Editor’s note: The ongoing 2015 ministerial screening at
the Nigerian Senate has turned a new leaf in the book of
Nigerian politics, not only for President Buhari’s slow and
steady approach, but also for high levels of tension among
Nigerians and the candidates themselves. Who is worthy to
occupy this or that ministerial seat? Why this or that
candidate is being treated differently than their
counterparts? As Nigerians are drawing parallels between
the current and previous government officials, Demola
Olarewaju, the Naij.com contributor, compares the
screening experiences of Rotimi Amaechi and Musiliu
Obanikoro.
Rotimi Amaechi (left), Musiliu Obanikoro
Senator Musiliu Obanikoro served his state and country at
the highest legislative office in the hallowed chambers of
the Senate between 2003 and 2007. On the 9th of February
ten years ago, in 2005, Obanikoro moved a motion calling
for an investigation into the destruction and disrepair of the
Velodrome at the National Stadium in Abuja. In January
2014, Obanikoro was nominated by the then-president of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria to become a minister, and
he was duly screened and confirmed as a minister by the
Senate which included members of the newly formed
opposition party the APC and those of the then governing
party the PDP.
After serving as a minister until October 2014, Obanikoro
resigned to contest for the PDP gubernatorial ticket in
Lagos, lost it to Mr. Jimi Agbaje and was recalled by
President Jonathan to return as a minister. This recall threw
up a small legal dilemma with some legal experts saying
Obanikoro did not need to be screened and confirmed by
the Senate having undergone same procedure about a year
before, while others said another round of screening and
confirmation was necessary. In complying with a need to be
above board, Obanikoro’s name was sent to the Senate for
screening.
The case of Obanikoro
In June of 2014, Ekiti had gone to the polls to elect a
governor, and the PDP candidate Ayo Fayose soundly and
roundly defeated the then-incumbent Kayode Fayemi in a
free and fair election. Kayode Fayemi is a highly cerebral
man but whose interactions with the Ekiti people he
governed proved to be his undoing as he was seen as
haughty and arrogant. Fayose on the other hand was down-
to-earth. Fayemi conceded the elections and congratulated
the man who defeated him but his party insisted that Ekitis
had voted for “stomach infrastructure”. Not done yet, the
party claimed further that the INEC had colluded with the
PDP and used a special ink that disappears once a voter
votes for the APC while replacing it with the PDP – these
allegations were thrown out by the tribunal.
The last strand of reality denial by the APC was an audio
recording, alleging that the voices were those of candidate
Ayo Fayose and others including Obanikoro. These
recordings made no reference to rigging, and if anything,
one of the voices actually alleged that the military was
colluding with the incumbent Governor Fayemi to sabotage
the election. This recording became the casus belli of a few
senators to oppose Obanikoro’s second nomination as
minister, despite the fact that it was unverified and
inadmissible as evidence by any law court. This recording
was never tendered as evidence at the Ekiti gubernatorial
tribunal, and Fayose’s election was not only upheld by the
Appeal Court but the man subsequently proved his
dominance of Ekiti politics by leading the PDP to victory in
every election thereafter.
Obanikoro reached out to all his party members in the
Senate for support and secured it. He further reached out
to two southwestern governors who had served alongside
him in the Senate between 2003 and 2007 and were now
governors of their states. They supported him, and the
ranks of the APC senators were broken.
On the day of the screening, as Obanikoro walked in among
his former peers, Senator Oluremi Tinubu stood and
unleashed derogatory words on him as he graciously
bowed to her and strolled away to the podium. Senator
Mudashiru Hussein took off his cap and headed towards
the PDP side of the Senate as if to attack Senator Smart
Adeyemi who was making his point. At the end of the day,
few APC senators walked out, the Senate president took a
voice vote and Obanikoro was confirmed. Several APC
senators remained sitting to participate in the voice vote.
Promise of change or change of promise?
The case against Rotimi Amaechi is based on allegations of
corruption and cannot be compared with that of Obanikoro.
The case against Amaechi is a matter that was investigated
by a Senate committee and the report was clear in its
submission. The entire PDP Senate caucus rose in
opposition to Amaechi’s confirmation. They neither
participated in his screening nor in his confirmation as they
all walked out, leaving the APC alone in its negation of the
campaign promise of change.
That the APC can recall acts of the PDP as justification of its
own actions is a misnomer in itself – where then is the
change? How is it change if the best defence of the APC’s
actions is neither logical nor commonsensical, but a
spurious and condescending “the PDP also did it”? If the
PDP realistically admitted to a culture of patronage as a
reality of political horsetrading, and the APC condemned it
to the highest heavens, why then would a president elected
on the APC platform take four months to prepare a list that
compensates those who worked for him in not only the
2011 elections but as far back as the 2003 elections?!
The standard for judging the APC cannot, must not be what
the PDP did or did not do, but rather the standard that it set
for itself – its own campaign promise of change for which
15 million Nigerians voted while a little more than 12
million voted for the PDP. The APC was not voted into office
to perfect whatever the PDP was doing, but to deliveron a
#PromiseOfChange. So far, this looks like a
#ChangeOfPromise.

https://www.naij.com/622618-senate-screening-obanikoro-differs-greatly-rotimi-amaechis.html