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By Chukwudi Nweje
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani is the chairman of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, (CISLAC). In this interview, he speaks about insecurity, the state of the nation and other national issues.
President Muhammadu Buhari has again, for the second time in one month, ordered the military to wipe out terrorists; why do you think these repeated orders have not produced the desired result?
We in civil society have always warned against a kinetic approach to addressing national security issues. Insurgency and banditry are not recent phenomena in Nigeria. The insecurity problem has worsened because while the terrorists are strengthening and intensifying their operations, our Defense sector has remained ill-equipped, demotivated, and apparently mismanaged. These challenges to a large extent were triggered by the unchecked mismanagement of the Defense budget, including a lack of transparency and accountability in the procurement of weaponry. Funds approved for the procurement of weapons are frequently unaccounted for by successive security chiefs, all of these have contributed to backpedal efficient and effective military operations across the country.
There is also a lack of synergy and neutrality in operations and sharing of intelligence on the part of security agencies. We agree that each security agency has a clearly defined role in how they contribute to national security but poor inter-agency collaboration and inter-agency rivalry have constituted serious impediments to efficient delivery. Successive administrations have also not paid adequate attention to intelligence gathering, espionage, research, and other operations that will enhance and synergise efficient defence operations.
The president has assured that the White Paper on the Steve Oronsaye committee on rationalisation of the civil service will be implemented after review. What is your take on this viz-a-viz your position on the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) proposal to retire public servants over 50 years as a way to reduce government expenditure?
CISLAC has been at the forefront of calling for a reduction in the cost of governance as well as the implementation of the Steve Oronsaye committee’s recommendations. However, we demand realistic measures to reduce the cost of administration not like the lopsided recommendations of the NGF. We believe the implementation of the Oronsaye committee’s recommendations will not only lead to fundamental changes in civil service but also helped in reducing the cost of governance. However, other significant issues frustrating public reform efforts and aggravating the cost of governance include the systemic mismanagement of the nation’s treasury and institutionalised spending on irrelevant activities; needless fuel subsidy regime; monumental financial loss and socio-economic cost of ghost workers syndrome; unchecked inflated budget-line items, non-existed projects, and the over-priced public contracts. We must not forget the unjustified numerous jumbo salaries, allowances, and lifetime pensions enjoyed by governors, their deputies, former speakers, and their deputies during and after their tenures. We call the attention of all levels of government to look into these areas too.
President Buhari described the payment of subsidies as a fraud before he came into office and you have severally expressed the view that his administration is not fighting corruption efficiently, can you elaborate on that?
Nigerians and Nigeria are facing serious challenges of increasing public corruption, looting and diversion of public funds, which the government has not blocked. There is an outright diversion of public funds and stealing by government officials, which is why the country is facing serious economic challenges. Right now, we are borrowing money to finance even payment of salary, and payment of subsidies. Nigerians do not benefit from this so-called subsidy, and they see it as payment for fraud. Go around the country, you will see that majority of Nigerians buy fuel from the black markets, so, why are we subsidising corruption? The President Buhari-led administration has also continued to deny accusations of public looting. The entire anti-corruption of this administration has also been watered down as some gatekeepers put in place have been rendered redundant. For instance, the Public Procurement law signed under the Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration is disregarded by the officials of this regime. The Freedom of Information Bill signed into law under President Goodluck Jonathan is completely disregarded and the civil space is continuously shrinking, and court orders are disobeyed. That is why we doubted if President Buhari is committed to the fight against corruption; he has not been able to galvanise support from the ties of the government to buy into the crusade which is why every day we hear reports of monumental corruption.
You recently called for the resignation of Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment following his appointment as presidential campaign spokesperson to All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, why?
There is no way he can be a minister and a spokesperson for a presidential candidate at the same time because he will be cheating on the work that the nation gave him as a minister and for which the nation pays you. It is immoral for him to spend the time he is expected to be working as a minister serving as a spokesman for a presidential candidate.
Why can’t he be a minister and presidential campaign spokesman at the same time?
He is undermining both the Nigerian people and Bola Tinubu because he will not be able to give either of them the necessary attention and time that the two jobs require. As a matter of fact, Keyamo will be undermining Tinubu’s campaign because he will not be able to focus on promoting and projecting the campaign without conflicting with the time and the things that he is supposed to be neutral on as a minister.
Keyamo is free to be a member of a political party but taking a full-time job outside the job of a minister will be a conflict of interest. He has refused to resign because of personal interest and lack of respect for the nation. I bet you that if Keyamo had been on the other side of the political divide, he would have gone to court to challenge such action.
Keyamo accused the TMG of which you are chairman of working for the opposition party, what is your reaction?
Anybody who knows us knows that our integrity is intact. We have no political party affiliations or religious sentiments. I speak on issues; I am not a politician. We criticise policies on their merit without political affiliations. We are purely human rights and anti-corruption organisations. People like Keyamo like to blackmail organisations and individuals that speak the truth because he is enjoying the government and doesn’t see any reason why somebody should speak against what he does. He is free to make those unsubstantiated allegations; he is only ridiculing himself because Nigerians can bear witness to our work over the past 30 years; we have been championing human rights activism and anti-corruption.
Buhari is a Hausa-Fulani man, a Northerner, and I criticize his policies and actions too; I am not tribalistic. When Goodluck Jonathan was there, we raised issues against his policies; we criticised the administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua, and when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was president, we criticized him.
If Keyamo is a man of honour and integrity, he should ask himself why he is working under the same people he prosecuted for corruption as a lawyer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Keyamo once sued the Lagos State House of Assembly for clearing Tinubu of alleged certificate forgery, now he is spokesman to the same man he accused of forgery.
Are there any rifts between the two of you?
I have never had any issues with Keyamo. I think I have only met him twice. His comments against TMG are borne out of a pure intention to blackmail us. He can check our track record; we are not sponsored by anybody. What we do is about Nigerians and it’s about honesty, and sincerity and about strengthening the democratic institutions and having a responsible and responsive government. As a lawyer who had been vocal on national issues, I expected Keyamo to ask himself why he is fighting civil society, human rights, and pro-democracy groups. If the only people he attacks and insults are the same groups who fought for the democracy we are enjoying, it means that you are just a ‘chuwa-chuwa’ person.
What should Nigerians look out for when they go to the polls in 2023?
Good governance, transparent and accountable governance with political ideology.
