Your state governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu is being touted as being considered by the north for the presidency come 2015. Do you think he has earned it?
It’s not my party; that is the problem of PDP.
But he is your state governor, do you think he has done enough to justify contesting for the presidency.
When it comes to the issue of Niger State, then I can talk.
So what are the chances of the CPC in Niger State?
While CPC is the party to beat in the state, in 2015, PDP government in Niger State is weak because people are tired of them and their lack of performance. I don’t expect them to be talking about succession in 2015; they should be talking about what they will do for the masses of the state and even the country at large. When we start talking about gubernatorial hopefuls in 2015, it means we are not mindful of the programs we are supposed to do for our masses.
But there were reports of massive defections to the PDP; if they are not performing, why are people still joining them?
If there has been any defection, it is from PDP to CPC. The CPC and other opposition parties are very vibrant; we contribute to issues in this country.
At what stage is the talk of alliance and do you think it will work out this time around?
We are still on it and we even have the PDP people who are waiting to join us because they are tired of the PDP...
But who will fly the flag of the CPC at the presidential level in 2015
General Buhari, of course...
But there are reports that some people are rooting for a younger person and this has brought division to the party as a whole?
We don’t have any division; we have decided that it is going to be General Buhari. I used to tell people that it is not possible to just pick somebody and tell him to contest. If Buhari, God willing, contests and wins, the people of this country will see what can be done within four years and will instill confidence in the electorate.
General Buhari is not contesting because of his selfish reasons but to right the wrongs that have taken place for years. There is no position that Buhari has not held in this country; so what is it that he does not know about this country?
INEC has stated that, it will continue the de-registration of parties, do you think this is healthy for our democracy?
Yes, I support it and will continue to do so, I don’t support multiple parties. If I were to give my opinion, I will suggest that we have only two political parties. Remember what happened during the Babangida two-party system. There was sanity then.
Should the federal government start funding parties?
Yes, I will support that, but we need to trim down the number of parties first.
The issue of indigenisation has drawn mixed reactions from Nigerians, are you in support of it?
Yes, I will support it, if one has been living in an area for 10 years and you want to seek position, you can do it because there is nothing that he doesn’t know about the place. That will bring unity and integration.
This brings us to the issue of state police; with the recent insecurity we have had, do you think state police will solve the problem?
No, I will not support state police because the state governors will use it against their opponents. Even now that we are not having state police, the governors are abusing it. I have a personal experience during my election. The person I defeated in the April 9, 2011 election, who was representing us was a retired police officer.
They connived with a lawyer who went to INEC to take away my file, forged a document and consulted another lawyer who then wrote a petition to the former Inspector -General of Police purporting that I forged the document.
The IG sent the file to Niger State police command and officers were detailed with a letter to get me to appear before the commissioner of police for interrogation and I thought it was just routine; so, I went there on my own, not knowing that the state government in connivance with the police and Niger State judiciary, together with the defeated retired police officer that was representing the our zone, and who was using his connection with the police were out to oppress me.
The moment I saw that document, I realised that it was the lawyer’s handwriting on the document and I told them that, it was forged by Barr. Ibrahim Lenge. I brought my own copy that my party took to INEC, thinking that they will compare them. But before anything, they have broadcast to the whole town that I have been arrested for forging a document.
This is an example of government abusing the federal police not to talk about state police that they will handpick who controls it. My case was so bad that they sent officers to arrest me at 4pm and took me straight to court - on a Saturday - by 4pm. Does any normal court operate on Saturdays?
The most surprising thing was that the Magistrate was there, waiting for them to bring me. That woman without even taking my plea committed me to prison. I was in prison for four days and the man was still challenging my victory at the electoral tribunal. They thought they could use this tactics to stop me from coming to the senate.
All these things were done with the connivance of Barrister Ringim and other people from my area. Most of them are people they use to launder money for them. I am a lawyer and I make sure that I attend all the court sessions. So, I can never support state police.
So, what other laws will you like to see abrogated from the constitution or amended?
I want the cancellation of the issue of state and local government account. Let it be amended so that the local government can be autonomous because as of now, the local government is not functioning. Presently, my local government secretariat has been cut off by PHCN for the past three months because they cannot pay their electricity bills. The whole pressure is now on legislators who couldn’t spend the holidays in my town because of this. There is a lot of poverty in the land.
From the time I was inaugurated till date, I have provided more than ten transformers which I bought personally and these are the responsibility of the state government. Before the elections, we were told that the state government gave out N500million to a contractor to get transformers, but where are the transformers? We need to do a lot of public enlightenment on the duties of the executive and the legislature.
People will come and insult you that you have not been doing anything for them, but it is not the duty of the legislator. In the whole of this world, there is nowhere that it is known that legislators carry out contracts, we don’t get capital votes. Let the National Orientation Agency do something about this; let us define the duties of the executive and the individual legislators.
What should Nigerians be expecting from the senate this year?
Nigerians should expect a robust representation from legislators. We are going to be strict on oversight this year. We are going to be very proactive this time around.
Why was the 2013 budget hastily passed by parliament
We passed the budget in the interest of the nation because if we say we will not pass the budget, it is the masses that will suffer; the executive will also now turn round to blame us for delaying the passage of the budget. So, for the country to prosper, we decided to pass it and also do a thorough oversight.
Leadership
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