Kperogi on ‘slavish’ 9th National Assembly

THERE is a frenetic pace about Farooq Kperogi, the diasporan Nigerian, in his column in the Saturday Tribune – Notes from Atlanta with Farooq Kperogi. There is vitality, vivacity and  sanctimonious verve in his writings. He displays a high level of persuasive sophistry that can easily hoodwink the gullible or the not so informed. It is called misinformation. A classic example of this was his column of Saturday, June 15, 2019 titled :  A slavish parliament and the road to Buhari’s life presidency.  With his usual bravura, Kperogi made prejudicial statements,  engaged in name-calling and concluded with specious speculations and self glorification that projects him the last man standing against “Buhari’s self-perpetuation bid” as “Nigeria is sleep walking to self-annihilation”.

The essence of his write-up is that  with the emergence of Senator Ahmad Lawan as the Senate President and Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, being nominees of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the 9th National Assembly will be a rubber-stamp legislature, “the most servile” in Nigeria’s history. This is spurious generalization as no comparative basis was provided to reach this pedantic conclusion. His thrust is that with a National Assembly that is expected to be in accord with the presidency, it paves the way for Buhari to seek tenure elongation to become life president.  This flawed prognosis is either a product of intellectual mischief, laziness or crass ignorance. Is it that Kperogi does not know that  the National Assembly alone cannot effect tenure elongation for a president ?

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Members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) formed the leadership of the National Assembly where the PDP had the majority during the PDP presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yet the PDP leadership of the National Assembly thwarted his alleged tenure elongation bid. And the National Assembly leadership then was dictated by President Obasanjo, not even by the party. So, what makes it impossible for the current leadership to rise against dictatorial tendencies, given the caliber of the leadership?

The presidential election is being challenged by the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in court, yet Kperogi could make declarative prejudicial statements, opening himself to contempt of court. One does not expect this level of fawning, reckless, partisan bias from someone acclaimed to be an intellectual. Of course, Kperogi is at liberty to interpret the president’s references to economic leaps by China and Indonesia “under authoritarian regimes” as indicative of  Buhari’s inclination. He could, as Kperogi noted, be “flying a kite”. That is part of politics. But is it not true  that China, Indonesia as well as South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore made economic breakthroughs during long-term authoritarian rule by military and civilian leaders? These comparisons expose many of us collectively as hypocrites – we long for the economic benefits of authoritarian rule without wanting to be subjected to authoritarian rule!!

Kperogi advertises his diaspora status with his column kicker: Notes from Atlanta. Well, Atlanta, in provincial Georgia State, is far from Washington D.C., the nation’s capital. But can he claim ignorance that members of Congress, generally, vote along party lines to support or oppose the policies of the president at the White House? I was in the U.S. on vacation in September/October 2018 and watched the acrimonious live TV Senate committee hearings on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. At the end, President Donald Trump had his way as the majority Republican senators voted to confirm the jurist.

We need to understand that the National Assembly is not an opposition institution but an arm of government expected to work in synergy with the two other branches. The real duty of the National Assembly lies in its oversight functions – and this is not as an opposition body but to ensure that monies appropriated are spent as approved. The Kperogis of this world cannot rewrite the rules of engagement, as it were, to constitute the National Assembly as an opposition platform to the Presidency.

Dr. Olawunmi, a public affairs analyst, is a former Washington Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria.