Ali Ndume, former Senate Majority Leader and senator representing southern Borno, is a member of the Senate Constitutional Review Committee. The former Senate Chief Whip spoke to reporters after a retreat held by his committee in Kano last week. TAIWO AMODU brings you excerpts from the interview.
Why is the National Assembly so desperate for another constitutional review?Nigerians see this as another jamboree with lawmakers living a wealthy life while the nation fights for economic survival. are.
Democracy is not cheap; it is expensive. That’s one thing. But that’s no excuse. Just because we want a presidential system doesn’t mean we give players a blank check to write whatever amount they want. Fortunately, there is a budget process. Both houses of the National Assembly started with a figure of less than 100 billion naira, but it has since increased. I think it has continued to rise since then and is now around 300 billion naira. However, since the national budget is over 30 trillion naira, this is about 1% of the national budget. Well, when you look at what Nigerians are going through, and we as MPs, senators and congressmen, and the way we live, they feel, “This government spends too much.” Therefore, I agree with the opinion that we all need to look at our spending so that it looks the same.
Regarding the review of the Constitution, to be honest, I don’t think there are that many problems with the Constitution. What is important is to protect the fundamental purpose of government. And what is the fundamental purpose of government? It is clearly stated in Article 14 of the Constitution. That’s enough. It clearly states the purpose of the government. It is the safety and welfare of the people. If that is the only part of the constitution, all other provisions are aimed at ensuring the safety and welfare of the people. it’s okay. Another thing we need is to strengthen government institutions. Because security and welfare are provided by the three branches of government. It is an executive branch headed by the president, governors at the state level, and chairmen at the local government level. . In that case, the judiciary at the federal level must dispense justice, regardless of who it affects. Third, the legislature is supposed to be the body that oversees the government. It ensures checks and balances. Everything else falls into place. If you focus on what I said, there is no need to mess with the Constitution. That’s my own opinion.
Now, three things are central to our retreat here. One is federalism. Two are state police issues, three are local government enforcement, and four are election laws and processes.
Let’s start with federalism. I make my case and stand by it. There are 195 countries in the world, but only 25, including Nigeria, practice federalism. So, for me, this cry for federalism is unnecessary. Of course, this is a very good idea and one that could be considered if considered, but all of this is in line with democracy. What is democracy? You know more about government of the people, for the people, and by the people than I do. So I think the people living in this country should decide which way to go. By doing so, this constitutional amendment will naturally reach that point. There will be public hearings, everyone will have their say, then Congress will pass it, and it will become the only law in this country. When it is passed, everyone will stand up and answer their father’s name. So I think the media does a great service to this country if you disrespect this country (federalism). Because right now, the majority of the people are trying to put the cart before the horse, tensions are rising in some areas, and the people’s attention is now being diverted. Pay attention to good governance. Regardless of the type of system you are operating, if the government and the institutions I have mentioned are not strong enough to provide accountability, transparency, fairness, and justice, the system will not work. But where there is fairness and justice, transparency and accountability, the people do not care who the head of state is. If these institutions are strong, then the president, head of state, or other entity is not above the law, and the legislature as an institution is not above the law, but truly independent but interdependent. This means that But that’s not what’s happening in Nigeria, and that’s not where the attention is.
The most important thing today is to look at good governance and legislation that improves good governance in terms of accountability and transparency. A major challenge in this country is corruption. To date, there are no laws that proactively address the problem of corruption. If you find someone who is not corrupt in our system, especially in politics, you are lucky. He is a God-fearing man. Otherwise, it is only in Nigeria that one steals money and then goes free and is then celebrated. I see someone who has nothing this week buy 10 cars and a jet plane next week and fly with his siblings and parents and say that Allah has blessed him with his son. is only in this country. Only Nigeria does that. In developed countries, people are asked when, where and how they got this money. I have attempted several times to introduce a bill regarding unaccounted funds in the Diet. It never saw the light of day. When I realized that I could sign a presidential bill on such issues, I went to the former president and as of now, there is no law on unexplained wealth in Nigeria and there is no executive order on unexplained wealth.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Supreme Court ruling regarding the autonomy of local governments. However, many are of the opinion that nothing will be accomplished if the governor continues to be busy holding municipal elections. What is your committee doing about that? Should state independent electoral commissions be stripped of responsibilities handled by the Independent National Electoral Commission?
