Aliyu, opposition leaders test strength in Niger

• Aliyu

Niger State’s relatively calm political scene has been thrown into confusion for two weeks, with the opposition and some members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calling for the impeachment of Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, a development political watchers say may be setting the tone for the 2015 election. JIDE ORINTUNSIN reports accusations, counter accusations and defence that are rattling the ‘Power State’.

Although the Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu administration in Niger State has more than two years in office, the government in the past two weeks has been fighting to ward off attacks from the opposition. The political turmoil in the “Power State”  the is a pointer to the fact that the power-play for 2015 elections may have begun.

Many never thought that the state could be facing a stormy political season usually associated with an election year. Political watchers  saw the development as a sign of greater challenge for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) far ahead of the next general elections.  This month, the political terrain  became heated, with accusations and counter-accusations, which climaxed last week with a call for the impeachment of the governor by a group of ‘Concerned Citizens of Niger State’, which sparked a barrage of reaffirmation of confidence by the ruling party and other stakeholders.

The political terrain was calm until late August when the state government advertised the sale of 29 units of the elite housing estate, popularly referred to as ‘Commissioners Quarters’ and the 28 unit ‘Legislative Quarters’ located in Minna, the capital city. It also declared that the proceeds of the sales would be used to finance the ‘Three Arms Zone’, a pet project initiated by the Aliyu administration.

The decision triggered the political storm that engulfed the state in the last two weeks. The first salvo was fired from the opposition. Mr. David Umaru, a lawyer and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) 2011 governorship candidate who just returned from an overseas trip, berated the move to sell the property that was bequeathed to the state by the Murtala Nyako administration shortly after the state was created.

Describing the proposed sale a back door deal, Umaru argued, “I am still not able to find any rationale or justification for the proposed sales of these properties, more so that the matter was not presented to the state House of Assembly, nor was it subjected to any public discourse or any public forum under any guise”. 

Calling for suspension of the sale in a paid advertisement in some national dailies, the ANPP flag bearer rhetorically demanded, “if the state government is finding it difficult to fund the project (Three Arms Zone) after collecting some loans, what assurances do the people have that the project will be completed with the proceeds from the sale of these properties?”

He however maintained that if government must dispose of the property, “it must adopt a more transparent approach that will give Nigerlites the opportunity to make input into government’s decision to sell this property”. 

If Umaru was subtle in his attack of the policy, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was more trenchant. The party urged Nigerlites, and indeed the State House of Assembly, to reject the proposal by the state government to sell Niger State’s landed properties and use the proceeds for the development of a Three Arms Zone, in the face of many daunting needs and infrastructural deficit that are begging for attention.

According to a statement by the party duly signed by the satte chairman, Mallam Umar Shuaibu, the party lamented that, “the people in the state are suffering and any fund coming in should be directed on how to meet the needs of the people”, arguing that the intention to use the proceeds from the sale of the estates to finance the proposed “Three Arms Zone” showed how out of touch the administration is with the reality of what the state’s basic needs are. 

For CPC, “Niger State does not need any Three Arms Zone as the existing structures are quite adequate for the state. As for the Government House in particular, all previous Governors, since the inception of the state, lived and worked there, carrying out improvements where needed or necessary. We are baffled by the motives behind the proposed sale of those important landed property. Given the infrastructural decay in the state, such as the protracted poor water supply in the State Capital itself and other major towns like Suleja, Bida and Kontagora; the poor state of our health facilities; the numerous rural roads not constructed; despite being provided for in the various Appropriation Bills, and a myriad of problems bedevilling our dear state. If we are so cash-starved to the point of financial desperation that will constrain us to dispose of our landed property (an action we are strongly opposed to), such funds realised therefore should not be channelled to finance the needless and wasteful Three Arms Zone project”. 

The CPC considers the “auctioning” of the state’s vital assets for the development of a Three Arms Zone as “clear sign of bankruptcy of ideas, a glaring loss of focus in governance, a grossly illogical prioritization of the needs of the people, and a brazen display of insensitivity and insult to the collective intelligence of the electorates the government claims to be serving. Sadly, this is democracy turned upside down”. 

The position of the opposition sent jitters to the spines of the foundation of the PDP led government. While some top government officials felt the opposition vituperations should not be allowed to go unanswered, a powerful group called on Governor Aliyu, who was in Germany to instruct his media managers not to join issues with the opposition. The decision eventually became the undoing of the government. Government silence was interpreted as arrogance. 

The emerging political crisis hit the tilt when a group dubbed “Concerned Citizens of Niger State” stormed the state House of Assembly to lodge a petition requesting the lawmakers to kick-start impeachment process of the governor, accusing him, among other things, of financial recklessness, non-adherence to the Appropriation Law as passed in the last five years. The impeachment, the group said, became necessary to pave way for a genuine development in the state.

