ABUJA – AS the Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala and the Nigeria Governors Forum,
NGF, engage in war of words over the alleged
unaccounted $20 billion accrued to the Excess
Crude Account, ECA, while the NGF was in crisis,
Senator Olusola Adeyeye has said that many
Nigerians will go to jail after May 29, when the
new administration would have taken over power.
Meantime, Senator Adeyeye has ruled out the
possibility of the serving Senate President,
Senator David Mark emerging as the President of
the Senate in the 8th senate when the All
Progressives Congress, APC, has the majority of
Senators with 60 Senators against the 49 of the
PDP.
Speaking to Vanguard in Abuja yesterday,
Senator Adeyeye, APC, Osun Central said that
Nigerians are being giving different figures by
those who manage the economy and that even the
alleged unremitted $20 billion by the Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, will be
accounted for after May 29.
He said, “To me and to most observant Nigerians,
what we have heard over the years is an endless
renditions of ‘abracadabra’ when it comes to the
management of the limited resources of Nigeria.
It is the case of, ’the more you look, the less you
see.
“When you ask different people who ought to
know about the magnitude of the revenue that
had accrued to the federation, always, you get
conflicting figures. The figures from the Minister
of Finance are never the same as those of the
Accountant – General of the Federation; they are
never the same as those of the Central Bank of
Nigeria.
“They are never the same as those of the Budget
management office; they are never the same as
those of the Nigerian National petroleum
corporation. So, you keep hearing figures and you
don’t know who to believe but I have good
news, by the grace of God, on the 29th of May, a
new government would be inaugurated in Nigeria.
“Nigerians overwhelmingly expect that new
government to diligently, look at the books not
with an eye to persecute anyone but to ensure
that the resources of Nigeria are properly
accounted for. I am confident that it will not be
long before we begin to unravel this knotty issue
of the revenues of Nigeria.
“The action that the new government should take
on the controversial money should be exactly
those which are already prescribed by the laws of
the land. The constitution does not give room for
retroactive legislation.
“There are good laws in Nigeria; there are laws
against murder, kidnapping, and embezzlement. If
funds have been embezzled, I pray to God that the
law will take its proper course and people would be
brought to book. That, there should be no sacred
cow anywhere.”
Reacting to the comment by the former acting
National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande,
that the party was not going to zone positions of
National Assembly presiding officers, he said that
the former APC boss may have spoken the minds of
the party’s leaders.
Adeyeye said, “Chief Bisi Akande is a former
Acting Chairman of our great party. He is a
member of the Board of Trustees and a revered
elder of our party. Whatever he said is correct
and I believe because Akande is not a man who
speaks frivolously, I believe that he is speaking
the minds of the leadership of the APC.
“If our party says offices will not be zoned, so be
it, it means those who are interested will throw
their hats into the field. Even when there is no
zoning, people are going to be sensitive to be
ethnocentric dimension of Nigerian politics and
the geopolitical configuration of our land.
“I don’t expect for example, that somebody from
the North West would vie for the position of the
Senate President when someone from the zone is
already the President. I pray that a day will come
when there will be that level of trust in each
other and we won’t have to worry about the part
of the country that a political office holder comes
from.
“The rules of the National Assembly allows for a
member of any political party to emerge into the
office of the two top posts in the National
Assembly. All other posts are assigned to the
majority and the minority caucus. If the majority
party conducts itself in such a way that a member
of the minority party emerges as either the top or
second positions in any of the chambers, so be it.”
Also commenting on the issue of ranking in the
consideration of Senate leadership, the Osun
State born Professor turn politician said,
“Honesty, I don’t believe in strict ranking which
says if you are the oldest member, then you must
be this, there must be other factors, you must
look at the temperament of these persons who are
ranked.
“You must look at the intellectual withal of these
persons, you must look at the antecedents of
these persons, you must look at the ability of
these persons to build consensus and to transcend
primordial interest.
“That said, again my prayer is that a day will
come when our first question will be, who is the
best person who can occupy this position. When
Rick Sanctorum became the Whip of the US
Senate, he was not what we call a ranking
member of the Senate, he had spent two terms of
three years each in the House of
Representatives, he contested election to become
senator and he won.
“Because people knew his ideological thrust, they
felt he was best suited to maintain party position
and cohesiveness in their caucus, hence, they
elected him, as their whip. He was a first timer.
If the senate presidency is solely based on
ranking, someone like Senator Robert Byrd of
West Virginia or Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts
would have become the senate president because
they are the most senior in the US senate.”
Senator Adeyeye further explained that there
was nothing wrong in the APC trying to be
involved in who become the principal officers of
the National Assembly, even though, he reasoned
that it had to be done in consultations with
serving party members.
According to him, “Politics is not a one man
game, the constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria currently does not allow for independent
candidature. Everybody who got elected into the
National Assembly was elected on the platform of
a party.
“That party therefore cannot said to be a miss
when it shows interest on those who were
running its affairs within the chambers of the
National Assembly what we are hoping will happen
is that our leaders who are outside would consult
with us, will respect our wishes but in the end,
none of them would vote, it’s the members who
would vote.
“Let no member blame any leader for whatever
became the outcome of the election but we can’t
blame them for showing interest.”
On the possibility of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, which will be the opposition party in the
8thassembly, emerging as the Senate President,
he said, “I have also heard that Senate
President, David Mark, has also shown interest
and that with 49 senators in his camp, he would
only need six senators from the majority camp.
“David Mark is a very skillful politician. Grant that
for him. Whether you like his politics or not,
please concede to David Mark the fact that he is a
skillful man. But having been in oppositions for 16
years, there is no way we will allow him to become
senate president
“He may be allowed to play a major role in the
National politics. By virtue of the experience that
he had garnered in the last many years, he is
preeminently qualified to continue to play leading
roles in the affairs of this republic.
“I pray he would be a matured leading voice of the
opposition but I’m confident that a member of my
party will emerge as the next Senate President.”



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/20bn-excess-crude-account-manyll-go-to-jail-after-may-29-sen-adeyeye/