Two elephants and the grass

The legendary British politician and statesman, Winston Churchill, raised the debate in one of his speeches as to whether politicians go into office with the ultimate intention of serving the people or to advance their personal interest.  He was Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He was an outstanding leader who became a reference point in Britain and around the world.
He said the answer was somewhere in the middle, but that has not dissuaded views that personal interest ranked higher than altruism in the pursuit of power.
There is a tendency for anyone watching the flexing of muscles between the Presidency and the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to say the root cause could be between altruism and selfishness. But the typical politician would adorn his selfish motives with the robe of altruism.
There has been no love lost between the Senate and the Presidency. The tiff began in the wake of moves by the All Progressive Congress (APC) to select those to be at the helm of the Senate and House of Representatives. The senators spurned the interference, insisting that they would choose their own leaders, outside party lines. That marked the first fight, and things have not been the same ever since. There are talks that Senate President Bukola Saraki is facing trial because he dared the party. His sins came to the fore because he stood against the party and emerged in his current position to the detriment of another member who had received the party’s blessings for that position.
APC leaders saw Saraki’s move as an affront that would set a rather dangerous precedent, if they looked the other way and let it slide. The Senate President had members lined up behind him, which made the ruling party unable to move the leadership where it wanted. The stage was thus set for a battle in the arena.
When President Muhammadu Buhari wanted to boost his avowed fight against corruption by confirming Ibrahim Magu as chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Senate, which had the constitutional right to confirm him, turned the man down on account of a “damning report” from security operatives. The untold, unconfirmed but politically correct story is that Magu has several senators in his books and had enough dossiers to nail them. Another unconfirmed story is that the Senate President’s current trial at the Code of Conduct Bureau has the imprints of Magu, who is allegedly acting on the bidding of people in the Presidency and the APC. Magu’s his confirmation is a political process that got stuck at the Senate and has now set the stage for a staring match, who blinks first? The President has left Magu to carry on as Acting Chairman of the EFCC, perhaps to spite the Senate for rejecting his nomination. The Senate in turn has refused to commence clearance for ambassadorial nominees,  insisting that Magu should not continue to act in office after the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had turned him down, twice. Magu is a pawn in a power game, which has seen the Senate using the law to the limit. It is also said that the legislators’ insistence that Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hammeed Ali, wear the outfit’s uniform is to get back at the Presidency for granting him the power not to wear the uniform. The Senate is evidently flexing its muscles.
We will do well to return to the matter as raised by Churchill.  Does the Senate act in altruism or in self-defence? It has the power to move in the direction it has headed but does that add value to the people or is it just to show the President that he does not have absolute power? That he must govern by the rule of law such that the Senate can use its power and he must obey, if the pendulum of the law swings against him? Those are altruistic issues that seem right, on face value. It tool former President Olusegun Obasanjo a while to understand the tenets of democracy, though he still had his military tendencies. The foregoing could also be said of Buhari, but it could be the best subterfuge for a Senate that may well be self-serving, fighting a battle for the survival of its members who may have run foul of the law. It is also said that some people who hold the levers of power at the Presidency have cupboards full of skeletons and would hold out in the fight. There are selfish interests at both ends, which is why Nigerians are holding the short end of the stick. The 2017 budget is still on the table at the expiration of the first quarter.
We have heard from the rumour mill that leader of APC, Bola Tinubu, is on the war path with Saraki. Both men are veterans of political intrigues. Tinubu has held the levers in Lagos and survived many a battle. Obasanjo met his match in Tinubu when he tried to meddle in the politics of Lagos. Saraki has also fought political battles such that saw him instal his former Finance Commissioner as his successor.
He wrestled against his father, who was the tin god of Kwara politics, and had his way. If the battle is between Tinubu and Saraki, it is one between two seasoned fighters who could hold out. The matter is made worse by a President who is, ironically, apolitical, who would not play the politics of his office, thus allowing many power blocs to emerge. He has not been the rallying point in the politics of the APC and the Presidency and has tended to be aloof. The Nigerian people have become the grass, where these political elephants have engaged in their battles. The grass suffers in the midst of such fights. Governance has taken the back seat while the fight rages. When will they remember the people?