The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, Neda Imasuen, has opened up on the behind-the-scenes acrimonies and dirty fights amongst senators in the lead up to the passage of President Bola Tinubu’s Tax Reform Bills as the sharply divided Senate, along tribal lines, tried to push their positions.
Senator Imasuen, who saluted what he described as President Tinubu’s “unbelievable courage” and selflessness for remaining dogged despite very stiff resistance by the North, believed that some presidents would have chickened out.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that Senator Imasuen spoke at a media parley with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the weekend in his Benin City residence.
According to him, “He’s a man with courage. He has such a strong courage that is unbelievable. I’ll give you an example. When we were faced with the Tax Bill, it was a whole lot of things that happened within the Senate floor that nobody sees it especially when we were having a closed door, without camera, and people thought we were sharing money.
“But sometimes, we were using unwarranted languages and throwing tantrums at each other and all that just because you are holding strongly to your views.
“We were holding strongly to our views and because of that, the northerners sometimes said they will never support him to come for a second term. But if it were some presidents, they would capitulate and say let me softly back down on this so that I can come back for a second term. But President Tinubu said no, I will do the right thing. So, for me, he is a man of courage who didn’t say because of this second tenure thing, he will not do the right thing”.
Imasuen stated that the president’s insistence in conducting a national census is another area he had demonstrated unprecedented courage given the sensitive nature of a head count.
He said, “Look at the population now, he’s also thinking of conducting population census. He said we must have accurate population. But who would fault that? But many presidents would not want to touch it because it’s very sensitive. You know, north is so heavy on population. And to take an accurate census would create a lot of offset in the country. But he doesn’t care. He said, “Look, we have to face it.” Let’s face it once and for all. For me, he’s a courageous man”.
Senator Imasuen, a member of the Labour Paty, LP, also expressed mixed feelings over the recent Supreme Court judgement which sacked Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the party. While welcoming the judgement for ending Abure’s stranglehold on the party and stunting its progress, he, on the other hand, wondered if the resolution of the protracted leadership crisis that had rocked the party for some years was not coming “a little too late”.
Imasuen’s concern was the way forward for a party that had been “decimated” and abandoned by most of its members who had defected to other parties.
According to him, “Sincerely, I also welcome the Supreme court judgement that sacked Barrister Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party in Nigeria.
“A lot has gone on in the Labour Party, and it is very unfortunate. So, Abure, who was the chairman at the time, in my opinion, really didn’t have the Labour party at heart because it became a personal thing.
“It became something that didn’t really matter to them, and it was like let’s fight and tear the party into pieces instead of preserving it. That sort of thing was not what I expected from someone who led the party at a time. And so, he has been dragging the party in and out of court and now that the Supreme Court has finally sealed it, so be it. It’s a welcome development.
“But the question for me and for all of us now is where do we go from here? Someone spoke with me on the matter early this morning (Friday), and I said, I just hope that it’s not a little too late for what has just come up because the Labour Party is almost decimated. Most of the members have gone. Will this judgement bring them back? I don’t know. Will it energise those who are there now? Again, I don’t know. So, sometime, we’ll talk.”
Howbeit, Senator Imasuen dithered when asked if he would be seeking re-election on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
He retorted: “Why do you say APC? It’s a good question but remember what I said when we started. I said that I’m glad to be part of this. It’s a partnership that I seek. And I also said that whatever decision or direction I take, you’ll be the first to know”