The call for impeachment of Aliyu would have been taken lightly but for the fact that the Secretary of the concerned citizens, Garba Ataza Paiko, is a member of the ruling PDP, while the Chairman of the group, Alhaji Mohammed Maude Usman (Chaska) and his deputy, Alhaji Mohammed Awaisu Giwa Wana, are members of the ANPP. The three men who signed the petition are from Minna, the governor’s constituency. It was thus deemed a big blow on the government.

The 6-page document, titled, “Gross Mismanagement of Niger State Resources and a Call for Immediate Impeachment of Mr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu” presented to the Clerk of the House, Malam Mohammed Kagara, reads, “We, the Concerned Citizens of Niger State who cut across the 25 local government areas of the state wish to express our deep concern to the state legislature on the gross mismanagement of the state’s scarce resources by the state governor and outrightly call on the House to impeach him.

“Nigerlites have watched with dismay the annual budget presentation to the state Assembly with its discouraging easy passage which has dented the Assembly’s image in the eyes of the people. These budgets (since the past five years) have remained unimplemented by the Mu’azu administration.”

The petitioners did not only take Aliyu’s administration to the cleaners, the group also descended on the State House of Assembly, accusing the lawmakers of being stooges to the executive arm for their failure to check the financial undertaking of Governor Babangida Aliyu-led administration. 

They then admonished the lawmakers that, “The House should clear itself as the people of Niger state are made to believe that the governor usually shares the funds with members every month since nothing worthwhile could be seen to have been done and the Assembly has remained mute over all these wrongdoings.’’

If the government tacitly ignored the protest of ANPP and CPC, the call for Governor  Aliyu’s impeachment caught them unawares. The government, party officials and supporters of Aliyu woke up from their slumber and hurriedly launched counter attacks. The state Commissioner for Information and Strategies, Abdulhameed Danladi, dismissed the allegations, alleging that the petitioners’ action was politically motivated and was aimed at undermining the cordial relationship existing between the Legislature and the Executive. 

Danladi urged the public to disregard the allegations, as he maintained that the concerned citizens were out of tune with the developmental strides of the governor. He noted that the action of the petitioners amounted to a distraction and assured the people that the administration was more focused than before. According to him, “we (government) are focused and we will not allow miscreants to distract us”. 

The rattled ruling PDP officially swung into action in a bid to tear the petition to shreds. According to the party, “the call for impeachment of the state governor is not feasible, because the governor is a hardworking man who has dedicated his time to ensure the development of the state. This impeachment is the work of mischievous individuals looking for relevance. Aliyu cannot be impeached.” 

Rising to Aliyu’s defence, party chairman, Alhaji Abdulraham Enagi, told newsmen that, “The PDP Central Working Committee in the state has met and passed a vote of confidence on the administration of Governor Aliyu; we are fully in support of government policies, not only the sale of houses. We always feel proud to associate ourselves with this administration; Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has done us proud.”

Enagi also took a swipe at ANPP and CPC over their cry on the sale. The PDP boss accused the opposition of mischief. He alleged that they are working against the development of the state, adding that the intention of the government to sell the houses were indicated in the 2012 Appropriation bill sent to the State House of Assembly before it was passed into law. “What the ministry is doing is to implement the 2012 budget. I expect that anybody that is opposed to this policy should have been bold enough to submit a memorandum to the assembly during the deliberation on the budget.” 

Justifying government action, the PDP chieftain explained that it had been difficult for the state government to keep maintaining the houses due to the monetization policy of government that gives public officers allowances for their houses, stressing that, according to the monetization policy, only the governor, his deputy, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and the Grand Khadi are exempted from the policy and should naturally be provided official quarters and the houses will fall into decay if it is not sold.

But for the intervention of a Minna-based leader, the party was ready to fight dirty. By Wednesday, the leadership of the party in Paiko, where Garba Ataza Paiko, the Secretary of the concerned citizens is a member, was directed to expel him from the party. The same instruction was given to ward chairmen of those whose names appeared on the list of members of the group. The letters were later withdrawn on Friday.

Like the PDP, a pro-Aliyu group, “Talba Success Movement” also threw their weight behind the governor. The group led by Hamisu Jankaro also rushed to the House of Assembly to urge the lawmakers not to honour the petition of the Concerned Citizens.

Aliyu also found support in the state Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP). The Conference, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Isah, said that Governor Aliyu had judiciously managed the scarce resources of the state.

Though the coast seemed clear, the government is not taking things lightly. The first engagement of Governor Aliyu, as he arrived the country from a 10-day trip to Germany, was a meeting with all political appointees on Monday in Government House to review all the allegations on their merits, with a view to fine tuning areas where necessary.

Despite the steps taken by the ruling party and government, Governor Aliyu’s fate will be determined by the House of Assembly, as the concerned citizens are bent on making good their threat of impeaching him. 

Alhaji Usman Chado, a public affairs analyst, summed up the development in the state thus: “The sign of the time is not favourable to the governor. If by now we are witnessing cracks in his house, then it means that the ‘Chief Servant’ may gradually be losing grip of the party and this portends negative development for his political future.”