Recently, some five governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the All Progressives Congress(APC). This followed a long protest against alleged dictatorial tendencies of the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, by the G-7 as the then seven ‘rebellious’ governors were called. The governors were those of  Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso(Kano), Niger’s Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Kwara’s   Abdulfatah Ahmed, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Sule Lamido of Jigawa as well as Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state. Of the seven, only Lamido and Aliyu opted out of the arrangement as the duos insisted on remaining within the PDP.

But following the defection, there were fears that the dominance which PDP has in the federal legislature could come under threat. A major test of the political development played out on Thursday  at the Senate when the Upper Chamber was confronted with the confirmation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s nominee for the chair of Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem and some three others as commissioners in the agency. The commissioner nominees are ; Dr Femi Ogunsola (Kwara), Hon Isibor Ifaluyi (Edo) and Mrs Adaeze Gloria Idigo-Izundu(Anambra).

To be confirmed, nominees should as a matter of rule in the Senate, have the backing of two of the three senators from his or her state. This had been the standard until quite recently when the upper chamber changed the rule in respect of two new APC states of Rivers and Kwara.

Before the confirmation, Abdulraheem’s choice had gone through a lot of stormy moments with Bukola Saraki, a former governor of his home state and current senator insisting it won’t sail through. At different times he strongly worked against his candidature owing to local rivalry between the two personalities. To Saraki, he is the political leader in the state and everybody must court his favour.

For the  Dahiru Awaisu Kuta-led  committee on federal character and inter-governmental affairs, this singular moment gave it some challenges while Abdulraheem’s trial in Saraki’s court lasted. Much pressure was brought to bear on the committee members from all interests and groups. But after several postponements, the Senate last week dared the anti-Abulraheem elements and upheld the former university administrator’s choice as FCC chairman for the second term.  This followed the committee’s report recommending Abdulraheem and the three others for confirmation by the Senate.

Deliberately or intentionally,  Saraki and another lawmakers from the state, Mohammed Shaaba  Lafiagi who had opposed his candidature were not  at the plenary during the confirmation debate. But they stated their objection in the consideration paper. The third lawmaker from the Kwara South Senatorial District, Simon Sule Ajibola stood by the nominee. Despite their opposition, the Senate ruled that it would not sacrifice merit for local politics, thus making the support by majority senators as reason for supporting, especially Abdulraheem’s candidature.

Just a day before the confirmation of the trios, the Senate had considered the nominees of the president for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from Rivers, again despite opposition from two senators from the state.

To Kwara politics that reared its ugly head during the confirmation debate of Abdulraheem, it was a clear demonstration of how things are done in the state. This, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman (Kaduna, PDP) strongly protested, saying such adversarial politics won’t be allowed in the red chamber. She spoke after the minority leader, George Akume had spoken in favour of Saraki’s stand, claiming that Abdulraheem was a failure during his first tenure and therefore did not deserve another term.

Taking strong exception to the opposition however, the female lawmaker stoutly rose in defence of the nominee, saying he was only a victim of the local politics in Kwara state. She specifically accused Saraki of playing God even when the professor tried to placate and solicit his support. Usman opened up on what transpired and the futile efforts by the godfather of Kwara politics to nip Abdulraheem’s appointment in the bud when she and a colleague of hers,  Senator James Manager took the embattled academic to Saraki’s office for his support.

Faulting Saraki’s position, she said:“But the question here should be that the person in question here, has he visited his senators, shown them respect or not? And the answer here is, he has. I know one occasion when he(Abdulraheem) was there; I went there with Senator James Manager.

“The unfortunate thing which everyone in this chamber knows is that when he visited the senator, he(Saraki) recorded their discussion, played it out and sent it through blackberry messenger back to his senatorial constituents where he showed and said that he believed he was that important.

“Otherwise, why were people coming to talk to him(Saraki) about the issue which means no one could get appointment from Kwara without his blessing. Yes, he said it.

“I think that this is a distinguished chamber, we are all distinguished members and we must act as distinguished members. I therefore call on each and every member of this distinguished Senate to please, support the confirmation of not just the professor but other members.”

Ruling on the matter, Senate President, David Mark who commended his colleagues’ decision to bend the rules in the above two instances, saying “We must not and we should never sacrifice merit and efficiency on the altar of local politics. I think we must avoid that, not even on the altar of politics of any kind at all.”

With Abdulraheem now scaling the hurdle and returning to his seat as the FCC helmsman, the academic as a major foot soldier of President Jonathan should be as good as ready to do battle with the new APC in Kwara state as 2015 approaches. This , certainly is going to be a further demonstration  of his loyalty to his party, and indeed Mr. President.

Beyond this however is the lesson of power and luck which all the Nigerian leaders should learn. Today’s holder of power must not carry his or her luck too far. Experience has shown that an average Nigerian leader, elected or appointed sees himself as a thin god and tends to be dictatorial, high handed as well as  the all-in-all. Ego and self-centeredness which have always been major characters of the godfathers in Nigerian politics is one thing that must be checked as done by the Senate. If the recoding of their discussion which was done in hiding as claimed by Usman is true, then somebody somewhere is playing dirty politics.

Finally, a precedent has been set in the Abdulraheem versus Saraki legislative battle for clearance-for-job. But will the Senate be able to sustain the tempo? This is more so, when it is common knowledge that the thorny road to Abdulraheem’s confirmation was clearly occasioned by some political differences between the leader as Saraki is generally known and called in his home state and the university teacher. This indeed is a lesson of all times.