people are by the day becoming more disappointed with these turn of events, more so as even executive council members are being forced to sign documents for the purpose of giving teeth to impunity, a development that is worsened by many unfinished projects.
Indeed, one is at a loss as to how the Ofurekpe water scheme embarked upon by the Governor Elechi-led administration at its inception in 2007 rose from the estimated cost of one billion naira to N7.8b. Agreed that there could be cases of variations, but how could it be that even with such differentials, there is no hope of getting water from the scheme till the end of this administration as nothing again is being done on the project to justify such expenditure? The Governor had on the floor of the 24-member Ebonyi State House of Assembly, apologized for his failed promise that our people would drink water from the scheme last year. Is he
taking his people for a ride?
There is a multi-million naira rice parboiling machine meant for the none-functional billion naira rice mills that is still missing without any admissible account.
And for what reason was the Abakaliki/Enugu expressway, which the federal government project, be awarded to the renowned SETRACO construction firm?
Now the project has been abandoned. Is he anybody playing games?
There is also the NIGERCEM at Nkalagu, the foremost cement manufacturing firm in the south East geo-political zone of Nigeria which was operational during the previous administration Dr. Sam Ominyin Egwu but which went moribund shortly after Chief Elechi took over as the governor of the state. Those who laboured to rehabilitate the firm have been frustrated and traditional rulers who welcomed them have been dethroned by the incumbent administration. What could have been the reasons for all these other than economic and political interests of the government whose allies and siblings are believed to be the
Directors and benefactors of the death of the NIGERCEM?
Also, there is the case of M & J Construction firm that had handled about half of the contracts awarded to local contractors since the inception of this administration. A revelation of those who own the company would explain why shoddy jobs are being celebrated and earned certificates of completion and the poor tax payers’ money released to them.
Worst still is the demand of N15 billion from the Nigerian Stock Exchange by the Elechi-led administration which has thrown the state into financial confusion. [myad]