In politics, there are individuals and there are individuals and each individual go with his or her followership that are on two major divides. Those who are following you for their bellies and those following genuinely for their deep rooted love for you, regardless of situations or happenings, they stay-put.


Going by this, I had always declared the fact that I liked the Senate President, Alhaji Bukola Salaki and this has nothing to do with what transpired at the National Assembly but majorly because, I feel he is very intelligent and I in particular, am not less of such and so, the cordiality of innate qualities.

Well, going by what happened yesterday at the prayer ground in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, where the Senate President who is also standing trials on a 13 count-charge bothering on his assets declaration, I decided to reachout to someone who is relatively close to happenings in Kwara State to get firsthand information on exactly what transpired, so as to avoid speculative reporting, though the video clip circulating on the internet shows proof that there were altercations at the said venue yesterday but not was being reported.

Alhaji Hamza Usman is one of the brightest chaps to have come out of this country, having occupied some sensitive positions at different levels in and out of Kwara State.

He is an IT Consultant, worked with different private institutions, consulted for the Federal Character Commission under the Presidency, before being appointed Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State on IT.

He contested for the Senate of Kogi central in the 2014/ 2015 senatorial elections, but even though the primary election was inconclusive, the party went on to field an unpopular candidate who lost woefully at the polls.

Hamza has recently frayed into the financial services sector which is now heavily dependent on IT offerings, and towing the line of his parents, he is quite vested in philanthropy with particular interest in widows, orphanage, and provision of rural water systems.
In this interview with Precious Eze, he bared his mind on what really happened yesterday, Bukola Saraki as Senate President and took a look also at the National Assembly in general.

Excerpt!!!
Q. Do you have anything to say about the video that emanated from the stoning and watering (my own English) of Senator Bukola Saraki yesterday?
Hamza. I was there myself yesterday and the video in question was obviously taken from behind the lines drawn by those guys.

I heard one of the guys caught by the police confessing that it was somebody from the PDP, a formerguber aspirant that sponsored them.

I sat two rows in front of the Senate President... and I'm telling you, he wasn't whisked away, watered or pelted with stones.

You can't rule away mob action, when incited and let me ask you, in that video, did you see Saraki himself?

From all indication, not less than 500 youths were hired for that failed onslaught.

The Emir even rode off after the proceedings in an open chariot driven by two horses, while I noticed that the Senate President and some other personalities granted interviews before leaving the prayer ground.

There's no way the security personnel would have allowed any of these stated happening to continue if the much publicised context were any true.

It's irreconcilable the claims and the facts, but then again, it's obvious that the scenario presents an opportunity for his opponents (both within his party and opposition) to make a heap of it.

Q. What you are saying is that the PDP planned what happened yesterday and not Tinubu as claimed earlier?

Hamza. Did I ever say it was Tinubu?

If anybody said that, it's definitely not me.

Q. Neither did I accuse you of saying it was Tinubu, did I?

Hamza. These are two great men, but it's unfortunate that they currently appear not to be on same page. It's my prayer that they sort things out between them soonest, and this as much, in the best interest of their Party and the Nation at large.

All I have just told you is what I saw and heard right there at the prayer ground yesterday.

It's up to the investigating authorities to verify the claims of those they apprehended.

Coincidentally, I'm even as close to the person whom the fellow mentioned as the sponsor, in fact, we exchanged pleasantries as he came into the grounds yesterday, and sat along in the VIP section.

I wasn't the only one who heard the apprehended fellow make those claims about his purported sponsor, because there was a sudden surge of irate supporters of the Senate President who wanted to attack the said PDP man, but the Senate President directed that they should be stopped in their tracks, and this was achieved.

It's unfortunate, the entire incident, and worse even the twists that have been thus far published.

Some quarters even claimed that prayers were halted.... that's ridiculous, really.

If I see d Senate President again, I will advise him to task his media team accordingly to be on top of their game... I feel the protracted delay in issuing a statement on the issue gave people the opportunity to render and aggressively propagate their skewed versions.

Before God and Man, every single thing I have said about this matter, and the pictures I shared are as I witnessed the events yesterday.

Q. Are you sure he will remain Senate President?

Alot of people accuse him of pride and arrogance, why is he that way?

Hamza. It's the aftermath prospects of his removal, if done that worries me. The polity is unfortunately just going to get messier. When exactly will they move on from playing politics to settling down to the businesses they were elected for?

On the said accusation about his personality, for me, it's purely perception based, depending on who's doing the assessment.

Take for instance, your own personality; some think Precious Eze is feisty, while others applaud you for always baring your mind and standing by your right to an opinion on issues.

Who is it in Nigerian top echelon today that doesn't carry an air around them?

My concern is for Nigeria to work progressively, and I honestly think more people should set on same focus, rather than such frivolous indices that merely target at character assassination.

