By Henry Uche
Senator Ireti Kingibe in a monitored interview with Arise TV, spoke on President Tinubu’s administration, her experience as a first timer among other issues.
You have complained of being sidelined, you are not allowed to represent your people, why would anybody do that?
The truth is that I didn’t go through the process but at this point in time, I think that since we’re in the process of discussion and sorting it out, I would like us to leave that and go to how my constituency is being marginalised generally. FCT has the unique situation of having the President as the de facto governor of the Federal Capital Territory and he administers that territory through a minister and one elected senator, all the members of the National Assembly because they are in fact, the equivalent of the state assembly for the Federal Capital Territory. They are also responsible for ensuring that the rights of the people of FCT are maintained just like any other state assembly. So, it’s not just that, but because I am the highest elected official in the FCT, everything that happens in the FCT, the people complain to me and expect me to go through whatever authorities I need to get it sorted out. A few days ago, there was a fire in Abuja, it was me they told this is what we need, this is what must be done, you must get the Minister to do this A B C D. In the past, that arrangement has always worked very well. But it has not been so seamless with the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory. I’m not sure why but he has said that he does not, that I claim that I’m the senator of the FCT, he said in interviews that I claim I’m the Senator of the FCT and he’s obliged to deal with me. But I’m saying that by Section 122 and 124 of the Evidence Act, he is bound by the judicial notice of the occupier of the seat of the Senate of FCT. I’m also saying that the section 24 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria imbues on him a duty that is the Honourable Minister. I’m not calling any names because anybody who is minister is bound by those same laws and duties to abide by the constitution to respect all these ideals, institutions and legitimate authorities. So just the same way that some Nigerians would have voted for the president, and some would not have but as soon as he’s declared president, he becomes the president for everybody. Nobody can pick and choose who would rather be the president. And therefore, the same applies to all offices, regardless of party, or any other position.
The man you are talking about is Wike, former governor of Rivers State, now the FCT minister. He has responded that you want him to be your friend but he doesn’t want to be your friend, that is it by force, that you should leave him alone
(Laughs)
Please what constitutes friendship between two people who’ve never met each other? I have never sat in the same room with the minister except in a Senate committee. So how does friendship arise? Why would I want to be the friend of somebody I do not know. The truth of the matter is that the minister refuses to speak or communicate in any way with a senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, so how are the wishes and the needs of the people to be communicated to him. Please tell me if you know a way to do that.
He has built some projects, appointed permanent secretaries and he says he’s concentrating on his work and that you are blackmailing him
To do what? To disregard the needs of the people? The minister may be a great minister in a ministry that has no people. But the unique situation of the FCT minister, is that apart from infrastructure and roads, he also has to take into consideration the needs of the people in that territory. That’s the difference between him and the Minister of Works or any other ministry. The Minister of FCT is almost acting as the governor for the President. So it’s not just being a regular minister. He says he commissions roads. Yes, those roads were started by Muhammad Bello and I commend him for finishing some of them, but also, just like the people took me on, when those roads were commissioned; they said Madam, you people are celebrating roads in Maitama, Asokoro central business district but the bulk of the people do not live there. Show me the projects where the people live. That’s the difference. It’s almost like a governor telling you that he builds some roads, so he doesn’t care what the needs of the people are, they have needs. So it’s not good enough. The people are not impressed. I commend him because I see that some things are done. But at the end of the day, they don’t have water. That fire that happened in Karu could have been prevented if there was water, but I don’t know if you know Abuja, the fire truck has to go all the way to Asokoro to water spread the fire then come back not to talk about the fact that there were no access roads into the market and a whole litany of issues. Those are the issues, the minister, but the people are going to tell the senator, not the minister, the same way with insecurity. The people scream, Senator, Senator, and the Senator says, Minister, sort out the insecurity, and he says he doesn’t have to speak to me, so I spoke to him on channels. Just like a lot of issues I’m going to bring up today, you’ll hear from Arise.
You have been quoted as saying you are being excluded from key decisions affecting the Federal Capital Territory, do you think this is because you are from a minority party (Labour Party), do you think because you are a woman?
