‘Tambuwal’s 2011 scenario may be repeated if...’
What do you think gave APC victory?
I think it is a combination of several factors: one, the personality of General Buhari; two, I think an idea whose time has come, nothing can stop it. The guys who crafted the change philosophy of the party must have come to a point where they felt that we can’t continue like this.
I have tried to profile these characters and I have seen that virtually all of them brought some equity to the equation, either as individuals or corporate. Asiwaju brought all of the successes from the South-West; General Buhari brought integrity and what he represented; Amaechi of course brought his restless spirit into it and his desire to see things go in the right direction.
There are a number of people and we must salute these people, who have become the change agents and the people we celebrate. They would form the second generation of panNigerians, because they stopped and asked themselves ‘what should we bring to the table?’
People felt that a time for a new Nigeria is here, that is number one. People felt that we cannot continue like this, and then number three Nigerians, themselves, had gotten tired.
Number four, the PDP also embarked on a journey of selfdestruction. When five governors pulled out of the PDP and people felt ‘oh nothing will happen,’ they got too big.
What should Nigerians expect from the APC government?
To whom much is given much is expected. I have never seen a group of people this expectant in my life. I feel that there is a lot of work to be done and don’t forget that we are relatively impatient as a people.
May God help our party and the guys in leadership to realise the fact that Nigerians are not going to brood too much of excuses. I would still advise and pray that Nigerians should give us time; everything has a gestation period.
Before things went this bad in our society, it took some time, so I will expect that it is not going to be an overnight success and it is not going to be a miracle.
How will you describe the 7th House of Reps?
The 7th Assembly House of Representatives, I am remembering it with a lot of nostalgia. I was almost going to wish that it wouldn’t end so soon. From day one, it was one Assembly that has the hand of providence in its affairs. What happened in the emergence of leadership, particularly the speaker of the House on June 6, 2011 was just providential.
I don’t know of two assemblies that have recorded that level of success and impact. I don’t know of two assemblies that have also had dramatic twists surrounding their activities.
I was talking to the Speaker and I said to him ‘I hope the guy who is coming after you will help himself to go through a little bit of tutelage’. Tambuwal is a comet and comet doesn’t come every day; comet comes once in a lifetime. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal is the comet of the parliament. I will be surprised if any other Speaker coming after him will be able to match his records.
Don’t you think APC is taking too much time to decide on the issue of zoning the Senate president and Speaker’s offices, considering the politicking going on?
I don’t think it is getting late. Again, we have the privilege of having a very clear majority in the House, which has never happened before. But what good use are we going to put this number to? I will expect that the party leadership will, as much as possible and as soon as possible, resolve every interested party to know that it is about time to quickly close the gaps.
Where people have expressed interests in those positions, if they are legitimate, I will trust the leadership and their judgment to be fair and just so that we can carry everybody along to effect the change that we desire. I don’t think it is too late given the date of inauguration of the Assembly.
Some members say they should be allowed to choose the speaker like in the case of Tambuwal in 2011; how do you view this?
The House Rule is clear on who can become a Speaker. There is only one condition. The House Rule says members would nominate and choose for themselves a leader. Of course the only condition is that you are a ranking member, you are not a fresh member, you are a returning member who obviously for good reasons the House Rule expects that you have the experience and exposure to handle the very important position.
I believe that what the party would do largely is still to allow the members go that direction - but allowing them to do that within the ambit of justice and fairness. The point is that you cannot compare a member like Gbajabiamila, like Dogara, like Goni, like Monguno with somebody who is just coming.
Not only that, there are some members who are returning, who do not feel that they are competent enough or who do not want to express themselves in that sense. However, this is the risk element if it is badly managed either in the Senate or in the House.
For instance, I heard that the current Senate president is interested in becoming the Senate president and I am aghast and if the 8th Senate decides to have Senator David Mark to preside, then they have cut this ‘change’ by half. The ‘change’ we espoused, the ‘change’ that we desired would have been adulterated.
Buhari had said a couple of days ago that he would probe the $20bn NNPC ‘missing’ funds; won’t that be a distraction to his administration?
If the president-elect does not do that, that is the greatest distraction, which is not the ‘change.’ I didn’t believe it when I heard somebody say somewhere that General Buhari was just going to draw a line and move on from there.
I studied geology in school and geology says the past is the key to the future and that is why people study fossils. If you want to know about geology of an area, you look for fossils to tell you who has lived there before and the history of the area and all that.
It is not NNPC alone that General Buhari should look at; there are a number of parastatals that General Buhari should not close his eyes to and at the appropriate time he will provide information on why he finds, for instance, all kinds of malfeasance that are going on there.
What should Nigerians expect from you after your sojourn at the National Assembly?
A student does not mark his script, but if the student was asked 2 plus 2 and he wrote the answer as 4, he should have been scored at least pass. I don’t believe that the election that took place in Ekiti was a true reflection of my people’s wishes.
Moving on, I am not a politician without a second address. I will be back to private practice and have time to reflect on my years in the National Assembly. I thank my people for giving me the opportunity to serve. I am still very much concerned about Nigeria, which was the reason why I came to politics in the first place. If the party and the government finds a role for us, by all means I will consider it.
Again, I don’t think we should lose ourselves, and I want to us to have a forum that we will remember ourselves again, I mean members of the 7th Assembly, where we will have a night of honour for members.