Now, let me say that I support local government autonomy. This is because local government autonomy is a branch of the government, and if you say you don’t have autonomy, that becomes a problem. It’s in the Constitution, and that’s why the president went to the Supreme Court to rule on it, and the court recognized local autonomy, but we’re not going to create a blank law just because it doesn’t work. So if you want the law to be effective, you have to bring the people along. The decision is very clear. If the organization is strong, it can be enforced. But we need to consider how laws and judgments are enforced. As you rightly observed, after the verdict, professional issues began to emerge. In fact, in the worst case scenario, in one state, all the local government chairmen dressed up and went to the governor and said, “We don’t like autonomy.” They’re talking about something that impacts other people’s lives for a four-year term.
I support self-government because I have seen it work in this country before local governments lost their powers. Local governments built roads, provided lighting, and built elementary schools. However, the time has come when some local governments are unable to pay teachers’ salaries even if they are given autonomy. That’s the warning I’m talking about. It is not just a blank slate of autonomy. In my state, there are local governments like Biu and Kau that cannot pay salaries. Therefore, the idea of joint accounting was born to protect weak local governments. In other words, how to make local governments more efficient and viable is what we should consider in our constitutional review.
Now, regarding the question of who should conduct the local government elections, I support the idea that INEC should conduct the elections. They hold presidential elections, parliamentary elections, gubernatorial elections, and House of Representatives elections, so why don’t they hold local government elections?
Another idea that has been floated in the Diet is the creation of a National Local Government Election Commission. Why create a commission for an election that will take place within a week and will not take place for another four years?The INEC that we currently have is underutilized. You can use it for other things. Nigeria’s elections are deliberately complicated to be manipulated. Why not create a law that allows votes to be counted and elect your loved ones? Why not create a law that allows INEC to effectively monitor elections? I think the fundamental problem is a lack of integrity and fear of God.
Most people are calling for state police to be sent in, what are your thoughts on this?
I don’t support the state police. That’s my position. why? There are two reasons. Currently, the number of police officers nationwide is less than 400,000. Instead of calling for the creation of state police, why not increase their numbers, train, equip, arm and motivate what I call “teams”, and then adopt the United Nations recommendations on police enforcement? . Although the population of Nigerians is about 230 million, there are less than 400,000 police personnel and less than 200,000 military personnel. All militias and other security agencies are barely 1 million strong. We don’t have an Army Reserve, we don’t have a Police Reserve, and you’re saying we should have a separate state police force.
Only now are we beginning to hear about excessive corruption in the police, because the police are not adequately trained, equipped, armed, or motivated. Currently, our police forces are not adequately trained. Just send them to the police academy for 6 months and deploy them in the field and you will pay less than 50,000 NOK. Even if you are single, you cannot buy a bag of rice for 50,000 naira. This is because most of them join the military or police alone. How are you going to work for 50,000 naira and no barracks, no uniforms, no equipment?
First, let’s ask for the number. The number is grossly inadequate, not because there are no people who want to join the police force, but because the provisions have not been made to do so. You will remember the recruitment of immigrants in Abuja. A stampede broke out. In my constituency, when I was the Chairman of the Army, every time they held a recruitment, over 1,000 troops gathered here in Kano for recruitment because they thought I was the Chairman. . Today again at our retreat, a young man approached me and said, “Police, please help me.” And you’re talking about state police.
You say you want a state police force, but you don’t even pay the public servants minimum wage. Where will the money to pay them come from? The minimum wage is currently N70,000. Let’s face the truth of the matter. Let’s increase the number of police personnel. Train them, equip them, arm them, motivate them and your country will be safe. It doesn’t matter if it’s state police, federal police or local police. The police are the police. Make people safe. You can’t even begin to compare us to America. No. America has been a democracy for 200 years. America is a different country. So, I think I answered that question.
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