LAWMAKERS NOT SUPPOSED TO LIVE LARGER THAN PEOPLE THEY REPRESENT- SANI, EX-ACF SCRIBE. (PHOTO).

 Lawmakers not supposed to live larger than people they represent -Sani, Ex-ACF Scribe

 

Former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and member of the 2014 national conference, Mr. Anthony Sani has faulted the procurement of SUVs for the federal lawmakers, saying it is against the monetization policy of the government.

In this interview with NOAH EBIJE in Kaduna, Sani frowned at the life styles of the lawmakers, saying that they are not supposed to live a life that is above the life standard of the people they are representing.

The former ACF Scribe said apart from monetizing transportation allowance of the lawmakers, the normal thing to be done is for them to take vehicles from the common pool whenever they want to travel for official duties.

The performance of INEC in the off-season elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states appears to be improvement over previous elections. There have not been too many complaints. As a result, we have not heard of many incidents of violence recorded after the elections. Many factors may account for this level of improvement. INEC has improved in its management practices; staff of INEC and security personnel were mobilised across the country to the three states. The upshot was that the security personnel dominated the environment against those who planned to cause problems for the successful conduct of the elections.

Some politicians have started scheming for 2027 general election in the country. Would you say it is too early since this current government has neither settled down nor has it started giving dividends of democracy to the people?

Those politicians scheming for 2027 have the right to do so in so far as they are not against the law of the land. Except that it is rather too early. What may be responsible for this early politics is the undue premium put on politics of identity which is supplanting the relevance of performance in the polity. I am therefore appealing to the aspirants to allow the people to come together and unleash their synergy against collective challenges until the next cycle of elections when they would be expected to go back to the field for campaigns.

North is believed to be working hard to take back power in 2027. Is it  justifiable to do this, putting into consideration the fact that it was the Northern region that gave President Bola Tinubu the majority votes in the last presidential election?

I am not aware of any plan by the North to “take back” power in 2027 by planning not to support a candidate from the South , especially when regard is paid to the fact that it was APC governors in the North who caused the prevailing of Mr Bola Tinubu during the last primaries leading to his victory in the elections. I therefore do not think President Bola Tinubu has grated the nerves of the North that would change its mind, given the fact that the regime is too young for any realistic assessment of its performance.

Many Nigerians actually believe that the Igbo from the South East deserve the Presidency in 2027 having been marginalised for many years over the presidency. Will you advise your Northern kinsmen to allow the Igbo have it?

I do not share the view that the Igbo have been marginalised, considering that the Igbo have occupied every elected and appointed positions in the federal government. Multiparty democracy is never an affirmative action but a game of wits. If the Igbo wish to produce the president in 2027,then they must design a winning game plan and approach the rest of the country for support. In doing so, the Igbo must stop being bellicose and percussive in politics. This is because democracy is never a bull fight but a contest of ideas and reasons.

What is your stand on the allegations in some quarters of Tinubu’s perceived nepotistic appointments of his Lagos/ Yoruba people into his cabinet?

There are two possible reasons informing the president’s alleged nepotism. Either he wants to live up the implications of politics of identity symbolized by rotation where failure of leadership has made people to believe the solution is for access to national resources to be turn by turn, or he wants to impel progress of the country by multiplying his strength through those he knows can help him deliver on the promise of his electoral mandate and make politics of identity irrelevant. Whichever one has informed his approach, only time would tell.

Would you say politics of religion has influenced the distribution of appointments by President Bola Tinubu?

I would rather say that religious politics has died in Nigeria. Politics of religion featured during the campaigns due to the Muslim-Muslim ticket and activities of leaders of Middle Belt Forum as well as what Peter Obi and Lawal Babachir said. But the distribution of appointments by religion so far by the president has vindicated his claim that he does not intend to play religious politics. Benue State is the most Christian State in the North, which did not pander to politics of religion when it decided to vote President Bola Tinubu on 25/2/2023.As a result, the president has appointed SGF from Benue State as compensation and political statement of inclusiveness which the blind can see and the deaf can hear.

