In this encounter with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, former House of Representatives member, Oladele Kosoko, takes on some demanding political issues.
He remains journalist’s delight any day for his in-depth knowledge and frankness in discussing and articulating political issues. He does not shy away from speaking his mind on issues each time one seeks his opinion, no matter how controversial.
That is vintage Oladele Kosoko, who represented Badagry federal constituency, Lagos State, in the House of Representatives.
The former Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology in the House has been expressing his views since his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), won the 2015 election at the federal level as well as in over 20 states.
Kosoko told TheNiche he is optimistic that the wind of change that brought in President Muhammadu Buhari would be a positive one that will take Nigeria to the next level.
Aside performance expected at the national level, he is equally hopeful that his state governor, Akinwumi Ambode, would provide the right type of leadership needed to improve on the laudable pace former Governor Babatunde Fashola established.
With the enthronement of APC, he said, it would not be business-as-usual, as Buhari will take head-on issues of corruption, power, and security among other critical ones.
“Election has come and gone and our party is now forming a new government. I have no doubt in my mind on what Buhari said he will do. He is a man of few words but full of action, and with the brains behind the All Progressive Congress (APC) project, Nigeria will rise again.
“Right from the formation of the APC, we wanted a change, and I am grateful to Nigerians that they really understood the trends and ensured there was a change. By the grace of God, we will keep to that spirit of change. APC will not fail Nigerians,” he told TheNiche.
But he did not hesitate to lash out on the lawmakers that decided to neglect or reject the decision of the party on the choice of who the National Assembly (NASS) leaders should be.
“I do not think our lawmakers, at this stage, will be disregarding party instructions. They should abide by party directives and discipline, if they must achieve more in the legislative chambers,” he advised.
Kosoko said there is urgent need to have a conducive environment, so as to woo investors which he noted had been absent.
Said Kosoko: “If we have a conducive environment, investors will come, definitely. But a situation whereby there is serious security challenge in the land, nobody will come and invest. Also, we have been on this issue of power for 15 years. Where there is a problem, there must be a solution. There is a lot of sabotage on this issue.
“People who import generators into this country, except that issue is tackled, the problem will continue. It also goes to petroleum marketers. The alternative thing is to buy fuel where you don’t have power. This government will rise up on these challenges.
“Your business cannot flourish when you are spending 80 per cent of your income on these expenses. Most of the companies are relocating to where there is stable power. If there is power, unemployment will be a thing of the past because people will live on productivity, people will live on commercial businesses.”
Kosoko has been an advocate of creation of more local governments rather than states. The reason he has asked Lagos State to champion the debate at the National Assembly and ensure that the injustice the state and some other states with heavy population but with few LGAs are suffering is corrected by this administration.
“Over the years, I have been advocating for the creation of more local governments, instead of states. The issue of local government must be the first thing Lagos State will present to the National Assembly.”
Because Kosoko and his group made frantic efforts to ensure his constituency, Olorunda LCDA, despite the heavy challenges they faced in the area, won the elections in the area, he pleaded with the Ambode-led government to factor the area in his appointment plan.
“Actually, Tinubu has laid the foundation. Like in Olorunda LCDA, it is the will of God that we were able to win two Houses of Assembly (seats), otherwise we could have lost out completely to the opposition party. That is why we are saying that Olorunda specifically deserves to have a stake in the cabinet formed by Ambode. We deserve commissionership because we delivered well. But Governor Ambode, above all, must go for good brains that must deliver and raise the standard already established,” he observed.
For Kosoko, “the constitution should be amended, so that the term of office for the lawmakers will not exceed two tenures. Since the governor is not allowed to contest for third term, we should not allow legislators to contest for as long as they want.”
On the call for Lagos APC chairman, Henry Ajomale, to resign, he noted: “I have not seen the relevant section that after the election, the leadership who do not perform should resign. There is no section (concerning that) in our constitution. The issue that Ajomale should resign was uncalled for and lacks merit.”