A former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, tells LEKE BAIYEWU his position on the issues in the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State
There are reports that the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State has expelled you, what did you do?
I have not been expelled. Nobody can expel me. I am the only person that can expel any other person. For any person to be expelled, there must be an allegation against them, the allegation must be placed before them, and they must be asked for an explanation, but there was no such thing. The chairman and all the executive members of the ward, my local government and the state (chapter of the APC) have come out to say there was no such decision and any such announcement is null and void. So, there is no expulsion or suspension.
Does it mean you were not accused of anything?
Of course, what is the allegation? The allegation, according to the fake news, was that I went to court. First, I went to court to defend myself and my mandate as the governorship candidate of the APC in Akwa Ibom State. I was not the person that sued on whose name should be sent (as the candidate). I went to defend the suit and it was struck out in my favour at the Federal High Court for want of jurisdiction. Their small-mindedness and idea of releasing that fake document on the 25th (of January) was to take the letter to court on the 26th to show the court that this defendant is no more a member of the party and that the court should not listen to me but should give a judgment against me in their favour. That was the essence of that letter. Also, they felt I would not proceed to the Supreme Court. I have already filed my appeal at the Supreme Court. So, there is nothing I have done that warranted such an allegation and fake news. The best that can be done about it is not to dignify that false, fake news with a response but since it is coming from you and I have a lot of respect for The PUNCH and for you to hear both sides, I decided to respond to you.
You were in the Peoples Democratic Party before joining the APC, how do you feel about what is happening to you in the governing party now?
Nothing has happened to me in the APC. It is the people whom I brought in to give a shelter from their political fugitive status that their former party – the PDP – gave them that want to fight me, perhaps, the way some of them fought me in the PDP. But I am having very great peace, accommodation and satisfaction with the APC. I don’t have a problem.
With your role and experience as a presidential aide on Niger Delta affairs, how do you feel about the formation of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission and the personalities of the members?
I would not want to talk about an independent organisation which has a full board of its own, with a management structure. They have just started. We should give them time to settle.
You were in the Senate and later in the Presidency. Having gained experience from the legislature and the executive, how do you feel about the criticism that the current 9th National Assembly is a rubber stamp and appendage of the executive?
It is not. The public believes that the National Assembly – the legislature – should be like NADECO (National Democratic Coalition, a pro-democracy group that fought against military rule in Nigeria) to the executive; or like the opposition party to the executive. It is not so. Besides, under (former Senate President, Bukola) Saraki’s leadership of the National Assembly, there were fights because of the way they (Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Speaker of the House of Representatives) emerged against the will of certain institutions in the party. I managed the crises; I managed the issues and we were able to bring it under control, and they worked together. Now, the present executive and the leadership of the National Assembly emerged consensually and they have an understanding to work like one government to give the country leadership. That is not being a rubber stamp. The legislature is not to fight every day. I am sure you have seen that there are many things that the executive brings that the legislature disagrees with; and there are some bills that were (passed by the National Assembly and) sent to the President (Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)) for assent but they are not assented to. So, it is not a rubber stamp. It is just that there are not many contentious issues and those issues are addressed at the caucus level of the party at the National Assembly. You remember that under the former (Assembly), the National Assembly was ultimately led by the PDP Senate and House leadership, while the executive was APC. And the deputy Senate president (Ike Ekweremadu) was under the PDP when Saraki was an APC Senate president until Saraki defected and joined the PDP. So, it became a full PDP-controlled legislature against an APC-controlled federal executive. I am sure you can see the situation happening in the United States now, where (Joe) Biden as President is now being overseen by the legislature – the Congress that is populated with the majority of the Republican Party. I am sure you have seen the heat that they are having. So, it is a normal situation. When it was controlled by the Democratic Party, Biden did not seem to have a problem. He did not need to negotiate too many things before they were done. So, it does not mean they (National Assembly) are a rubber stamp; they are not.