It’s not because; I’m a woman; in all fairness to the Senate as a body, it’s not very difficult to exclude the women and they do not exclude us. We get involved with as many things I would really like to, and most of the time, yes, your party matters a little bit, but not seriously. If you want me to be honest, this boils down to the fact that the senate president is a personal friend of the honourable Minister of the FCT.
I’m coming back to you in another week to discuss in details. We are just having a general discussion with you today, but I’m on several committees and not excluded from any of them, I am aware of every little detail that goes on in every other committee. Why is this committee special? You would think it would be the reverse because I’m the senator representing that place, as most of the senators are called on when things affect their constituencies. So, it’s something that needs to be sorted out privately in the Senate. And if it’s not sorted out privately in the Senate, then we can discuss in the public.
Wike said he would not report to you…
No Minister has ever reported to any senator, if you look back several years, most ministers and the senators don’t usually come from the same party. But they work in synergy. Synergy is the key word. Reporting to anybody does not arise. Our proceedings in the National Assembly are recorded. This cantakerous or disorganised attitude is not my style. In fact, I think I have been quieter than I normally am. Because I’m studying the Senate and the dynamics of the place. So I doubt that it has to do with my style but if it is, you can look at the Senate proceedings and advise because they’re all recorded.
What are the priorities you think have not been addressed in the best interest of the people of FCT residents?
Actually, some of my interests are not specific to the Senate, but they’re specific to the person administering the Honourable Minister. Just like any state assembly. When a governor is not taking care of the rights and the needs of the people, the state assembly draws his attention to it and makes him do it. For one thing, Abuja here has no water and let me even just take the last budget that was passed, this supplementary budget. Let’s just stick with that little budget, only N18 billion has anything to do with the people, N20 billion for renovating 20 schools. Now, everything else, we’re building a road to the EFCC, another one to DSS and all those things. Please, with all due respect, those roads may need renovating. Maybe the road to the presidential wing, all need work. I am saying that for an impoverished nation, for a territory where insecurity is so high, a few days ago, I live in Maitama, oh, my God, just walking down the street was hard. It just shows you the level of insecurity we have; so many issues and we don’t have the funds to do them. So in a bid to prioritise, I think that the needs of the majority of the people -healthcare, education, security, water, as basic as water, we do not have. We can do them when we are more liquid but we are not. Those are my issues. Another thing, okay, some of these things may be local government, like the markets are complaining about the local government to take care of local community. The Honourable minister’s predecessors, he would join hands with the National Assembly and tell the local government chairman, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that…so him alone and I guess the rest of us, he cannot do them. But when everybody’s working in silos, my constituency suffers. That’s the truth.
Is it because you are from the Labour Party, Philip Aduga seems to be having a good relationship with Wike,
Aduga is not the current senator, so he doesn’t have to look out for the interests of the people. When there was a fire, they did not call Philip Aduga in spite of the fact that it was his ward. They called me, so if Aduga has a good relationship with Wike, that is fine. It does not help the people of the Federal Capital Territory. I have to draw your attention to the fact that the last minister was APC and Philip Aduga was PDP. And the minister worked well with Aduga and we said to him, what’s your problem? He said, no madam, not just me, all of us in APC, that sorry, for this place to work well, the Senator has to work with the minister. So, it doesn’t matter that he’s not in our party. He’s the senator representing this territory and we accepted it as a good enough reason. So, being in a different party, this is not the first time it’s happening. It happened with several senators in FCT because FCT has their own unique way of voting.
I hope this is not about contract, you are a civil engineer, Wike would not come tomorrow and say ‘Madam needs land or contracts…
I will interrupt you here. I have been in FCT politics for the last 20 years. You can go and verify. There is no Minister who will come to you. I live in a house that I have lived in. I have owned the land since 1991. If you see any other federal allocation of land, for me in the FCT come, call me out on it. I’m a firm believer that if everybody took their one or two pieces of land, that will be enough for everybody. I’m not interested in land, when the last minister was there. I was very instrumental, I worked with him in the beginning as the APC leader. When contracts will begin being given out, he asked, he’s there, you can verify with him. Where is madam’s own? He spoke to me and I said, I’m sorry, Honourable Minister. I’m not a contractor and that’s the truth. I am not. I am not a contractor. I’m a professional. And if I wanted land, I have lived in the FCT since when FCT was just all forest and bush, when there were only two houses on summer streets. So, whenever Honourable Minister Wike comes and talks, you should verify; I want to be his friend. He should show you the indicators of friendship with somebody you’ve never spoken to one on one. I’ve only spoken to him across a long table in a committee meeting. So, how does friendship come into our relationship?
