ZION B-BC NEWSLETTER. [ A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. ] { VOL. 3. NO 99. 05-07-15.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You Free! (John.8:32).

ARE APC’s DEFIANT LEGISLATORS CONSTITUTION COMPLIANT?

The presidential system adopted through Nigerian Constitutions since 1979 is of a federal structure which allows for a reasonable amount of autonomy of the three arms of government (Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary), which duties and responsibilities dove-tail into one another.

The legislature makes laws for compliance by all members of the society; the executive enforces the laws, while the judiciary interprets the laws. No arm is independent of the other in order to avoid or prevent excesses that might arise in the discharge of their various constitutional responsibilities.

For instance, for the executive to function optimally, it needed to be guided by laws that are formulated by the legislature. These laws would then need assent of the President who heads the executive to become Acts of Parliament that would guide national affairs. The judiciary which interprets the laws becomes the arbiter in instances of disputes between the executive and the legislature! This political arrangement guarantees that the three arms can be checkmated by one another to prevent a highly-centralised political power bloc in any arm or create avenue for overstepping their bounds or authorities while discharging functional and legitimate constitutional duties! Chapter IV, Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, stipulates that individual fundamental rights include “right to peaceful assembly and association for the protection of his interests” but apologists of the incumbent controversial principal officers at the National Assembly (NASS) have continuously hammered on one harmful thought, that the process that brought the ambitious men to office was a CLEAR MANIFESTATION OF THE FREEDOM OF DEMOCRACY AT ITS BEST FORM, because the Legislature was independent of All Progressives’ Congress (APC’s), Party supremacy while omitting the fact that the defiant group was not elected as independent candidates but on APC’s political platform! This wicked line of thought no doubt was flaunted to discredit the very foundation of the freedom of association which allows for equal rights and opportunities for every member of such co-operative organisation like a political party in which unified rights are expressed for collective gains and successes. Victory for APC at the recently concluded 2015 General Elections was not for an individual interest group or faction but a collective one for the party as one united body! Therefore, it would amount to sabotage, abuse of the political due process and an insult to the collective sensibilities of other party faithful for some group to break away to actualize inordinate ambitions of imposed leadership positions as it had turned out at the National Assembly (NASS), as opposed to Party’s consensus! *In his inaugural speech, President Buhari said he would not succumb to the whims and caprices of anyone in making policy decisions for good governance and that he was ready to work with the Legislature and its elected principal officers, without personal interference in the processes of their election, but never said that party supremacy should be sidelined, ignored or abused as it has turned out to be! Is it not an irony of fate that acts of indiscipline, impunity, disobedience to constitutional provisions, corruption, lack of due process in fiscal responsibility and accountability, greed, avarice and self-aggrandizement, which were the hallmarks of past administrations, have reared their ugly and horrible heads at a time when Nigerians looked forward to CHANGE of attitude in governance, character reformation and re-orientation? The diversionary scenario being witnessed is nothing short of a clandestine move to discredit APC’s leadership mandate and capabilities through the infiltration of strange political doctrines of the apologists of the erring faction!

Among the Aims and Objectives under Article 7 of the Constitution of All Progressives Congress (APC), officially registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and dated 19th December, 2013, are the following clauses: To sponsor eligible candidates and canvass for votes for elections into all elective offices in all tiers of government. Comment: APC fulfilled these obligations during the 2015 Legislative elections by requesting the Electorate to vote for the Party and not for the individual candidates that were fielded in other to ensure collective victory for the party as one unified body! To continuously pursue the implementation of the policies and programmes of the party through those of its members that are appointed or elected into government, legislative houses and Boards throughout the Federation. To promote and uphold the practice of internal democracy at all levels of The Party’s organisation. To institutionalize, maintain and foster representative democracy, discipline and strict observance of the Rule of Law in the Federation of Nigeria. Comment: The legislative faction that is now opposed to internal party democracy/supremacy was signatory to the above objectives!

Article 9 and 9.1, deal with Membership, and Eligibility/Registration, which stipulate that APC was open to any citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who had attained the age of 18 years and who accepted the aims and objectives of the Party provided that such a person was not a member of any other political party or any organisation whose policies and programmes were inconsistent with those of the Party.

9.2: Rules and Obligations: Members of the Party shall be obliged to affirm the Party’s aims and obligations and conduct themselves in a manner that shall not bring the party to public odium and disrepute and shall also observe the rules and regulations embedded in the Party’s Constitution.

9.3. (4): Rights and Privileges: Where a group or association joins the Party the Party shall welcome the group or association, but each member of such group or association shall register INDIVIDUALLY at their respective wards. Comment: We have taken the pains to educate all and sundry in respect of the true perspectives of the ideologies, constitutional provisions, the unambiguous, and established statutes (though we are non-partisan), which APC stands for and which we believe the Party was resolved to render with an unparalleled, patriotic and selfless service to the down-trodden! These ideals which are poised to re-kindle a deep sense of patriotism and spirit of nationalism in all Nigerians deserved a better deal than what had been exhibited thus far by “distinguished parliamentarians” in the last one month of the new administration! There was no portion of APC’s Constitution which expressly stated that any member was an ISLAND to himself or herself and could operate outside the confines of that legal and binding document.

