Oladele Kosoko, who had represented Badagry federal constituency in the House of Representatives, in this chat with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, talks about the elections, his expectations and the plot against Lagos APC chairman, among other issues.
What is your assessment of the last general elections?
Let me join millions of Nigerians to give kudos to the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, and out-going President Goodluck Jonathan. Both have played a very good role. They doused the tension of this election. The incoming administration must have known the problem of the country. Major General Muhammadu Buhari is not new to the system. So I expect him to take off urgently and do the right thing. Although we don’t expect miracle within two/three months, the priority of Nigerians should nonetheless be tackled immediately.
What do you want the incoming administration to urgently look at?
Security is very important. In an atmosphere of insecurity, people are not safe; you won’t expect any development because people will be scared and won’t invest. Unemployment is another disease which he (Buhari) must address. The third is the aspect of power. Electricity complements employment. If you establish a business and you don’t have stable power, it will affect your workforce. Corruption is another disease. And it can be solved by quality leadership. Let us start with Buhari himself. He said all ministers that will work with him must declare their assets. I have no doubt in my mind that he has genuine intention for this country. I recall in 2011, (when) he wept. The reason, for him, was, why should Nigeria be in this position?
If you are not corrupt, you are doing the right thing, and people around you will try to emulate you. And they will get scared (to be corrupt). Corruption does not emanate from a spirit. When you establish corruption, you bring in your friends, relations and give contracts. That is how corruption starts. And those around you will want to partake in it. You cannot control them because you are doing same as a leader. The leadership must demonstrate commitment to fight corruption. For instance, when the late Umaru Yar’Adua declared his own asset, it was less than N1 billion. All his total asset, including that of his wife, was less than N1 billion. I am sure Buhari, from reliable sources, has no other landed property apart from his house in Daura (his hometown) and the one in Kaduna. These are the people that have shown commitment to the nation.
Fighting corruption must start from the leadership. Somebody said they should introduce death penalty for corruption. Well, all over the world, they are trying to abolish capital punishment. But in a situation whereby you jail and prevent politicians from contesting elections for at least 10 years, for me, is enough punishment. I will not support death penalty. I will support punishment that will make people to say: I will not do it again.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of technically rigging the election in league with Jega using the card-readers and the Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC). What is your reaction?
That is Nigeria for you. We always find excuses when we lose election. If we are talking about election, PDP should not say anything about rigging. For instance, in Kano, there is no way anybody can take Kano from Rabiu Kwankwaso because he is very much on the ground. Now, go to Bauchi, look at the in-fighting in the PDP there. Go to Benue State where the governor imposed a small boy, an inexperienced person, to be the governor. What about Plateau State where Jang also brought his relation? Let us look at Jigawa whose voting pattern has always gone the same line with Kano. Then Niger State. Talk about Katsina, the hometown of Buhari. I can give you example of eight states where PDP lost because it did not present the right candidates. That is PDP’s problem. It is crying wolf when there is none.
Recently one Ayo Akande asked for the resignation of Henry Ajomale, the APC chairman in Lagos State. How do you react to this?
I think the man is under illusion. In the first place, Henry Ajomale has put in his best. He is not somebody to be pushed aside. In the formation of APC, he played an active part. Even where we (ACN) were only controlling one state, he always coordinated the activities of other states. It is not our constitution that if you lose your ward, you resign. Again, at what capacity is Akande calling for the resignation of Ajomale. Is he a chairman of a local government? Is he a member of State Working Committee (SWC)? He deserves to be sanctioned for such statement because for you to say the man should resign, at what meeting was that decision taken? He must be sanctioned for that statement because I think somebody is trying to use the man to bring crisis to the APC. That statement should not be taken lightly because Section 21 of our party’s constitution specifically mentioned the procedure of party discipline. And before you can call for the resignation of the state chairman of the party, you too must hold a position either as a national or state officer. For instance, a ward leader cannot ask a local government chairman to resign because of non-performance. There is hierarchy. There is procedure. If the man is eyeing that position, let him wait after four years. But the man is a stranger. I don’t know him politically.
Do you think the promises of your party like free education, free meal and power are realisable against the drop in oil revenue?
Let me tell you, one of the fundamental issues that we need to address is about the constitution. For instance, the recurrent has taken about 75 per cent of our budget. When you now look at it, what business do we have with 42 ministers? If the constitution says one per state, we agree. But what about that regional representation, that is having ministers of state. It is absurd. If we block all leakages, there will be enough to do the job. There is a lot of duplication. So much money is spent where they should not. Look at the money we spend at the National Assembly. That is why we were talking about part-time legislators. But they argued that because of oversight and so on. But that gives room for non-performance. Because hardly you see them (lawmakers) on seat. They just sign register and go away, claiming that they are going on oversight functions. Let us start from cutting allocation of funds for unnecessary things. I am sure with all these, APC will execute its programmes. If the recurrent will be reduced to 50, leaving capital with 50, I can assure you that this country will come back alive.
Where do you want to see Nigeria in the next four years?
I want to see Nigerians in comfort, comfort in the area of security, power and employment, in the area of basic amenities and in our education system, among others.