You have always decried bad governance, do you think that is good governance now?
Well, absolutely not.
So Tinubu administration is not doing well?
No, it isn’t. I have the utmost goodwill and respect for the President and I have no doubt that he probably wanted to be president. So he could make a difference. But as things are right now, it does not augur well for his legacy. The president is only as good as his team. Any leader is only as good as their team. Even little me, I’m constantly tweaking people that work with me to get the maximum efficiency. So no, I’m sorry, the people are suffering. I feel that there are several things that can be done; a Marshall Plan that can alleviate things for the moment and I don’t see it being done at all, which is not his fault. It was a build up to this point. But I also don’t see a credible martial plan to solve the problems that we are now. I only see things getting worse.
People would say what you are saying is typical of labour/Obidients way of taking on the government…
Well, let’s put it this way. I turned 70 earlier this week, and I would think that my mindset would be a little different from the average obedient, all young people. But that being said, we cannot look away from the fact that, at least 70 percent of our population is under 40. So when decisions are being taken, you have to consider the fact that this is how young people feel, this is how they think, it can be about the lots of things that my children do that I don’t quite understand, and I wouldn’t do it that way. It doesn’t change the fact that this is their time. And therefore, we need to listen to them. So the fact that I’m labour, I was in fact, Labour yes, because I think things need to change. I’ve been in PDP, I’ve been in APC, I’m an idealist. I’m thinking that okay, maybe there’s somewhere where we can all go and change this country and make it the country we can be proud of. But notwithstanding, even when I was in APC, I still had the same beliefs that we can still do better. You all know I was an ardent Buharist, there was nothing I did not do. Because you also remember from my times on Arise, that I believed that Buhari was going to change this country. So, I did everything -my strength, my money, everything to ensure that he got in there but things only got progressively worse. We are fast getting to where I feel that we are pushing the people to the wall because now they’re hungry. People can absorb everything. As a nation. we are resilient, we are complacent, we’re able to take things in our stride. But I don’t think we can take hunger in our stride. And that being said, certain things need to be done urgently and nationally.
Women in politics. We just have four women in the Senate and generally, we don’t have up to 5 percent in the entire National Assembly, but we have educated women, public spirited women, they can’t get into decision making positions and the highest could be the Minister Of Women Affairs…
I believe that we need a legislation for affirmative action. Yes, women inclusion. I know it works because in the parties you know, for example, when you’re asked for three delegates from each ward, they will just all come and bring male delegates. Immediately, the party said three delegates from each ward, but one must be a woman. They all started to bring the women, so I’m not trying to say that we’re always law abiding, but it would help if it was the number one. Then it may also be on parties, government agencies, whatever to look for competent women. Do you understand? And they are there? And also, as I’ve said several times, if you look at countries that have more women in government, they have shown that there’s a direct correlation between economic development and women in governance and policy and decision making processes.
The belief that women do not support women.
I will tell you, the truth is that maybe that was so in the past, but the awareness and thinking of women has changed somewhat. I know that I got a lot of support from women across board, across parties, across everything,. Number one, number two, myself and some other women are working on creating a database of women all across the country so we can use women voters as a lobby bloc. Because it’s not enough to say do something. You have to show me that okay, if I don’t do it, what will you do! Do you understand? And that would help. And the second thing why women are not voting for women. How many women do you see on the ballot? That is also the problem. Even as proactive as I expected Labour Party to be out of 109 tickets, only two or three were female. So that is across board. Unless women are on the ballot, you can’t say that they’re not being voted for.
