Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, tells EROMOSELE EBHOMELE why the House does not trust President Goodluck Jonathan
How would you assess the House in the last one year?
I can tell you that the House has not done badly in the last one year. We have been able to put our foot on the ground on very important issues. We have also fought for the entrenchment of democracy through our activities.
I won’t say there were no flaws, but these flaws are things that could easily be overcome. It is a learning process, but I can assure you that 2013 will be a better year for Nigerians because of what we hope to put in place.
There’s pessimism concerning the attempt to review the constitution…
I want to ask Nigerians to understand, trust and appreciate what the House of Representatives has done so far. It was the House of Representatives that suggested that all members go back to their constituents to tell them the particular areas of the constitution we are already working on for amendment and to have their views or positions concerning these sections of the constitution. And I can tell you that all the views of the people have been articulated, fused and forwarded to the Constitutional Amendment Committee for the final process of amending the constitution.Let us come to think of it. On issues such as state police, office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the people have spoken. The people have also spoken concerning the electoral process. What they need to do is wait till the end of the process to know if their views were articulated or not. I would not want Nigerians to think that it is what we want or what the Senate wants that would go into the constitution. I want them to be optimistic because at the end, we would be giving them an all-round constitution that would meet their needs and yearnings.
What is your view on state police?
It is the agenda of my party that there should be state police in the light of what we are currently experiencing. The federal police is not doing badly in its effort to stem the tide of criminality, but to complement their efforts, we need state police.
The country practises the federal system of government and in some countries where this system of government is practised, there exists the Sherriff that is the equivalent of a local police boss. We can start state police and if it works well, we can go deeper into other forms of policing. State police, I repeat, is to complement the efforts of the federal police.
On the fears that some of the governors would use them as their tools during elections or for personal interests, I will suggest that the federal police and other law enforcement agents could be brought into the picture during elections and be complemented by the state police. Then, during local government elections, the state or local police could oversee the process.
There is also this controversy about state creation…
The truth is that we at the House of Representatives do not believe that, at this point in time, the country needs new states because more than three-quarters of the 36 states that we have cannot even fend for themselves. They depend solely on federal allocations and we don’t want to believe that this is what Nigerians need. Instead, we are supposed to be looking at states that would be economically independent of the federal government.
As it is, only the Federal Capital Territory and Lagos State can stay afloat without federal allocation. So, I want to appeal to those calling for state creation to leave that for now and concentrate on making this country grow. Let us work on the existing 36 states and make them independent.
How would you describe the relationship between House and the executive arm of government?
I will tell you that for democracy to survive in this country, there should not be a cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature. While we represent everybody, including the executive arm, those in the executive arm are mainly on appointment.
As far as this country is concerned, we have 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 senators. The President and his deputy are on a joint ticket to govern this nation at the federal level. If we, the representatives of the people, cannot speak the minds of the people on very important issues concerning the well-being of the country, we would not be fair to ourselves. No relationship can be cordial when simple things that contribute to the very meaning of existence for the citizens are not being put in place. There would always be controversy and problems between the executive and the legislature and we must be seen to be continuously in support of those who sent us to the National Assembly.
You said the relationship is not cordial, but the House approved money for subsidy in December when you knew the year was ending.
It was not an easy task at the House of Representatives. It was a big challenge for us because we felt the same way you feel and it is that there was no basis for asking for N166 billion just three weeks to the end of the year. It showed that the money had been spent, but in order to give a legal backing to the money, they came by way of supplementation. How can you be coming within three weeks to the end of the year for such an amount when we budgeted about N800 billion for subsidy during the year? Asking for N166 billion makes the total sum almost N1 trillion.
The truth at that period was that the President must have done something to the budget and overshot it. But to give it a legal backing, he ran to the National Assembly.
We have done our bit, we sent it to the concerned committee and as usual, the committee conducted its investigation and had its defence. However, the committee’s defence was not enough to pass it. But since our counterparts at the Senate had given it a nod, we didn’t want to be seen as being perpetually against the government.
In all, what we are saying is that Nigerians should rally round us in 2015 and vote the opposition into power so that we can have a government that truly cares and not one that sacrifices the destiny of the people on the altar of partisan politics.
But the President has promised that 2013 will yield improvements…
We are not optimistic. The President makes promises endlessly. When he was coming to power in 2011, he said he was coming to the office because he knew where the shoes pinch Nigerians. On getting there, the narrative changed. In 2012, he said he knew he was slow, but that he would do well. That year has ended and what happened?
In 2013, he is again promising heaven and earth. We are not optimistic and what we would do as a House is to go back to the drawing board and ensure we put the Presidency on its toes so that it can work for the benefit of the people.
What is the position of the House on the fight against corruption?
We have not seen much sincerity on the part of the executive arm. The Transparency International said over N5 trillion has disappeared under the Jonathan administration. All that the President has said is that it is not a statement of fact and that the Presidency is doing everything to fight corruption. The position is that the executive needs to do more. At our own end, we would strengthen all relevant government institutions to fight this problem that has taken over the country. We are doing everything possible on this.
Recently, the Money Laundering Act was approved by the House in line with international best practices. This and many others are aimed at reducing corruption to the barest minimum.
…This interview was published in TheNEWS magazine of 14 January 2013.
