Nigerians, as spectators, seem to be cooling at half time on which side has, or at least, seems to have the edge in the showdown between Federal Information Minister, Dora Akunyili and executive (so high sounding) vice-chairman of the National Communications Commission, Ernest Ndukwe.
For weeks, the two of them have stood toe to toe on who has the final say on when or how to sell 2.3 GH3 radio frequency band. In other words, the Ministry of Information either has a supervisory role over the National Communications Commission or the NCC enjoys total autonomy.
There has also been the intimidating argument that if the NCC obeyed the Ministry of Information and cancelled the sale of the radio frequency, the Nigerian state (that is either the Federal Government or the NCC) might be sued for breach of contract.

For a start, this won't be the first time two public office holders would be openly involved in a row over implementation of government policy. In 1978, Olusegun Obasanjo's military regime initiated a policy to limit the transmission of Radio Nigeria stations in Ibadan, Enugu, Lagos and Kaduna to medium wave. Hitherto, these four stations were transmitting on the short wave so that any listener in any part of the country could tune to a station of his choice.
The man saddled with the task of enforcing the controversial policy was the (then) Federal Information Minister Ayo Ogunlade, the scourge of adversary journalism. He had no problem in enforcing the new policy at Radio Nigeria stations in Lagos, Ibadan and Enugu but the then military governor of Kaduna State, Group Captain Usman Jibrin not only openly resisted Ayo Ogunlade's directive but also to his face in Kaduna.

Notably, the idea of limiting Radio Nigeria's transmission throughout the country to medium wave was not the minister's personal policy but Federal Government's policy, and a military government at that. A military governor resisting his Commander-In-Chief's order?
Instead of asserting himself to enforce the policy already in operation in Lagos, Enugu and Ibadan by backing the minister, Commander-In-Chief General Olusegun Obasanjo sacrificed Ayo Ogunlade, dropping him from the cabinet.
In that controversial situation, Obasanjo employed the quota system by removing Group Captain Jibrin as a military governor but stopped short of dismissing him from the armed forces. With his retirement, Group Captain Jibrin had the better of Ayo Ogunlade who, as minister, was innocently carrying out Obasanjo's federal military government policy.

This time, President Umaru Yar'Adua does not face that dichotomy in the showdown between Information Minister and the NCC chairman. Dora Akunyili and Ernest Ndukwe are both South easterners if not from Anambra. Unfortunately, instead of easing prospects for a solution of their disagreement, their affinity has, in fact, rendered Dora Akunyili vulnerable to blackmail from some of her villagers, more in desperation that she is out to get her brother sacked.
To start with, running of Ministry of Information or any ministry for that matter is not a family affair. Accordingly, if it is government policy, any Minister of Information (from Ijebu-Ode, Malumfashi, Lasa, or Zuru) would have taken Dora Akunyili's position. What is more, executive vice-chairmanship of National Communications Commission is not a life appointment.

Certainly, it is not being suggested that even if either Dora Akunyili (as Information Minister) or Ernest Ndukwe (as executive vice chairman of NCC) is wrong in this matter, (and one of them must be wrong) the other should look the other way?
Can it be true that if the sale of the radio frequency band is cancelled with the aim of eventually following due process, Federal Government or the NCC may be sued for alleged breach of contract?

There should be a task here for the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. The same Yar'Adua regime did not hesitate last time to cancel the rushed sale of our oil refineries because due process was not followed. Indeed, in this matter, the lot of the Attorney-General/Minister of Justice is not enviable. Whichever side he leans strictly on legal advice, will earn him criticism.
The National Communications Commission is either a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Information or not. President Yar'Adua is to determine the position on the clarification of his chief law officer, Federal Attorney General. If the NCC is determined not to be a parastatal under the information ministry, Umaru Yar'Adua should unhesitatingly get the minister off the back of the executive chairman of the National Communications Commission.

If on the other hand, the NCC is determined by the Attorney-General's legal advise to be, like other agencies a parastatal under the information ministry, then Umaru Yar'Adua has the duty to back his minister all the way. The minister must not be undermined. Otherwise, a dangerous precedent would have been set for insubordination of other agencies against the supervising ministries.
This row centers on the minister's directive being disregarded on either to stop the sale of the radio frequency band or comply with due process. On assuming office, Yar'Adua introduced strict compliance with due process as a major cornerstone of his administration. Dora Akunyuli cannot therefore be faulted for trying to enforce that policy.

There have been various suspected foul tactics to secure an edge in this argument. The latest is the alleged forgery of the petitions on which the poor minister had acted. Perhaps in truth, the petitions were forged. In other words, no bidding company ever complained. There is therefore no basis for the minister to have queried the NCC.
However, rather curiously, it took the concerned companies almost a month to deny ever petitioning the minister against the sale of the frequency band. Why was it not of any concern to these companies when their names were in the media as petitioners against the sale of the radio frequency.
Surely, these erstwhile protesting companies were outside Nigeria in far way Burkina Faso. On the other hand could there have been a conspiracy to make the Information Minister embark on a search for something which never got lost?
This aspect must be thoroughly probed with or without the Information Minister's knowledge and consent or even complaint. Why was the hurry for the National Communications Commission to rush through over one billion naira contract within five days? Would Nigeria have lost a kobo if the minister's intervention had stopped the sale for the next one month?

That undue haste to sell the radio frequency moreso in disregard of the minister's order, opened the NCC to suspicion of insider dealing rightly or wrongly.
There are no two ways about it. The nearest to this rushed transaction was Olusegun Obasanjo's approval and order for immediate investment of Nigeria's half a billion dollars in the still-born African Finance Corporation five days before he (Obasanjo) left office in May 2007.
An EFCC probe of that investment later reported money laundering, fraud, roundtripping etc, a report which was blacked out by entire Nigerian print and electronic media except the Channels Television.