Devolution of powers will allow any state develop at its own pace —Lagos Lawmaker

The Chief Whip, Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Lateef Rotimi, representing Shomolu Constituency II, speaks on the ongoing constitution amendment exercise, the face-off between the Executive and National Assembly, among others, in this interview with BOLA BADMUS.

Two years into the tenure of the current Eighth Lagos Assembly, can you give an assessment of its performance under the period?

To God be the glory, it’s been a case of so far, so good. The last two years has been very remarkable, as the House has been able to pass some life changing bills into laws and also passed a number of motions that have positively affected the lives of Lagosians. Notable among these laws is the Neighbourhood Safety Corps law which brought into life, the safety corps for the state. This is synonymous to community policing which the state has always craved for. And I can say categorically that since they swung into action, it (the state) has recorded some positive impact on the part of the neighbourhood watchers.

Also the state assembly was able to pass the land grabbers bill into law. Also known as ‘the Ajagungbale’ bill, as we speak, this law is in effect and with the arrest of a notorious land grabber in the state, I’m sure the law will take its course on him. The anti kidnapping bill was also passed into law by the current assembly. And as you are aware, there is a particular case of a kidnapper kingpin currently being investigated and we hope the police will apply this law in this particular case.

As one of key members of Lagos Assembly, what is your assessment of security situation in the state?

Considering the cosmopolitan nature of the state and its economic advantage, the state is, therefore, likely to be a beehive of activities and with what we have been advocating , the Federal Government should allow the states have their own police. Of course, it’s a constitutional issue and not until the proper constitutional amendment is done, that cannot be achieved.

Again, you will realise that Lagos is a coastal city, a state surrounded by water and we are yet to have good security on our waterways unlike on land. This has been quite challenging even though the state government has been very supportive of the police force.

Most of the kidnapping cases recorded in the state today were carried out through the water ways and you know the terrain is different from that of land, coupled with the fact that much of this body waters is bordered by creeks and you will agree with me that police may be having challenges on how to effectively curb this act. But of course, the state government is putting much effort in supporting the police to secure the state whether on land or water.

The state government has been supportive in a number of ways to ensure security of lives and property in the state while it has also called for the creation of additional police commands in the areas prone to these crimes. I’m sure by the time these commands are fully created, we shall have an improved security situation.

Beyond the arrest of these criminals, it’s being said that no successful prosecution of these criminals has been recorded. Not a few people have accused both the police and the judiciary of compromise. As a lawmaker and member of the Lagos Assembly put these laws in place, do you feel disturbed by this?

In governance, there is clear separation of powers and division of labour. As you know, there are three arms of government, the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary. Yes, the synergy of these arms of government is what is translated into good governance. We are members of the Legislature and the best we can do is what we are doing. And to a reasonable extent too, we have tried our best and I’m sure, the House of Assembly will have a position on the issue of the police inability to successfully prosecute these criminals.

On the Judiciary, we are faced with quite a number of issues. For instance, we have a number of judges currently facing corruption charges. Irrespective of how much the government tried, we would still find bad eggs and I think the bad eggs are being identified and marked for proper action and I know the National Judicial Commission (NJC) is on top of the situation, towards sanitising the judicial system in the country.

It appears your party, the All Progressive Congress APC, has not been able to manage its electoral success judging by the internal squabbles that are currently rocking it. Also, the National Assembly, populated by APC members has been working at cross purposes with the Executive, among others. How would you react to this?

Irrespective of how Nigerians view the activities of the National Assembly and in as much as they have not acted contrary to the constitution, I think they are in order. Granted there may be some bad characters within the National Assembly, the law provided for how to eject them of the Chamber. It, therefore, behoves on Nigerians, I mean the electorate to make use of the power the constitution has given to them by throwing them out and voting for those they believe will best represent their interest.

I agree that majority of National Assembly members belong to the ruling APC, but as long as their actions, decisions and resolutions are in the interest of Nigerians, I see nothing wrong in that. But talking about perceived confrontation and the war of supremacy with the Executive, I think this is where the party comes into place.

However, the power of oversight remains with the National Assembly as stipulated by the constitution and it’s their prerogative either to clear or decline to clear any nominees sent to them by the executive. Again, I think the position of the National Assembly on the Federal budget has been clarified by a law court. They have power to tinker with the budget presented to them by the Executive. This means the National Assembly may not necessarily pass the budget exactly the way it came from the Executive. I’m sure if they do. What you are likely to be hearing is that, this National Assembly is nothing but rubber stamp.

However, in as much as they enjoy this power, I expect there should be a sort of synergy between the Executive and the Legislative arms But again, it should be noted that the Legislature does not take orders from the Executive as long as they remain the legitimate representatives of the people. However, it’s left to the party to look for a way to harmonise the two arms on every contending issue.

What do you think is responsible for the continuous agitation for restructuring of the country which is becoming more pronounced now?

Nigeria’s democracy, they say, is nascent. Don’t forget the country was under the military government for more years before the current democratic system which is just about 18 uninterrupted years now and as times goes on, we shall continue to discover ourselves more. This is just 18 years of democratic governance guided by the constitution fashioned and foisted on us by the military. The constitution is made for Nigeria and not Nigeria for the constitution. Therefore, if there are some provisions of the constitution that are no longer workable in the present-day Nigeria and is at variance with the thinking of majority of Nigerians, then we should do something about it.

As we speak , the process of amending the constitution is going on and I think the issue of devolution of power is one of the issues identified for amendment. But it’s most unfortunate that when the issue was looked at together with other items considered for amendment, the Senate did not adequately favour it. But I read in a national daily lately that the National Assembly intends to revisit the issue of devolution of power.

The word restructuring means different things to different people. Restructuring the country does not mean the breakup of Nigeria; it does not mean resource control. But this is different things to different people. We are not calling for the breakup of the entity called Nigeria but to me personally, I think the issue of devolution of power should be considered to an extent that states should be allowed to develop at their pace. Because what I think is part of the problem is that no matter what a state generates to the national economy, there is already a standard sharing formula and this is not making some states to develop optimally.

Take Lagos State for instance, though one of the smallest in size but one of the largest in population and in terms of contributions to the economy of the country and yet the state gets very little. If states in the South-South could be entitled to derivation because of the resources in their domain, then Lagos State also should be considered for such privilege in whatever name they want to call it, be it special status or derivation so that the state can develop its infrastructure. Revenue base of the Federal Government in Lagos has so much effect on the infrastructure of the state.