Hon. Abubakar Amuda-Kannike is the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works and represents Ilorin East/South federal constituency of Kwara state on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with JONAS EZIEKE, he spoke on restructuring, President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable and the APC’s stand on the issue among others. Excerpts:
After over 100 days of medical sojourn in London, President Muhammadu Buhari was treated to a tumultuous welcome by his supporters. What does this tell you about his popularity vis-a-vis complaints of hunger and hardship in the country?
The kind of reception the president received when he came back is a testimony to the fact that he still has a solid support base. It is apparent that he has a solid support base. Most of his well-wishers and supporters defied all odds to come out and receive him and to rejoice with him that he is back hale and hearty to continue with his assignment of governance, which they bestowed on him. But in a democracy, we know that it is not everybody that voted for Buhari. A large chunk of the people that have expressed their grievances against his absence is also a testimony that there are people from day one who never supported him. But there are some people who did not vote for him yet have also shifted base to support him because of his style of leadership. We might as well say there are some people who voted him but are no longer supporting him. But we cannot rule out the overwhelming support that he has amongst Nigerians. On the issue of his sojourn in London, the United Kingdom, UK, quite a number of people expressed dismay that he left the office for a long time, but one cannot rule out the fact that he handed over to a credible acting president. Again, the credit goes to him because he had the prerogative of choosing his vice president. So this is a testimonial to the right choice he made because I don’t see any vice president in the history of this nation that has so much been tested in the face of all the challenges we have in this country; a vice president that has a full hand over from the president and had the responsibility of running the country. Even the Senate has attested to the fact that Professor Yemi Osinbajo has done very well under the current circumstances. But the credit must go to the man that selected him as vice president. If he had made a wrong choice in picking the vice president, a lot of things would have gone wrong. So credit must go to President Buhari to have chosen a vice president that held forth in his absence.
President Buhari in his nationwide broadcast declared that the unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable; that is has been settled. Don’t you think this statement is capable of stifling the views of various nationalities and groups agitating for restructuring?
I don’t think it will stifle anyone. What he said was not debatable is the unity of Nigeria and anybody who is a Nigerian and believes in the national anthem and the pledge is saying what President Buhari said. The national anthem and pledge did not say the unity of the nation is compromisable; did it not reinforce the essence of one indivisible Nigeria? So, I think he said what all of us ascribed to but he did not say people should not express themselves. I listened to the address and I recall where he said; he realized the fact that in a democracy people will hold divergent opinions, but they should express themselves through the legitimate processes and channels and should not cause anarchy and bloodshed in the nation. And now, restructuring in my opinion should not mean secession; restructuring does not mean we should break the entity called Nigeria. There are people that are talking about Biafra, who want to secede and break away. I think that is another discourse and there are people who are talking about restructuring under the entity Nigeria- devolution of powers to states from the federal government. What the president was saying is that the unity of this nation is not negotiable; you can’t put the unity of this nation on the table for discussion. And I think there is no better time for him to reinforce it than now because we are all living witnesses to the antics of those who want to secede. With due respect to those who want to secede, their manner and approach is endangering the entity Nigeria and Nigerians.
In this age and time, I don’t think we should be fanning the embers of war. Even without war, we are already not doing too well. Are people looking at nations that are at war? Do they know how long it takes to come out of war? For the people who witnessed the civil war, they know how long it took Nigeria to get over it. The question is have we even come out of it fully? So what the president is saying is not negotiable is the unity of the nation but he is not saying people should not agitate or express their feelings on the issues of devolution of powers and all that. In fact, he advised them that under the current circumstances, the National Assembly and the Council of States are the best platform for people to express their concerns about restructuring, which is the truth because these are organized structures. We as representatives were elected by the people to represent them. Yes, in the past, there were documents that came out of the national conference and these documents are fantastic suggestions. In my opinion, these documents or suggestions can even be brought back to be discussed at the level of the National Assembly. There is no better platform to discuss them more than the National Assembly. We as legislators can go back to our constituencies and hold town hall meetings and get their opinions about restructuring and what their perception is. I think it was the British High Commissioner to Nigeria that said that if you assemble nine Nigerians and asked them a question about restructuring, they will give you about 10 opinions. So that is how diverse the opinions can be. Some people are talking about restructuring focusing on the economic concept; some are focusing on security, others on land, and others on resource control. There are different perspectives and I quite agree with the president that there is no better platform of debating restructuring than the National Assembly and National Council of States.
The National Assembly has rejected the devolution of powers in the recent amendment of the 1999 constitution. Do you think the legislature as it is presently constituted can give Nigerians justice regarding their agitations?
