The senator representing Ekiti South, Yemi Adaramodu, is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs. In this interview with journalists in Abuja, he spoke on sundry national issues: agitation for State Police, poor state of the economy, the security challenge, among others. TAIWO AMODU who was at the session presents excerpts:
The parliamentary system of government is being recommended by some members of the House of Representatives; What is the body language of the Senate? Do you think the Senate will consider it?
The Senate has no body language, we will look at the body language of Nigerians first because we represent them, because we are part of the body that will speak the language. Because of that, either in the Senate or House of Representatives, people can come up with bills and motions. So, it is for bills and motions to be subjected to the crucibles of legislation and then what are the crucibles of legislation? When you bring in your bill, especially, then it comes to several readings – first and second then it goes to public hearing where the Nigerian public will be invited to come and air their views, sector by sector then we talk. Once they talk, we aggregate. So, the committees so concerned about holding such public hearing will now make a report to the National Assembly either in the Senate or House of Representatives. After that, it comes up for third reading where every legislator will sit down and consider the bill clause by clause for whatever you might have found out. So, after that, we will now be talking about law or no law.
If people come out and say oh, we we want oligarchy, we want aristocracy, we want plutocracy, we want parliamentary, we want presidential, it is the duty of the legislature or legislators to come up with what they think can enhance the polity and how to represent their constituents, too. Whatever their constituents are thinking, for them to aggregate same and bring before the National Assembly in form of motion or bill and then a bill is not a law. A bill will become a law after it has gone through the crucibles of legislative scrutiny. It has not started, that legislative scrutiny, so we can’t be talking about body language. Like I said, the language of the Senate is the language of Nigerians. So, we will speak the same language when that comes to us.
Nigerians seem not to be very happy with the parliament because of the way their issues are being handled at the moment especially the last time you met with the service chiefs on the issue of security. After over 12 hours of executive session, you came out and passed a vote of confidence in them. Are you really satisfied with the approach to the crisis in the country?
Well, the thing is this: We have to encourage them, we have to make sure that people that are in charge of our security, whatever fears or apprehensions we have, if they give us assurances that we will not be disappointed and they give us the milestones that they have covered and the timelines of what they need to do, we have to give them the chance and look up to them to deliver within the timeline that they have given us. They have told us one or two grey areas where we need to come in, especially at the judicial area where they are talking about speedy prosecution of suspects so apprehended over these nefarious activities of bandits, terrorists and kidnappers. If you send a child on an errand and before the child comes back to give you result, you have started chastising him, it means that you don’t believe in the result that the child is bringing. So, why do you have to send such a child on an errand?
So, we have sent them on an errand and what we did with them a few days ago was the first time that we were meeting in so long and we met all of them together because we had been hearing series of complaints inter-agency, there is no mutual understanding, mutual engagement, then they don’t work together, there is no synergy, there is no this and that. Then we felt that for the first time let’s bring all of them together: DSS, police, army, navy, airforce, then the supreme leader which is the National Security Adviser (NSA) who serves as the political head and the mitigator in their professional area. Let’s bring them together, whoever has anything to accuse the other agent, let that person come and do that. We brought all of them together and they spoke frankly with us, including the Ministry of Interior that is supposed to man our borders through the Immigration; including the Minister of Finance who is supposed to make releases so that nobody will just come to us and say when we asked for kobo, it was not provided, we asked for N2, N1 was provided. So, we brought all of them together and they spoke. Like I said, for the first time, we spent about 10 hours talking to them, interrogating where necessary, asking questions where necessary. That’s why we said, we believed that they could give us results because we believe what we found out from them when all of them spoke.
When the governors met with the president, they came up with the idea of state police. We asked you after your meeting with the service chiefs that day but you said it was not part of the discussion. What is the parliament thinking about now? What should Nigerians expect from the parliament?
Yes, the parliament is to make laws and the laws that the parliament make are laws that will satisfy the interest and aspirations of Nigerians. So, if the Federal Government or state governors or whoever want state police, we are about to inaugurate the constitution amendment committee who will go out there and meet with all the critical stakeholders in Nigeria – traditional rulers and so on and so forth. So, when they now meet and then we aggregate and we know that this is what Nigerians want, that is the law that we are going to make. We represent the people and the law must be the people’s law.
So, once it is going to be the people’s law, whatever kind of police that Nigerians want that is the what the National Assembly will give to them. Another thing is that when we talk about constitution amendment, we need 24 states of the federation to concur with us. So, it does not start and end with the National Assembly. It starts from the National Assembly end with them and then another end comes to National Assembly for promulgation before it goes to the presidency for assent. So, it is not a one-way lawmaking. Once Nigerians are desirous through their governors and the presidency that Nigeria’s policing must be rejigged, we have to find something to do about it so that we can ensure that there is peace in our land. Definitely, we are going to follow suit by the that our committee that the Senate President will be putting together and inaugurated very soon comes back to us and this is their takeaway from their rapport with the various sections of the Nigerian populace, definitely, that is what we are going to follow.
