To fully understand the undercurrents, it’s, perhaps, necessary here to define the dramatis personae in contention. On the one hand are two Enugu senators including the senate president himself, Chief Ken Nnamani, and Fidelis Okoro; on the other is the state governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani.

To be sure, in politics, conflict is natural. But what makes the Enugu case look abominable now is the ridiculous extent actors would go out of vendetta. The motion, sponsored by Okoro, is pointedly seeking suspension of allocation to Enugu State for not conducting “proper” elections into local councils yet and running development councils. On the surface, it would look like a principled step taken out of genuine passion for democracy. The question then arises: Is Enugu the only state that has not conducted “proper election” into councils or running development areas for that matter? Of course, the answer is a capital “No”. So, it becomes quite clear to appreciate what truly motivates Okoro and company: pettiness.

Indeed, one observes that this kind of legislative terrorism is fast becoming the vogue at the senate where actors will, in a clear abuse of their mandate, seek to reduce the otherwise sacred chamber to an amusement park in fashioning weapons – no matter how jejune – to score petty points against political foes. The other day, it was the turn of Senator Arthor Nzeribe to move a motion seeking the suspension of council allocation to his native Imo State simply because he had an axe to grind with Governor Achike Udenwa.

Ordinarily, it should sound ridiculous that our federal lawmakers, who should know, continue to advertise crass ignorance of the true meaning of federalism. The issue of power relations between federal and state governments over council has undoubtedly been settled by the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Attorney General of Lagos State vs. Attorney-General of the Federation (2004) in favour of the former.

When last this kind of battle raged between Abuja and Lagos over the latter’s creation of new councils, it was the masses that bore the burnt eventually. Following the Supreme Court verdict of 2005, Abuja ate the humble pie by releasing the entitlements due to Lagos (though there is still an outstanding N14b).

To be sure, no one should deny the Enugu federal lawmakers their right to keep malice against their governor. But the warriors should spare the ordinary people of their constituencies the trauma of having to bear the burden of the elite dispute. When statutory allocations are withheld, it is the innocent teachers, civil servants and social service that suffer ultimately as we saw in Lagos.

In case these restless Enugu war-mongers are still dying to fight, they’re well advised to deploy their boundless energies in less sensitive turf where the civil society is assured of less collateral damage. The next election day should offer a better boxing ring. So, when, hopefully, the motion comes up for hearing this week, other senators would truly distinguish themselves by doing what is most sagacious in the circumstance: shout the sponsors down.

From Sunday Sun September 24, 2006