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Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Ahead of the inauguration of the 9th Assembly, the Chairman, House of Representatives, Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdas, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) must do things right in the zoning of the speakership position, so as at avoid the pitfalls of the past.
Namdas, a member of the APC from Adamawa State is one of those aspiring to lead the Green Chamber in the 9th Assembly.
How would you assess the conduct of the 2019 elections?
For me the conduct of the elections to a large extent was not bad. The only thing that we were not comfortable with was when the elections were shifted. To shift an election about four hours to the commencement time was not a good omen for Nigeria. Outside that when the election was held one week after, it was fantastic. Although across the country, we have pockets of violence that could have been avoided. I hope that in the future, election should not be taken as a do or die affair. People should not be shot at. Our colleague was shot at, while he was performing his civic responsibility and he died. These are things we really condemn.
On a general note, the presidential election was okay. But no matter what, we must try to improve on your system. And I think there is so much room for improvement as far as the electoral process is concerned.
The election was characterised by unnecessary deployment of military across the country; so much there was cases of the military allegedly taking partisan stand. What is your take on that?
In my own part of the country, the North East, you certainly cannot do this election without the military. That would not be possible. But there are other parts of the country that you can do the election freely without the military. But there are places you can’t do that. On a general note, the attitude our electorate also matter; once they don’t see security agencies around an area, some people get the confidence to do the unthinkable- you see people snatching ballot boxes, stuff ballot boxes and all the rest. Look at the place a lawmaker was shoot even with the presence of security. What would have happened, if there were no security there? Maybe many more people would have been killed.
It is not good to militarise election. It is a civic duty. Democracy is government of the people, for the people and by the people. And if that is the case, people should be allowed to vote freely. But we are still evolving. We will get to a time that we will not need the military. But for now, because of the spate of violence we have across the country; you go to the North East, you have Boko Haram; you go to Zamfara, you have bandits. On a good day without elections, people are killed. Talk less of a time people will be gathering for election. Have you not heard of scenarios, where people are killed and they are going to be buried, even at the burial ground, dozens of the mourners are killed? If you go to the South, you have pipeline vandals, highways robbers. Sometimes, during this period when people gather for elections, hoodlums take advantage of the situation. I don’t like militarisation of elections, , but there must be effort by government to ensure security of lives and property.
What do you make of the role of the military in Rivers State, particularly during the March 9 governorship and state Assembly elections?
I didn’t get to know the real issues on ground. But we condemn any military personnel or any security agent that out of overzealousness will try to disrupt the electoral process. But if people are working consciously to create trouble, create an insecure environment, attempts must be made to maintain peace.
Will the House be investigating the role played by the military and other security agencies during the elections?
Now that we have resumed, a lot of questions will be raised. Even the role of INEC; people will be asking questions. Already, people are asking what led to the postponement. We need to know.
It is not only in the area of the military. I know people will bring issues. But I will not like to preempt them, to say this is the action the House will take. But I tell you that post election issues will actually be raised in the House by lawmakers. It is obvious that we have to look at post election issues, because democracy must continue. Where there is lacuna, we will address it. That is why laws are made, amended or repealed and fresh ones enacted. We cannot remain in one place. If what we saw during the elections are things that we are not happy about, we have to address them. There are things that only the constitution amendment can take care of, we will look at that. There are things that amendment of certain laws will take care of. But I want to assure you that before the 8th Assembly comes to an end, some of these post electoral matters will be trashed. If we are not able to do anything tangible within these three months left in the live of this assembly, the 9th assembly will take care of it. But I can assure you that the electoral act will be revisited.
A lot of persons have said if the President had signed the electoral act amendment bill, the election would have come out much better, as some of the lapses would have been avoided. Will the House be representing the bill to the president for his assent, now that the elections are over?
I know that our leadership is working on it. We will not leave the electoral act unattended to. If we are not able to do anything tangible in the next two months, the 9th Assembly will take care of it. I think Nigerians should understand that there is no need to rush. Truly, if that act has been signed, that would have addressed so many issues; but as it is now, we should not tie our self to the two months left in the 8th Assembly. Time is not our side. If we rush it, we will not get it right. But I will assure you that the electoral act must be revisited.
What are the key issues the House will be focusing on in the next two months?
The appropriation bill is key to us. We have to not only pass the appropriation bill, but on time too. There are several oversight functions that we still have to do. There are a lot of bills, especially on the creation of new universities. The PIB, there are aspects of it that still needs to be touched. We will ensure that that is done.
Ahead of the inauguration of the 9th Assembly, you have indicated interest to be Speaker. Why do you want to lead the House?
You see, our experience in the 8th Assembly is not a very nice one. We experienced too much infighting between us and the executive. We should not be having that all the time. We are not supposed to be a rubber stamp. But we should be on the same page. For example, in the National Assembly, the APC has the majority both in the Senate and in the House. And the executive is controlled by the APC too. So, why should will be fighting? However, the executive should also be lobbying us even though we are in the majority. Whenever they want to bring an important bill, the caucus should know. So that by the time it comes on the floor, we will support it provided, it reflects the manifesto of the party. Too much fighting about who is supreme, ‘I have the power to override’, ‘I have the power to decline assent’, all these are distractions. Nigerians want to see something tangible on ground. It is not about our ego. It is not about who is in charge.
Some of us have interest to be Speaker, but it lies with the party. The party is supreme in this matter. But even if you are supreme, you need to do the right thing, so that you do not hurt anybody. Even in the family, you have your children, you treat them equally. Once, you try to treat one above the others you will see some reactions and you will not like it. We are ready to work with the party, but the party should also be fair to us. And open up to us. We are ready to cooperate with the party; but the party should be able to do the right thing.
You talked about the party doing the right thing. What is the right thing?
The right thing is that there should always be consultations with the caucus. If there are consistent interactions, when we have grievances, we can speak out and it will be addressed. Without interaction with party leaders, it can create communication gap. That was the experience in the 8th Assembly. That should not be the case in the 9th Assembly.
There are speculations that the PDP with over 100 members -elect, may want to dictate who emerges Speaker in the 9th Assembly, as was the case in the 8th Assembly. Is that possible?
We will not dismiss the PDP; number is very important. But we in the APC have the majority to produce the leadership without stress, so long as we do things the right way, we will not have issues.
Quote
“Some of us have interest to be Speaker, but it lies with the party. The party is supreme in this matter. But even if you are supreme, you need to do the right thing, so that you do not hurt anybody. Even in the family, you have your children, you treat them equally. Once, you try to treat one above the others you will see some reactions and you will not like it. We are ready to work with the party, but the party should also be fair to us. “
