Rivers Emergency: Only Akpabio, Abbas Know What 2/3 Of Voice Vote Is

By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

THE constitutional aberration on Thursday in which indeterminate numbers of the National Assembly ousted the provisions of the Constitution to please President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a reckless step in democracy worsened by the intentionality of its execution.
Section 305 of the Constitution interprets a state of emergency as a situation of “national danger, disaster or terrorist attacks in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.”

There are parts of Nigeria that meet these conditions. Did the President impose a state of emergency?

The President has the constitutional power to declare a state of emergency in any part of Nigeria. However, this proclamation must be published in the official government gazette and ratified by the National Assembly, requiring approval from two-thirds of its members.
The President exceeded his powers and knew his men at the helm of the National Assembly would pass the proclamation suspending elected officials in Rivers State.

What stopped the President, who gloats about his democratic credentials, from building on the sound democratic and constitutional examples former Goodluck Jonathan laid when confronted with terrorist attacks in North East and North Central Nigeria?

President Jonathan, on 31 December 2011, declared a state of emergency in Borno, Niger, Plateau, and Yobe States without removing elected officials. On 14 May 2013, Jonathan imposed emergency rules in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States with the elected government structures still intact.

President Tinubu should have used these most recent examples of interpreting the Constitution which aimed at heightening security in the affected States to regain control of the areas and stop the insecurity from spreading.

Tinubu’s reaction when Jonathan declared a state of emergency without removing elected officials:
“It is a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015. Borno and Yobe States have been literally under armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas,” Tinubu had said in 2013.

“This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the States considered hostile to the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.

“No Governor of a State in Nigeria is the Chief Security Officer. Putting the blame on the Governors who have been effectively emasculated for the abysmal performance of the government at the centre, which controls all these security agencies, smacks of ignorance and mischief.”

The same Tinubu 12 years on blames Governor Sim Fubara for not maintaining security in Rivers State as if there had been constitutional amendments awarding Governors such powers.
Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, and Tajudeen Abass, Speaker, House of Representatives were more interested in approving the declaration than following constitutionally stated procedures.

They would not allow debates. They did not permit “reminders” that members present needed to be counted to ensure, first, that two-thirds of them were in attendance, and a count of those who voted for or against the declaration was needed to reach a decision, according to the Constitution.

An uncertain number of legislators in both houses of the National Assembly passed the declaration by voice vote.

How many members were present? Did the numbers reach the two-thirds required for the proceedings to continue? Where are the records of the attendance?
Akpabio and Abbas should explain to Nigerians what volume of voice votes represents the two-thirds of members which the Constitution requires. They may also need to tell us which Constitution they used or when they amended the Constitution to give them powers to opt for two-thirds of voice votes.

MultiChoice is FCCPC’s choice
THE Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, established by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, FCCPA, in 2018, is a very powerful Commission that should be working for the interests of Nigerians, all Nigerians, and residents of Nigeria.

Grand expectations from the Commission include developing and promoting fair, efficient and competitive markets in the Nigerian economy, facilitating access by all citizens to safe products, and securing the protection of rights for all consumers in Nigeria.

If one is to make a list of goods and services that benefit Nigerians, they would run into hundreds of thousands and their producers and providers could run into millions. What does FCCPC do about them? It does something.

The story was about recently of the Vice President calling Mr. Olatunji Bello, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman of FCCPC, to re-open a shop that belonged to the Vice President’s friend. Whatever the offence was, the FCCPC clampdown on the shop was lifted.

Other times one hears about FCCPC are when it takes on MultiChoice, apparently its service provider of choice, to exercise its regulatory authority, which is still at most vacuous. What is so special about MultiChoice to elicit such attention? The question is pertinent because other providers of the services, such as MultiChoice, do not undergo the same scrutiny.

The issue is always about price adjustments. Once MultiChoice announces a change in the rates for accessing its services, FCCPC bares its regulatory fangs as if its research does not capture the increases in prices of goods and services across all sectors. Government agencies have been increasing from travel documents the cost of filing in court to petroleum products.

One never heard a whimper from FCCPC. Even shops that it insisted should display prices of goods determine the mode of compliance, which is not in the interest of consumers. FCCPC’s silence may be related to the Vice President’s calls and the fact that market forces are sometimes political forces – most big businesses know who to call.

Rising energy costs, whether petroleum products or electricity and insecurity are driving high prices of goods and services. FCCPC knows this but maintains a grave silence about these service providers whose services are more critical to the survival of the economy and Nigerians than digital television.

The cost of financial services has gone up. Merely keeping a bank account comes with new costs. Medications and health services have higher prices daily. School fees are continuously on the rise, including in government institutions. These are goods and services that are very important for the survival of the society.

How many million Nigerians subscribe to MultiChoice which keeps millions of Nigerians employed through the value chain of its service? Why is FCCPC not concerned about the providers of other services and goods that affect millions of Nigerians?

Every organisation is also blaming the high exchange rate for the high prices of goods and services. Is MultiChoice exempt from high foreign exchange costs when it pays for most of its programmes in foreign exchange?

How does FCCPC “promote fair, efficient and competitive markets in the Nigerian economy” in which it mandates prices? Competition is supposed to propel market forces to deal with service providers whose services are beyond the reach of consumers.

Does FCCPC have the power to determine the prices and services? What has it done with the airline operators, producers of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, who increase their prices, particularly when demand is high?

FCCPC should stretch its attention to goods and services that are essential. Digital television is not an essential service. Those who can afford it should pay, others can go elsewhere.

Essential as foods are, many Nigerians are dropping some items from their menu. They cannot afford them. FCCPC should know about it or it does not matter.

FCCPC has gone to court to enforce its orders on digital television rates. When will FCCPC go to court over the rising prices of essential goods and services?

Finally…
TWO sets of Nigerians have to be commended for lessening the burden of an extraordinarily sad week of constitutional vandalisation, deaths from accidents and bandits:
Senators Seriake Dickson, Enyinnaya Abaribe, and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal finally walked out as Akpabio pursued his determined outcome. Representatives Obi Aguocha and Fred Agbedi had their calls for constitutional procedures ignored. Abbas, too, was on a mission. There were others in both houses, who worked hard to rescue the Constitution.
And the Super Eagles who turned in a 2-0 defeat of Rwanda in a World Cup qualifier, when they were hardly given a chance to win.

*ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues