Deluge Of Sorrow For Hembe

Last Friday was a dark day for a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Herman Hembe, following his sacking by the Supreme Court, Felix Nwaneri reports

Herman Hembe, the youthful lawmaker, who, before last Friday represented Vandeikya/Konshisha constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives, is surely not a happy man at the moment. This is as a result of the twist that has left him with the misery of recalling the time when he called the shots from the Green Chambers of the National Assembly.

For a young man who got elected to the federal legislature in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), just few years after he graduated from the university, many had expected that that it was a matter of time that Hembe gets to play at the big stage given the way he navigated his way into Benue politics amidst established politicians and got elected to the National Assembly.

Born on June 22nd 1975, Hembe attended Mount Saint Gabriel’s Secondary School Makurdi for his Senior School Certificate in 1992. He thereafter, proceeded to the Benue State University, Makurdi where he read Law. He graduated in 2001 and proceeded to the Nigeria Law School, Lagos, where he obtained Barrister at Law (BL) certificate in 2003 and did the one year national service in Ogun State.

The question many asked, when Hembe won the federal constituency seat was how a rookie without experience would cope with the legislative process. Hembe neither practiced Law nor worked in the public service before then. He however proved the pessimists wrong as it didn’t take time before he found his feet in hallowed chambers. He got re-elected in 2011 also on the platform of the PDP before he moved to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 and returned to the House in 2015 for the third time.

His background, perhaps, helped him settle easily in the legislative job. As an undergraduate, he developed interest in politics and participated in student unionism both at his university and national level. He once served as Director of Sports of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). Besides this, his father, late Prof. Godwin Hembe, was a Political Science lecturer at the Benue State University.

The late Hembe also served as a member of the National Constitutional Conference Abuja in 1993 and later ran for the former Konshisha Federal Constituency on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but lost at the primaries. He made another attempt in 1998 for Konshisha State Assembly seat on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but also lost. However, what the late professor could not achieve politically, his son did.

But, for Hembe, who averred that his goal in the legislature is “to make the people of my constituency experience a lease of life considering that impoverishment has been their portion over the years,” controversy seemed another target, he did not afford to overlook in the course of his legislative duties and he has a handful in his kitty.

The first time this side of him would come to limelight was during the probe of the Capital Market in 2012. A bewildered public watched Hembe personalise the House Committee on Capital Market that he chaired. He did not only labeled the then Director General of Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh, a fraud, but accused her of expending N30 million on hotel bills in eight months following her appointment in January 2010. He also accused her of spending N850,000 on food in Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

Oteh hit back, saying: “Hembe lacks credibility. For instance, he collected estacode and other travel allowances from the Securities and Exchange Commission to travel to the Dominican Republic on a capacity enhancement conference for capital market regulators. He did not go neither did he return the money collected.”

She added that Hembe also asked SEC to contribute N39 million towards the public hearing as well as demanded another N5 million cash. On this premise, she declared: “I doubt it if I can have fair hearing from this committee and this fact has been more than demonstrated with the way you are handling this important issue.”

What followed the claims and counter-claims was the dissolution of the committee. In its stead, another one headed by Ibrahim Tukur Elsudi was mandated to conclude the investigations, while the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges was asked to look into the allegations made by Oteh. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also stepped in and quizzed Hembe.
The Benue lawmaker was also recently involved in a spat with former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, during the probe of the Centenary City project by the House Committee on Federal Capital Territory.

Hembe’s committee was conducting investigations into alleged irregularities surrounding the Centenary City project, but the probe got overshadowed by drama between Hembe and Anyim on one hand and a former Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed as well as a member of the committee, Hon. Linus Okorie.

Anyim, a former Senate president, accused Hembe of pursuing a personal agenda for his (Anyim) refusal to sack Oteh as a result of the SEC probe saga. “You have told everybody that cared to listen that when the former DG of SEC accused you of demanding bribe from her, you pushed for her to be sacked and I refused to sack her while I was SGF, and so this is an opportunity for you to pay me back. Mr. Chairman, I will not allow you to use the National Assembly platform to pursue personal vendetta,” he said.

The former SGF also alleged that Hembe has been sending messages to the Managing Director of the Centenary City Project PLC, Dr. Odenigwe Ike Michael, to come and see him privately. “It was after all your efforts to get the MD to come and see you privately failed, that you confirmed this date after several postponements. I want you to know that nobody will see you privately, rather we are ready for the hearing,” he said.

Anyim also raised issues over his invitation, noting that the committee did not follow the right protocol in the process of inviting him as a former Chairman of the National Assembly. “The proper protocol in inviting a former Senate President is to have the Clerk of the National Assembly sign the invitation letter,” he said. Members of the committee protested over this, shouting “who is he?” Hembe, in his response, told Ayim that “as far as this hearing is concerned, I am chairman here, and I will not allow you to usurp my powers.”

Anyim however maintained his ground and urged Hembe to disqualify himself, for having “a deep seated personal interest and bias in this matter and not in a position to guarantee fair hearing to myself and the entire subject matter.” Hembe declined to disqualify himself and proceedings continued.

The drama continued, when Mohammed also vocally trashed Hembe, accusing him of being childish. He had refused to take an oath saying he would not testify but would rather adopt the position of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) on the Centenary City project, when he appeared before the Hembe committee.

Mohammed, who is also a former Senator, said he would only speak when asked specific questions. Hembe, however, scolded him, saying: “We expect as an elder, as a senator and a former minister, your conduct should be above board.”

While misgivings were expressed in some quarters over Hembe’s attitude in his conduct of public affairs, he never gave a damn. The rough neck tactics and unrelenting aggression was however brought to a naught last Friday, when the Supreme Court sacked him from the lower legislative chamber.

The apex court declared that Hembe did not win the APC primary to vie for the election to represent Vandeikya/ Konshisha federal constituency. The court held that Dorothy Mato won the party’s ticket and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue her with a certificate of return. It also ordered Hembe to return all salaries and benefits he had collected while in office within 90 days and pay N700,000 to Mato.