Q. Is Bukola Saraki complimentary to Buhari and Osinbajo?

Hamza. I think he could've been, and can still be, if given the chance, but from the very start, strong quarters had since vowed never to let him settle into the role and responsibilities that come with it.

I know they've taken a number of commendable strides, the 8th Assembly, but it isn't nearly as would've been, had there been better cooperation between the Current Executive and the Legislature.

Q. From you as a person, is how he got to office the right way to go about it?

Hamza. Honestly speaking, if I were in his shoes, and I had the opportunity, and also given the initial stand of PMB that he could work with anyone, I'd take it, believing that I have what it takes to deliver on the job.

Don't forget, he wasn't the only one looking to occupy the position that reached out to the other parties, as a matter of fact, if one examines the dynamics of that hollow chamber, you'd see that it's predicated on numeric. 

The constitution prescribes that one third of members is required to form a quorum, hence for any single party to be in a position to dictate or impose on issues about the chamber and it's members, it must have within its fold, any number above the two-thirds.

But when you have only a simple majority, and one other party has a number far greater than one-third, then your strategy should never bother on grandstanding. 

You must begin to employ such tactics as of seeming inclusiveness, because even beyond the issue of leadership in the house, to make any meaningful progress, you must carry the other party along adequately to get the required two-thirds in passing bills, and other requisite activities of the Chambers.

I don't think one should be hated for being chosen by a bride who was courted by two or more suitors.
Where's the sportsmanship?

On the emergence of the Deputy Senate President, I'd say it was rather unfortunate because, as I recall the APC man that was nominated to run had his nomination seconded by a Senator from Kwara who stood proxy during the ensuing Deputy Senate President election, and for me, I think this shows intent. However, people ought to have questioned: where were the APC senators?

Q. Why did Saraki go that far to execute his plans with a PDP deputy going against his own party? Using David Mark’s house?

Hamza. It is on record that one of the APC Leaders, Sen. Tinubu also reached out to the PDP and as said to me by one of the PDP Senators, they weren't comfortable entering into a leadership arrangement by proxy. 

According to him, Sen. Lawan never reached out to them personally, only Sen. BAT did on his behalf, while on the other hand, Sen. ABS met every single Senator, regardless of party affiliations to seek their support, hence, when they met at Sen. Mark’s residence to discuss and finalise on who to support emblock, they agreed amongst themselves that it was potentially a dangerous precedence to have the leadership controlled by an external proxy who made all the moves on his behalf leading to the inauguration. 

What assurances had they that the running of the house was not going to be subjugated to the directions from such proxy quarters.

Hence, they decided to adopt Sen. Saraki, and he was duly notified.

Don't forget that at the time the nominations for SP position was called, PDP had more senators seated, hence if they wanted to, they would've still nominated one of theirs, and it would've still being constitutional, even though some might argue of its awkwardness.

Like I said earlier, on the emergence of the Senate. Ike Ekweremadu, I'd say it's rather unfortunate because, as I recall, the APC man (Sen Ndume) that was nominated to run for same position had his nomination seconded by a Senator from Kwara, Sen. Rafiu (representing Kwara South, APC) and for me, I think this shows intent. However, where were the APC senators?

PMB stated clearly that he didn't call for any such meeting as was claimed by some quarters.

If the president wanted the inauguration halted, there were constitutional provisions that could've been followed. He could have ordered a stay of action to the clerk of the NASS. But that was never done.

I am reliably informed also that PMB was mid-air, enroute from his overseas travel that night, and only arrived in the early hours. So who ordered the police to shut the gates to NASS? These and more, are pertinent questions begging for answers. Hence, it is morally wrong to then tag the one who managed to emerge unanimously by his colleagues, as being desperate. 

Persistence and doggedness in the pursuit of one's dream is not desperation. I never saw PMB quest to rule Nigeria as desperation. He was persistent, steadfast and dogged.

If we fast forward to the aftermath of the emergence of the current NASS leadership, I don't understand why the APC could not simply imbibe consensus building but instead chose to write the leadership, in an unprecedented move to demand of them on who to occupy the rest of the leadership positions.

Please mark my words carefully. I am not saying the party shouldn't have a say, in fact, if you're familiar with party politics, you'll understand what I mean by my proposition that they should've towed the line of consensus building.

If you're driving or working towards an answer, you build confidence of members towards accepting the party position off scene, so that on scene, the party choice emerges as a consensus.

As high handed as the then ruling party was acclaimed to have been in their years at the helms, I don't remember a time the party wrote formally to the NASS leadership and demanded that their letter be read on the floor of the house.

Another point is that APC should've adopted a consensus building on the issue of the top leadership of the NASS. It should've been resolved in house, and way ahead of their inauguration. Nigerians don't deserve the bickering that have ensued thereafter, especially not after the many sacrifices of the average man on the street to see to it that change happened in Nigeria.