Junaid Mohammed, the medical doctor-turned-politician, and Kano State delegate at the national conference, in this chat with Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, takes a swipe at the leadership of the confab which he describes as mediocre
How is debate going on in your committee?
Junaid MohammedIt has been going on fine, to be realistic. People are stating and re-stating their positions, and that is to be expected.
The fear is that every issue being discussed takes the shape of North-South divide. So, at the end of the day, are we likely going to have consensus on most of the issues the committees are deliberating on now?
No, that is not true. That is certainly not true. No matter how you frame the question or the argument, you can see that, may be, majority of the people from certain parts of the country or certain inclinations, politically or otherwise, do speak to support or ignore it. There is also always a significant number of the people who are opposed to the views from their part of the country which others have been speaking for. So I don’t buy that argument at all.
You were among those who felt strongly about issues like resource control.
Yes.
You also favoured the retention of Item 39 on the Exclusive List?
Yes
Is that the kind of consensus that you arrived at?
But you know we have brokered some consensus. Consensus basically encourages the spirit of give-and-take. Our principled position had been, retain Item 39 on the list; the Exclusive List remains the responsibility of the federal government. Any departure from that would have amounted to anarchy, and we don’t want to have anarchy.
Now you have put a caveat there; that a state where the mineral resources are found should be involved in the process of exploiting them. Hasn’t that brought the matter on the Concurrent List?
No, it is not on the Concurrent List; it is still on the Exclusive List. Giving some the right to express a view does not confer on him the power of veto. No state or local government has veto over federal policies on land or mineral rights.
But why do you want it to remain on the Exclusive List?
The only way you can do it in a federal set up is to have it on the Exclusive List. There is no other way you can do it.
When the committee on Labour and Civil Society came to visit your committee, you demanded that they should allow labour matters to remain on the Exclusive List?
No, no, no. The committee has not re-visited the matter. Let me tell you, my personal view is, even if we insist on the position we took earlier, given what we have heard from the labour people, it will not happen.
So you will take it to the Exclusive List?
It will remain on the Exclusive List. That is my outright guess.
Your committee also re-visited the issue of state police.
We have no power to do that. It is not part of our assignment; it is not part of our terms of reference. There are committees dealing with this matter; these are restructuring committee and the committee on security. They have been overwhelming in their support for federal police.
Now, one of the last things to happen in the committee on Devolution of Power is to look at the derivation principle.
I think the likelihood of derivation, as a principle meant to address the ecological problem, will be retained. It has to be retained. It has been in existence before this constitution. It was in existence when I was in the parliament in the Second Republic, and when I was in Oil Minerals Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC) for four years, as a federal commissioner, appointed by the president, to work in that area, though not a kobo came to Kano. So it will remain.
But the quantum is another matter. Even if we retain the quantum, we will insist on making the derivation principle that will be applicable to all the revenues, in the consolidated revenues in this country that will not work. It has to be part of the policies of Nigeria.
It does appear as if some people are here to ensure that the status quo is maintained. You appear to be one of them.
I am not one of them. I am against derivation, the way it is. Hold on, you asked me a question. That is number one. Number two, I have nothing to gain from the status quo. I am not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), I am not a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and I do not like the government of Goodluck Jonathan. So how can you say I am a man of the status quo? What is the benefit to me, to my people and the constituency I come from, if the status quo remains? Nothing! I want to be able to speak for Nigerians, otherwise we are finished. You and I have only one connection; we are Nigerians.
If you are given the opportunity to make recommendation on the percentage of derivation that should be allowed, what percentage would you recommend?
You want me to leak to you my top secret. I will not do that (laughing).
Before this National Conference took off, I read an interview you granted to a newspaper where you practically took the leadership of the conference to the cleaners?
Yes, I did; so go ahead. What do you want to know?
Has your position on this changed?
Nothing has changed. If anything, my fears have been confirmed. You can see the way the conference chairman has been handling the affairs here. The man Kutigi is totally not in charge. But for the two deputy secretaries, the one in charge of the proceedings and that one in charge of finance and administration, this thing would have collapsed long ago. There has been no contribution in any form made by the chairman.
Look at how he has been handling the plenary. You are there and you have seen what has been happening. Let us tell ourselves the truth. Because he comes from the North, I don’t support people who come from the North, unless they have something to show. So I didn’t come here to support any bloody Northerner; I am here to support myself and support those who sent me here, and the man who appointed me and persuaded me to come here is the governor of Kano State. I told him I will only do it if I will go there and speak my mind. And I said, even today, if you refer to delegates here, I still have my free mind. I am prepared to be frustrated, but I am not prepared to accept mediocrity imposed on us and the rest of the country.
Does it not bother you that people look at you as an extremist, judging by the way you express your opinion most times?
Listen, I don’t care what people think of me. May be one man’s extremist is another man’s patriot. So I may be a patriot to some other people. And you don’t speak for me, you don’t speak for my constituency, and I am sure you can never influence one vote in my constituency.
Let us know your personal opinion on what should be the key issues when it comes to electoral reforms.
I have not seen what is being arrived at by the committee on electoral reforms, and it will be premature and inconsiderate to start commenting on issues that are not handled by my own committee.
You said you don’t like President Goodluck Jonathan. What is your reason?
I don’t like his government. Please don’t waste my time (begins to walk away).
What is your reason?
What if I don’t want to give you my reason? (loud laughter).