It is therefore very imperative for the ruling Party to put its acts together and resolve this imbroglio by stopping the mouth of the “do-gooders, armchair critics and self-appointed apologists” who had ulterior motives to divide and create dents through which they could penetrate and destroy the very foundation of this divinely established administration!

Did it ever occur to the apologists that the surreptitious election of Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (PDP’s), Ike Ekweremadu as Senate Deputy President was a strategic plan to infiltrate the rank and file of the APC’s Legislators in the Red Chambers and create the divisions that would be beneficial to PDP? How did Ali Ndume sail through to become Majority Leader instead of Ahmed Lawan who was constitutionally elected through APC’s Party primaries for the post if not for the PDP’s strategy that was in place?

President Buhari met with some members of the feuding legislators on 1st July, 2015, with a view to resolving the unwarranted assault against the party structures that supported them to achieve their political dreams! At the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), meeting held on Friday, 3rd July, 2015, and which was attended by the Chairman, all APC Governors and the unconstitutionally-imposed principal officers of the National Assembly, he re-emphasized APC’s determination to sanitize the polluted and corrupted political environment inherited from past administrations and advised all members to respect PARTY SUPREMACY!

Although the Nigerian Electorate has been assured that a permanent and lasting solution would have been proffered to the “teething problem” before resumption of plenary on 21st July, 2015, they needed to be told the following HOME TRUTHS: That they had constituted odium to Party principles and shame to CHANGE ideology! That they were still masquerading in the garb of their former political party (PDP), and could not blend into the new order! Was it not very glaring that they were intoxicated by accumulated financial and material political gains with which they pulled off that stunt against their Party because “empty mouths would not make crunching noises”! APC’s Constitution to which they were signatories harped on Party Discipline and Party Supremacy over all members, including Mr. President; why would they constitute “the leaven that pollutes the dough”? The political scenario being witnessed is that of the Proud who had no fear of God and would desire and relish only in transient positions of authority to the detriment of the best or most qualified and most acceptable to the party or society; otherwise, why such desperation which involved the support of external forces to sabotage Party’s principles and ideologies with so much ignominy? Their antecedents revealed they were no mean men; - some of them were ex-governors of two-consecutive terms in office, while others were Chairmen of “juicy Committees” of NASS in the past 12 years and we are still counting! Is it not very glaring that the major driving force behind these very ambitious politicians is the love of money and more money which the Word of God says, is the root of all evil! We would not be surprised if in the nearest future, the Guinness World Book of Records spotlighted any of them as being richer than Nigeria!

*It is on record that the outlandish severance allowances of Governors in Nigeria included, but not limited to the following items: Two magnificent fully-furnished mansions, one in the State Capital and another in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Between N200-370million naira annual salary for life! Free medical service for life! Full paid annual vacation! Two state-of-the-art-vehicles, a Sports Utility Vehicle and a Saloon car. Numerous aides on State’s payroll! The same unreasonable, unjustifiable, insensitive and immoral severance allowances were also claimed by Legislative principal officers and others, who “retired” from office from 30th May, 2015, while workers, pensioners, teachers remain unpaid for months! Some of our fellow Nigerians who have grabbed new positions at the NASS were among these crop of “RETIREES”, WHO WERE NOT TIRED OF MAKING MUCH MORE MONEY; and for your information, this had been the trend since the 1999-2015 PDP democratic experience! When juxtaposed with President Buhari’s ambition for the presidency, it was obvious that these power drunks had nothing to offer neither the Nigerian Electorate which “voted” them into office nor APC’s as the party platform through which they achieved their ambitions, but to plot another four years of orchestrated deceits and unfulfilled promises! No one should be surprised to discover that they might just have also manipulated processes of their elections into the Red and Green Chambers respectively! THEY HAVE ONLY ONE CHOICE, TO SHIP IN OR SHIP OFF; OLD WINE IN A NEW WINE BOTTLE ARE STRANGE COMPANIONS! *President Buhari told Diaspora Nigerians domiciled in South Africa recently: “What brought me back is the love for my country…….I was afraid Nigeria could become a nation like Somalia which ‘self-centred elites’ had succeeded in turning into a war zone in the last 20 years!” Do these set of legislators also love Nigeria which they had plotted to turn upside-down just within a space of 30days in office? They are non-compliant to anyone or institution but to their ego! “Behold, the fear of the LORD is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access,to this newsletter,logonto: facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch . I am, Yours sincerely,Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor.08130669886, 08098194390.g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com .