The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) continues to pay the price of impunity, as a federal high court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last week sacked the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial district, Bassey Akpan, from the Nigerian Senate.
The court in a judgment ruled that Bassey Etim, a former member of the House of Representatives, was the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 senatorial election in the state.
He was, however, wrongfully substituted with Akpan, who contested for the PDP governorship ticket.
Although Akpan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Gas and former Finance Commissioner during the administration of former Godswill Akpabio, has indicated interest to appeal the verdict of the Federal High Court, one needs not be a legal luminary to know that he is merely buying time and on his way out of the National Assembly.
The opposition party has been the biggest loser to candidates brought by the law courts. This is attributed to imposition of candidates at all levels of the party; a development that caused the party’s defeat in the last general elections. Already, Ovie Omo-Agege (Labour Party, Delta Central) and Atai Aidoko (PDP, Kogi East) are products of court verdicts as against popular votes.
By ruling that Akpan should return
all the money he had received from the National Assembly as benefits so far, the court has again put the issue of salaries and emoluments of federal lawmakers on the front burner.
With the inability of successive governments to reduce the cost of governance to make public office less attractive, it is not surprising that an average political office holder will do everything possible to remain in power.
Unfortunately, key recommendations of the Muhammed Uwais Electoral Reforms Committee, set up by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, which called for making public offices less lucrative, are yet to be implemented.
With N353,756,988.00 as annual salary, it will take an average Nigerian worker earning N18,000 National Minimum Wage 1,638 years to collect the annual salary of a senator.
Breakdown of the emoluments of a Nigeria senator include: Basic Salary N2,484,245.50, hardship allowance N1,242,122.75, Constituency allowance N4,968,509.00, Furniture Allowance N7,452,736.50, Newspaper allowance N1,242,122.70, Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37, Recess Allowance N248,424.55, Accommodation N4,968,509.00, Utilities N828,081.83,
Domestic Staff N863,184.12, Entertainment N828,081.83, Personal Assistance N621,061.37, Vehicle Maintenance Allowance N1,863,184.12, Leave Allowance N248,424.55, Severance gratuity N7,452,736.50, Motor Vehicle Allowance N9,936,982.00 among others.
Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued last week when lawmakers ordered a representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mohammed El-Yakubu out of its session.
El-Yakubu who told the Joint Senate and House Committees on Appropriations that he was representing the apex bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, was immediately sent out of the event.
The panel was irked that the representative was an Acting Director in CBN, wondering why other CBN Deputy Governors could not stand in for the CBN boss.
Emefiele incurred the wrath of the committee for not informing it ahead of the session of his absence as done by some other invited top government officials like the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun who later attended the session.
Attempts made by Emefiele’s representative at the session to tender apology on his behalf were rebuffed by the committee members who chorused “We don’t want to hear anything from you, just leave here and tell your boss to meet the committee chairman unfailingly. You lack the competence as an Acting Director to stand before this committee representing the CBN Governor”.
In a nation with Acting President, other government agencies with acting chief executives include: the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bank of Industry (BoI), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, among others. Many board appointments are still vacant. This, perhaps, explains why some analysts describe Nigeria as a country of actors.
