Lessons from the Etteh Affair

Nigeria can finally heave a sigh of relief. The sequence of events that may have started in the Federal House of Representatives as a quarrel between estranged politicians; became a shocking public expenditure scandal; degenerated rapidly into legislative shame-fighting, fisticuffs, riotous and rowdy scenes of confusion and bewilderment, endless adjournments, shouts of “ole ole” (thief thief), opposing groups alternatively either waving miniature national flags or white handkerchiefs; then the death of a member Aminu Safana from the President’s home state of Katsina virtually in the chambers of the House, before its denouement-the resignation under threat of impeachment of ex-Speaker Patricia Olubunmi Etteh and her former deputy, Babangida Nguroje and the election of Hon Dimeji Bankole and Bayero Nafada in their place. At a point some discerning people detected a spiritual battle over Nigeria with spiritual fumigation, “Holy Ghost fire” and spiritual cleansing called into the equation!

The crisis was marked by studied intransigence on the part of the accused Madam, the usual “obey the last order”/garrison approach to politics from an increasingly clueless Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership, a firm posture of non-interference from President Yar’adua and passionate engagement with “Ettehgate” by the Nigerian press and civil society. At the end of it all, I believe our democracy and institution-building is the better off for the unfortunate events of the last three months. What lessons can be learnt from this experience? Does the victory of the will of the Nigerian people in this matter amount to a tactical victory or can this event provide the momentum for a strategic change in the nature of Nigerian democracy? My short answer will be-it depends! It depends on what lessons we internalize and institutionalize from this experience.

First it is clear that the fall of the ex-Speaker happened not just because a group within the House wanted her out. Of course in politics, groups are always entitled to canvass their interests and positions and persuade the rest of society along their preferred platform. In this case the “Integrity Group” prevailed because it convinced Nigerians that an infraction of public accountability and morality (and perhaps law) had occurred. The vast majority of Nigerians upon becoming seised of the facts and the findings of the Idoko Panel which investigated the matter, were convinced that indeed the Speaker had erred and virtually unanimously-Labour, the Media, and civil society all clamoured for her exit. The only entity that unambiguously supported Etteh’s continued stay in office (apart from Adedibu and Dr Frederick Fasheun’s OPC) was the PDP, further affirming its alienation from public opinion and confirming that the soldiers who have seized control of the party are unlikely to ever learn how democracy is practiced.

Nigerians must now seize the momentum. We must closely scrutinize the activities of all elected office holders, not just in the House, but in the Senate, the Presidency, Ministers and Federal Agencies and Corporations, the State Governors, Legislators and Commissioners, and Local Government Councils all over the country. It may indeed be that in the minds of certain stakeholders, the fight was over other interests different from the desire to enthrone probity and public accountability. That is quite possible. But that does not matter. We must now insist that the standards that have been laid down in the Etteh Affair must apply across the board-now and the future. The first step in this direction will be to insist that the bureaucrats in the National Assembly who facilitated, initially defended and perhaps lubricated the wheels of the acts complained of against Patricia Etteh are brought to book. It cannot just end by removing Etteh from office. Disciplinary proceedings must also be pursued against all public servants who may be found liable in this matter. If crimes are deemed to have been committed, the appropriate agencies may also be invited to review the facts accordingly.

Unlike many Nigerians who insisted while the crisis lasted that the President should step in to “remove” Etteh from office, I believe that in this case President Yar’adua did well to leave the House to sort out its problem. We should remember that we complained about ex-President’s Obasanjo’s persistent attempts to impose a leadership on the National Assembly during his two terms in office. The process of building credible and resilient national institutions will not be achieved through short cuts. It is better that the President allowed the House, the Media, and civil society to decide whether the Speaker stays or leaves. Moreover I do not believe the President was that disinterested in the issue. It was probably prudent for the President to exert his influence on the situation through informal rather than through explicit means in the spirit of separation of powers and independence of the legislature.

Many Nigerians initially believed the whole conflict was over “juicy” committees particularly the Appropriation, Niger-Delta, Oil and Gas, Environment and other committees that leaders of the Integrity Group were accustomed to heading in the last eight years. Of course many will be watching to see whether the new leadership in the House will validate this hypothesis. And then there are certain interests who suspect a geo-political agenda, behind Etteh’s problems. Well that remains to be seen. An anti-Obasanjo agenda may of course be discernible, but that is not the same as an anti-Yoruba one. In any event, I know that Yorubas are well able to protect and defend their group interests if such an agenda became emergent. What is clear is that Etteh alienated herself from her initial backers who formed the core of the Integrity Group, but their ability to displace her from office was facilitated because she committed serious errors of judgment if not breaches of due process and perhaps procurement laws.

It has become clear that the PDP cannot play its role of a democratic, people-based ruling party and vehicle for the institutionalization of democratic norms and practices as long as it remains led by its present military-oriented leadership cabal. Quite seriously it was unbelievable that throughout the crisis, the PDP remained totally alienated from the reality of public anger over Ettehgate. It is more absurd that even after Etteh’s forced resignation, the party is said to have asked Etteh to nominate her successor as if the office of Speaker had been personally zoned to her-the same way the party has zoned states, ministries and public corporations to party chieftains and generally behaved as if politics is a process of allocation rather than negotiation, persuasion and consensus. The Integrity Group must count itself lucky to have had such politically inept, insensitive and indeed incompetent opponents to contend with.

We congratulate the House for ignoring such directives and voting for a Speaker of their choice, and sincerely hope that Hon Bankole will live up to the expectations of Nigerians. On a final note, if one combines the posture of the Supreme Court in the Amaechi/Omehia case, with the resolution of the Etteh Affair, and President Yar’adua’s impassioned, frank and powerful speech at the Governor’s Forum, can one detect a breath of fresh air blowing over Nigeria?