The cost of fuel is very high now as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy. Also, the Power Minister addressed the press recently, saying that because of the money the Federal Government and DisCOs are owning GenCOs, they were considering scrapping subsidy on electricity when Nigerians are already facing hard times. If this happens there may be crises. In all of these, what is the National Assembly doing?
The issues of petroleum and power, if you recall, the Senate instituted a committee to probe the activities of the NNPCL and the oil sector generally. We are awaiting the report. The report will determine what we are going to compel the executive to do about this issue and that of power, too. Yes, a minister can come out and his ministry but then the minister is not the last voice on such issues. The presidency is there, even our own side, we have a committee solely responsible for power matters. And appropriately, those committees will swing into action and then they will brief the Senate accordingly and it is not going to be the committee members alone that will be thinking and talking. They’re going to meet with very critical stakeholders and users of electricity which are Nigerians and users of petroleum products who are Nigerians. Then from there, we will take it.
What I want to assure Nigerians is that the 10th Senate will not abandon them because it will mean that we have abandoned ourselves. We’re not here on our own bill. There is nothing that happens to one Nigerian that doesn’t happen to us. And because of that, we feel it even more than any other person because we are the people closest to our people. When they yawn, we feel the malaria and when they take even Panadol, we feel the relief. So, definitely, we are out here to ensure that the bad news that have been generated about insecurity and so on and so forth, we bring them down.
And the issue of NLC strike, we learnt that the Federal Government has been meeting with them and yes, there is an analogy which I like to draw because when a child is crying for food and the father is going up and down to ensure that food is provided for the child, if the child cries too much by the time the food comes, the child will be so weak to eat the food. So, it is an analogy and I am very sure that is what is taking place now and NLC meeting with the Federal Government, they will reach an agreement and then whatever agreement they reach we expect that it will be expeditiously adhered to and then whatever is promised given to not only Nigerian workers but the Nigerian populace as a whole so that they can have a lease of life. That’s our own aim and then we have said it for the umpteenth time that the National Assembly, especially the 10th Senate, that whatever legislation that is necessary, that is needed to make life more abundant for our people, we are ready to do that. We are ready to even stake so many thing including our own freedom and even our welfare, to ensure that Nigerians get what they bargained for. And what are those things Nigerians bargained for? They bargained for good life and good living and peaceful environment and secured environment and economically viable polity.
The Bill for NYSC Trust fund passed second reading how sure are we that it will not go the way of N-power?
This one will not go the way of N-power because N-power is just a branch of so many other interventions. And then it is not a wholesale intervention outfit. So, N-power is part of the conditional cash transfer within a ministry but the NYSC Trust fund is going to be a stand alone. It will have a model of structure and the structure, there is going to be a pyramid and then is going to be a stand alone structure that is going to be supervised strictly from the presidency, the ministry and then oversight function of both chambers of the National Assembly: the House of Representatives and that of the Senate. Then the structure of the fund does not give room for that kind of sleaze so to say. It can never give room for it because there is strata and apart from having that strata, there is going to be checks and balances and not only that, this is a scheme for young adults of Nigerians and in fact, part of the young adults will be represented on the Board of Trustees that will be formed when it comes into practice. So definitely, it’s not going to be, then the structure of the NYSC as it is now there is little changes only for trustees members and then even procurement. Procurement is not going to be solely done by even the DG. So, is not going to be something that several others will be part of. And then all the states of the federation will be part of and then all the strata of our governance will be part of – governors, local governments, CSOs will be part of. So, when we put all these array of a collage of interest when we put them together like that then you can just trust that is not going to go the way of whatever you call it. Well, I don’t know even the way N-power has gone because I am not a beneficiary of N-power and not one of the proponents of N-power but all I know is that is not going to be in the structure of N-power even if anything happens there which I don’t know. So, it is not going to be in that structure. N-power is just one of several platforms of may be poverty alleviation. So it is just part of several platforms; you have Conditional Cash Transfer there, you have Tradermoni. So this one isn’t one of them, this one is whole on its own.
Will the fund consider giving loans to Corps members after NYSC?
Yes that’s part of the essentials of the fund because if you give loans to Corps members that have proven himself or herself that yes he or she is qualified because when you get to the various camps, they have started moving to various camps now by next week take a visit to any of the camps you will see what the Corps members are doing in terms of vocational and creative innovations. Then one very pertinent thing is that majority of the instructors of these Corps members on these camps they were former beneficiaries of the programme of the NYSC and then they have gone places and so we believe that these Corps members, very innovative young Nigerians that they can be entrepreneurs, the people who will be hiring hands instead of giving their hands to be hired by whoever and wherever. So, if they can attain that one my brother like I said, the kinetic situation of our security which can activate the inertia situation of our populace and swell the population of those threatening our security, we are going to reduce it and then it will be easy for us to stamp out the rest ones that are still operating.
and then