In my opinion, if we are truly representatives of our people and in a situation where we are to vote for or against; the people that said nay to devolution of powers represent the opinion of the majority of Nigerians. That is not to disrespect or impugn the opinion of the minority. In a democracy, the majority will definitely carry the day and the minority will have their say. A typical example is Britain: it was a thin difference between those who voted to leave the EU and those who voted to stay. As close as it was, the majority had their way. And I have not seen anybody that has come up with comprehensive statistics to convince me that the people who want devolution of powers are more than those opposed to it. So, to me it is justice as far as representation is concerned because every average Representative must have felt the pulse of his constituents- must have gone to interface to get their views on what to vote for. Even if one could not do a town hall meeting, he must have spoken to some opinion leaders who are representatives of the people. So these are some of things that reflected in the constitutional review. You can see that already there are steps towards restructuring. What I know if I am told as a Nigerian to review the result of the voting on those constitutional issues, I would say the Senate and House of Representatives are taking a cautious step towards restructuring because they have already agreed that SIEC’s be abolished; they have agreed that local governments should be fully independent. These are very bold steps. They shied away from the issue of Land Use Act because we all know how sensitive it is. Even with things like resource control and 13 percent derivation, which is addressing the comparative disadvantage and advantage of places where these resources and located is still a matter of debate. What if you now take that bold step? To me, in as much as change is desirable, modulated change is preferable. So, we need to take some steps and see how they will impact on our unity and commonwealth, and then it will give us the confidence to take the next step. Constitutional review happens in every assembly. I can say as compared to the past constitutional reviews, this particular one has taken the boldest step in addressing our problems as a nation. So, for me, I can say this is change in the right direction but in a cautious step. And in a country as diverse as Nigeria, we need to be cautious and it is safer and with time we make sure that all interests are protected.
The APC has set up a committee on restructuring. In the event that the committee recommends restructuring, will the party abide by it? I would say that my opinion about restructuring is progress in motion, that all segments of government in this country are able to be effectively governed in the best interest of the people and for the people. And we are trying to make sure that every level of elections in this country is truly a reflection of the opinion of the people. I am aware that APC, my party has set up a committee to look at restructuring; I earlier cited what the British High Commissioner said about Nigerians. I believe the APC as a party is trying to create a platform for people to ventilate and express themselves so that we can understand what a common and popular opinion about restructuring is all about. So, the party has a platform of pushing agendas for its supporters and Nigerians; it is ventilating restructuring. I think it is a very healthy thing to do. I think what the committee is going to do is not to determine whether it is for or against restructuring. The party has already decided on restructuring- devolution of powers is just one aspect of restructuring. I narrated other aspects that have been taken care of by the constitutional review. So, the committee will address other aspects of restructuring. So, what the committee will do is to come out with a guide for the party. Again, the APC being very sensitive to the feelings of Nigerians has set up this committee and should be applauded. The APC is very proactive and this is commendable.
But the concern of many Nigerians is that Governor NasiruEl-Rufai of Kaduna state, who is a known opponent of restructuring is the chairman of the committee. Don’t you think his position will not jeopardise the outcome of the committee’s exercise?
Like I said, what the committee is going to do is not to determine whether there is need for restructuring or devolution of powers. And for any responsible person that is giving an assignment, you have to declare your interest. In fact, in the legislature, we are encouraged to disclose our interest. In a way, that El-Rufai is against restructuring shows that his interest is already declared. But that does not mean that he will jeopardise the exercise. If they believe that despite the fact that he is against restructuring, he is credible enough to head that committee, he cannot bring his personal opinion to bear on the overall decisions of the committee. That is what I expect from a person of his stature. And that is why the party does not have any concerns that he has a personal opinion. The assignment is for the committee to articulate opinions and at the end of the exercise there will be consultations and platform for expressions; internal debate for superior arguments etc. But at the end of the day, it is the outcome of those consultations which would show what is popular or not. Then, they can have a referendum and declare that as a party this is where we stand and this is popular opinion. I don’t think the party will come out to say there is no need for restructuring or not the party is already trying to articulate positions on what Nigerians want to restructure.
But the approach of government referring agitators to the National Assembly in the face of high level of hunger in the nation seems to be troubling many Nigerians. I pray we don’t get to stage where hunger will rule our sense of judgment. Yes, there are economic challenges but things could be better. I don’t think we have gotten to that level where we are ruled by the challenges of hunger. I would rather separate economic concerns from political concern. Every Nigerian want food on his table, affordable housing, medicare and all that- these are perennial concerns that the leadership has the responsibility to address. And I think the leadership of the nation under President Buhari is trying to address these issues. But like you know, it is difficult to rebuild. And whether you agree or not, we are still an importing economy because we have not gotten to a level where we produce what we eat and export. This cannot happen in just four years. You can set all the structural apparatus in place but it will not crystallize in four years. But what has the leadership of APC with Buhari done? There was a time we had an unpredictably high exchange rate of naira; and then the dollar started stumbling until we got some stability. That means whatever the problem was, we have identified the problem and we are solving it. So, the fact that this is been addressed is an achievement.
I sponsored a motion on the floor of the House on a Lagos based tomato paste company that was recruiting people to move to Ghana because it could not access foreign exchange to import raw materials. But that has been taken care of because there is enough forex now for individuals and companies to access. We are already seen an improvement in the economy. Prices of food are getting stable and no longer astronomical. So, the problem of managing the economy to suit a better standard of life for Nigerians is different from political considerations. Restructuring in my opinion is principally driven from a political point of view and not the economic point of view. But that is not to say that the political considerations are not germane but in trying to pursue political considerations, we must look at what we currently have as platforms in addressing these issues and explore them. That is when it can be organized and articulated to make more sense. That is when whatever resolve you have can be regarded as legitimate; except you want to resolve to democratic means of elections. That is the other option. The only thing close to that is subjecting it to the representatives of the people and that is why the report of the national confab has to be debated by the National Assembly. This is given it legitimacy.
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