FULL DISCLOSURE IN GOVERNMENT

Josef Omorotionmwan urges the Senate to do its job thoroughly

“OSONDI OWENDI”. This is an Igbo expression that approximates to Different Strokes for Different Folks. It is also one way of explaining that many Israelis and Palestinians would readily agree that one man’s terrorist could be another man’s freedom fighter.

Here and everywhere, many people would do anything to get a government appointment. For such people, public life is exciting. The excitements are many: At the highest echelon of government, it could come from blaring the siren. At the approach of the convoy of the President or the Governor, the sound of the siren sends every road user off the road; and the convoy flies through the heavy traffic that had built up for several hours.

Suddenly, the man now has an opportunity to wine and dine with kings and queens across the world instead of dealing with local government councilors. 

For some, this is also an opportunity to serve humanity; and in the end, they get enrolled on a permanent pension list, which bids bye-bye to poverty. 

Even at the lower echelon, one soon finds that in politics, every day is Christmas. There is always something happening somewhere, particularly during the campaign season, such that if you are a bachelor living alone, you may not need to have a cooking pot or kettle in your house. Politics provides one endless string of enjoyment. 

On the other hand, there are many who would have nothing to do with any government appointment, even where you offer to pay them a billion naira a day. Such people have their lives to spend with themselves and they would rather spend them quietly. 

There is no hiding place in government. The moment you accept a government job, your life becomes an open book that could be read at the market square. Nothing in this open book is excluded from the public view. You have surrendered yourself “To tell the truth; the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. You must answer nagging questions about issues that were once private to you.

For instance, in private pursuit, who cares about your age? No one, particularly now that it is no longer required to state your year of birth on birthday invitations.

 In government, every big issue was once small. It started slowly. The set up is such that if you tell one lie, you must be ready to sustain it by telling other lies.

It is allowed for you to lie on your age and your income tax returns, but don’t get caught. The consequences will come when they will. For instance, you may have had reason to yank 10 years off your age. Wait till you will be filling the form for election into that public office; and you will be required to present your certificates. By the time you find that your first school leaving certificate predates your new birthday; and that your secondary school certificate was obtained at the age of six, you will prefer to announce to the world that you did not attend any of the two schools. Those certificates could be consigned to the dustbin. 

As the chief executive officer of a big company, if you fall ill, you are flown abroad for treatment. If you recover after

five years, you return home, and the bands will be rolled out for you. It is not so with government. 

The late President Musa Yar’Adua and the immediate past president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, should have known that right from the first day they went abroad for treatment, an absence register was opened for them. Every Nigerian knew for how long they were away. 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State is fighting many fierce battles at the same time. Even more important than battling the ailment that took him abroad, he must fight the multiple wars around his prolonged absence from office. 

 Akeredolu has returned to Nigeria, but instead of resuming work in Akure, he is hanging on to Ibadan. The Ondo State people are now saying that they did not elect him to govern them by proxy. Why can’t he return home fully?

While Akeredolu was abroad, his Deputy fell out of favour with him. Both men are now at daggers drawn. At a point, the House of Assembly initiated some impeachment moves against the Deputy Governor. That may have been stalled by some court processes. 

Realizing that the state is the worse for it all, the Ondo people are frantically calling on Akeredolu to do the needful – transmit power to his estranged deputy, if he is not well enough to return to his duty post. 

The 10th Senate is closely following the footsteps of the Ninth, which had itself inextricably tied to the apron strings of the Executive. This Senate is making a total mockery of the Advice and Consent Procedure involved in the confirmation of the President’s nominations. They are doing a shoddy job, perhaps oblivious of the fact that whatever they do, they are doing so on behalf of the people – not for their personal entertainment. 

We deserve to know the reasons for what they do or what they fail to do. We remember the nominations for the ministerial appointment. The immediate-past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, was prominently on that list. He was screened but not confirmed. At the point of confirmation, we were told very vaguely that there was a security report against him. That’s how he vanished from the radar. The next thing we heard was that he had withdrawn himself from the list.

By remaining stoically silent on the reason for his non-confirmation, the Senate was unfair to itself, the nominee and the nation. This dis-service simply left the fate of the nominee to the people’s conjecture. When you leave a gap, people will fill it. While some might guess that he was financing terrorism, others might guess that he was a terrorist himself. That’s what a shoddy job does. This can only be obviated by the Senate doing a thorough job. 

What was that mad rush in confirming the President’s nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioners? On such a sensitive matter, Mr. Senate President blind-folded everybody and stampeded the Senate into a hasty confirmation of the nominees – all because of his personal interest. In that singular act, you wrong-footed the Senate, the President, and indeed, the entire country.

One afternoon, the President’s letter conveying the names of the nominees was received by the Senate. This was a matter that should have been referred to the committee on INEC where due diligence, including public hearing, would have been done to it. Instead, the morning after the receipt of the letter, Mr. Senate President manipulated the Senate into a committee of the whole and in less than five minutes, the nominees had taken a bow, and it was all over. 

Every right-thinking citizen of Nigeria has a right to be aggrieved about this. This is one way of explaining why some concerned Nigerians have dragged the President to court, seeking some amendatory action. 

Here, we see a charge that will benefit from some amendment. The Senate is squarely responsible for this misdemeanor; and it must be seen as a major respondent in the case. Those who commit the crime must do the time!

Omorotionmwan writes from Canada