He was a lawmaker who helped to develop the legislative institution in the country despite the sheer aggression from the executive arm of the government. In the face of all these, he remained resolute in consolidating on the gains of democracy. This week, SUNNY IDACHABA writes on the late Umar Ghali NaAbba.
Rt. Hon. Umar Ghali Na’Abba who died last year (December 27, 2023) was the eighth speaker of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 following the removal of Salisu Buhari.
While in the House, he was known for his advocacy for legislative independence, good governance and human rights. NaAbba was also noted and praised for his courage in defending the independence of the legislature against executive interference.
Not only was he a master of his legislative art, he equally held several international parliamentary positions like vice president, Conference of Speakers of West African Parliaments, vice president, Global Parliamentarians on Habitat and vice president, African Region, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
He also attended, chaired and presented papers at several international seminars, conferences on politics, parliament, development and good governance. Among them were Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments held in New York in 2000; West African Speakers Conferences in 2000 and 2001 in Ouagadougou and Abuja respectively; Commonwealth Parliamentary Association annual conferences held variously in 1999, 2000, 2001 at Trinidad and Tobago, London and Melbourne, Australia and several others.
While as a Political Science student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in the late 70s, he was an executive committee member of the university chapter of People’s Redemption Party (PRP) established in the Second Republic by the late Aminu Kano. This was probably the beginning of his political trajectory in life.
Prior to the return of democratic dispensation in 1999, he had joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 and emerged as its candidate towards the April 1999 National Assembly election for Kano Municipal Federal Constituency and won the election to represent the constituency in the House of Representatives. With the support of other members-elect from Kano and North-west, he sought the position of speaker, but bowed to superior counsel and conceded to Ibrahim Salisu Buhari while he settled for House Committee Chairman on Appropriations.
Following Salisu Buhari’s misdemeanour in the House, the mantle of leadership fell on Na’Abba as speaker. Upon his elevation, he outlined his roadmap to include a robust defence of the independence of the newly-born legislature against the ‘aggression’ of the executive. This he strove to achieve through the consolidation of separation of powers, protection of the rule of law, actualisation of an effective legislative framework, realistic legislative governance through the passage of good laws/ resolutions, efficient management of public fund through healthy budgetary regime, enhancement of service delivery, curtailing of waste and corruption in public places and holding the executive arm accountable to the people.
Some of these were done via engaging ministers and other heads of government agencies through investigative and public hearings, scrutiny of budgetary framework, forging effective and cordial relationships with the media and civil society groups to ensure the promotion of the young parliament, among others.
One major, significant narrative about Na’Abba as speaker was his ability to tame the excesses of the executive arm of the government.
For instance, throughout his tenure, he was able to mobilise more than two-thirds majority of law makers at any given time to override presidential orders that were not in consonance with laid down rules. Such included the mobilisation of more than 300 members out of 360 to overturn President Obasanjo’s veto on bills such as NDDC and others. It was to his credit that the legislature was able to keep its head high as against what exists in the present dispensation.
Under Na’Abba, the House introduced regular debates on the State of the Nation for which in 2002, the House took a far-reaching resolution to commence impeachment proceedings against President Obasanjo with a view to tame his over- growing appetite for constitutional breaches. All these were unlike the present dispensation especially the immediate past administration where the House was sarcastically described as Executive Rubber Stamp.
This is because of his abiding principle to laid down rules, the executive did not approve of his leadership; consequently, the greater part of his tenure witnessed plots to replace him with a compromising legislator. He however survived till the end of his four-year tenure on June 3, 2003.
Na’Abba’s idea of a political party is premised on justice, fairness, equity, provision for mass participation and collaborative platform.
Writing about Na’Abba, a public commentator, Idris Shehu said the ex-speaker was someone of multiple personality to different people during his tenure as speaker.
“Some regarded him as a foremost lawmaker who fought for the autonomy of the legislature against an overbearing executive, while others might style him as a rabble-rouser who whipped up emotions against the executive for personal vendetta.
“But he was a man of steeled conviction who fought the executive led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo throughout his tenure as speaker of the green chamber and fancied himself a fierce defender of democracy and was one of the major players who thwarted Obasanjo’s purported third-term agenda.
“Na’Abba remained a significant inconvenience for Obasanjo until he lost his re-election bid to the national assembly in 2003. The former speaker believed the former president worked against him during the election out of spite.”
Speaking about his upbringing while addressing former classmates from ABU Zaria at an event in 2021, Na’Abba said, “I grew up in a family that was rich but also radical; that influenced a lot about my life. I used to have a lot of friends and was very liberal with money. When I was growing up in my family, I met a lot of people who were not even members of the family but were bearing the family’s name. Not only were my parents rich, but they were also community leaders.
“My grandfather was close to the Emir and big politicians. I used to see most of the ministers from Kano in my grandfather’s house. All the ministers came from time to time. I used to see the late Maitama Sule, the late Ibrahim Musa Kashashi and so on. Right then, I started entertaining the idea that I should be a minister. In fact, that inspired me a lot to study Political Science.”
On the role he played in halting the third term agenda bill proposed by the executive.
“What came to my mind was that the third term agenda was undemocratic and since it involved a constitutional amendment that would eliminate constitutional term limits, it was not going to be an agenda for the president to have a third term; it was for him to be president for life.
“So, my first instinct was to be wary of it and I thought that I must fight to ensure that it did not see the light of day. So, that was how other Nigerians and I collaborated to help campaign against it and eventually caused the National Assembly to vote against the constitutional amendment that could have allowed it.”
Speaking further about the condition of the country then, he said, “The condition of the country called for concern. Nobody felt safe enough to caution those in authority for fear of being harassed by the executive and their agents.
“The problem with Nigeria was that though we claimed to have a constitution and civilian rule, the system of government we were operating was neither military nor democratic. It was confusing.”
A former lawmaker Abubakar Bawa Bwari described Na’Abba as a “confident man, bold, sagacious and utterly without fear or greed.”
“He was often willing to forgo whatever emoluments promised in order to ensure that the freedom of the legislature or the interest of Nigerians was protected.
“As part of the leadership of the National Assembly, I was almost always involved in the efforts to mediate between the head of the executive branch (President Olusegun Obasanjo) and the leader of the House of Representatives, Speaker Ghali Na’abba, over issues that ranged from budgetary matters to bills that the House had passed against the wishes of the presidency, and even to alleged misappropriations and interference in the running of the party or the National Assembly.
“Things came to a head when the executive initiated a plan to impeach Ghali on some spurious charges, having bribed a number of members to lead the charge at plenary. We were able to expose the shenanigans of the executive by shaming some of those bribed into bringing the money to the floor of the House where it was laid out for the media and the world to see.
“Subsequently, it was determined that the president himself might have committed impeachable offences and a list was made of these and proceedings started towards his removal. In the end, a truce was reached and the charges were dropped but the battle to establish separation of powers between the legislature and the executive remained unrelenting because Ghali would give no quarter.”
Bawa noted that at the burial of this former speaker, Kano people proved that they don’t do things by halves, judging by the crowd that gathered and sang his praises. Ghali Na’Abba no doubt made remarkable impressions on the democratic growth of the country, the reason for which he remains an unforgotten hero in the political annals of the country.