What is your view on the current state of the economy where inflation is on the rise on daily basis?

Many countries are going through high inflation rates that are becoming global due to climate change and the war in Ukraine. In Nigeria, the high inflation which is a natural concomitant of removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the naira is what people are complaining about. Happily enough President Bola Tinubu is aware of the hardship the policies have caused, hence his frequent plea on the TV that Nigerians should understand with him that removal of the fuel subsidy was not matter of choice.

I have read reports that Fitch has rated the economy favourably. That is to say, the sacrifices being made by Nigerians may not be in vain. I have never seen a president of Nigeria personally pleading with Nigerians for understanding the way President Tinubu has been doing over the TV. I believe the president has located the courage of his conviction which enabled him to hit the ground running. We hope he would be consistent in his policies and avoid policy summersault that has been the bane of our socioeconomic development. That is to say, inconsistent policies have been the bane of socioeconomic development. All the regime needs at this trying time is support by Nigerians of its policies and programmes.

In the midst of this bad economy, brand new SUVs are being purchased for federal lawmakers. What is your reaction?

Apart from the weak economy which should not be burdened unduly, purchase of such vehicles is against the monetization policies of the government. Transportation for the lawmakers is supposed to be monetized for each and every lawmaker. Lawmakers are supposed to use vehicles in the common pool whenever they want to travel for official duties. Lawmakers are not expected to live standards of life that are too far over and above those of the citizens they represent. It is this type of behaviours by our leaders which is responsible for the impression that Nigeria’s public officers are the highest paid in the world despite the low economic profile. In Nigeria, it is said no group of Nigerians are more cosseted from the hostile economic environment, more protected for its inactions and more compensated for its inadequacies, like public officers. So for me, if Nigerians are to help revamp the economy through sacrifices, then the leaders must lead by example.

How justifiable is the new1.5 billion dollars loan being sought by the Federal Government from the World Bank?

I have never been against loans provided they are put into productive ventures. I think the problems about repayment comes up when the loans are not put into productive use. But if Nigerians can see what the loans have done, they would be willing to make the needed sacrifices that come with repayment. The conversation should be how loans are used to improve productivity of the economy.

What is your comment on Tinubu’s investment drive to Saudi Arabia?.

It is part of President’s responsibility to gad about and seek foreign investment needed for socio-economic development of the country under his watch. No qualm.

Most Nigerians are worried over the state of the naira as well as hardship in Nigeria. What’s your take on that?

It is natural for people to worry during difficult times. But hard times should bring about national grandeur, bring about purposeful leadership and the best of everyone, and not mere lamentations. If animals can hibernate in order to survive winter, and if shrubs can defoliate in order to survive drought, we with intellect should be able to overcome the hardship and adversity. Adversity which does not kill us would make us stronger.

The federal government has begun implementation of a 40 per cent automatic deduction from internally-generated revenues of federal universities and other partially-funded institutions. What is your reaction to this?

I have no qualm about the federal government’s decision on the implementation of the 40 per cent automatic deduction from internally-generated revenues from partially funded institutions. My grouse is with the inclusion of partially funded federal universities. This is because federal universities have been complaining for many years about the dire dearth of funds which have forced them to go on strikes to press for their demands for additional funding severally.

As a result, federal universities have always been urged to source for additional funds through their IGRs that are still grossly inadequate. For the government to now deduct 40 per cent of the IGRs of partially funded federal universities is to starve the universities the more and, thus, is counterproductive. I therefore plead with the FGN to exclude federal universities from the automatic deduction of 40 per cent of their IGRs in the larger interest of development of volume and quality of university education in Nigeria.

What’s your take on the ongoing indefinite strike by the NLC and the TUC?

I do not support the idea of a nationwide strike by labour unions over a local issue that the labour leader encountered in Imo State, and which should have been handled at that level. I therefore call on the labour unions to call off the nationwide strike in favour of sorting out their misunderstanding in Imo State locally, lest the labour unions cheapen the effect of strikes when the need to use strikes arises.