Honourable Abdurazak Namdas represents Jada/Ganye/Mayo Balwa/Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State. He is the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Army. In this encounter with Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor Northern Operation, Sanni Onogu and Tony Akowe, in Abuja, he spoke about the achievements of the House, his ambition to govern Adamawa State and why he prefers Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fly the presidential flag of the APC in 2023. Excerpts:
YOU are ranking member of the 9th Assembly. What difference has the Assembly made?
The mere fact that we are on the same page with the presidency and have been able to get some things across is a plus. For instance, this is the first time that we have been able to revert to the January to December budget cycle. In the past, it was difficult when a budget will be passed in June or July. This time, we have been able to beat that deadline. In the House, we have made it that if the budget comes in September, we should be able to pass it before December that is a record time. It will now be for the Executive to sign.
We have been able to work together. We have also achieved quite number o things in terms of bills. For example, the PIB, which is now PIA which was in the Assembly for several years. At a point in the 8th Assembly, we had to initiate it ourselves and asked the Executive to sign. It was in this 9th Assembly that we were able to achieve that. It is not the number of bills, but the quality of the bills so that when you come across them, you will realize that there is a difference.
But you have not been able to solve the problem of the life span of the budget. Why should a budget extend to March of the following year?
The first thing for us is to agree to pass the budget in record time. But sometimes, this has to do with the way the civil service work and the way releases are made which in most cases comes late. If you say that budget execution should stop, there are certain projects that will suffer. We want a very good proportion of the capital component of the budget to be implemented because if you have a budget and only 20 or 30 per cent of the capital component is implemented, that is not good for the economy. So, that is why we allow that to happen. Hopefully, this will not continue forever.
This kind of understanding with the Executive has led to Nigerians saying you have become toothless bulldogs…
There are certain motions that we have passed that people did not think we could pass because they are against the Executive, even though implementation of some of these motions and resolutions are not quite encouraging. We are not puppets. The truth is that we feel that sometimes, it is good to be on the same page. If we keep fighting ourselves, Nigerians will suffer because in trying to flex our muscles, certain things will be delayed.
In some cases you hear agencies complaining about the delay in the processes. Is the House making efforts to address this to ensure that the processes are not delayed and for budget not to run over into the following year?
There was a time we had to amend the Public Procurement Act because we felt that the six months is too long a period. That is why some people feel that it does not make sense to follow due process because if you do that and spend six months before the real work starts, people will really suffer. But sometimes, we have cause to agree with the BPP. There are some critical agencies that you can’t subject to these long processes because if that is done, we are going to be in trouble. For example, in the security sector, if you say they must go through those processes, that will not help and so, they have to be excluded sometimes. By and large, we are working towards amending the Public Procurement Act so that the period can be reduced to about three months.
You head the House Committee on Army and you are from a troubled geopolitical zone. From the benefit of hindsight, is this war against Boko Haram and bandits winnable?
I believe that it is winnable, but it will take a longer period. That is the way I look at it. Right now, the situation in the North East is far better than what is happening in the North West. The rate of attacks has reduced to the barest minimum. I am not saying there are no attacks, but these attacks have reduced and the situation is calmer in the North East right now than in the North West. With the introduction of the Tucano Jets, it appears we are winning the war to some extent. But initially, when we wanted to use the Tucano jets on the bandits, there was this argument that they should only be used on terrorists and we had to come up with a resolution calling on the President to declare bandits as terrorist. The Minister of Justice was able to work on that and this has given us some hope that we will be able to deal with the situation at hand.
What is really the problem with the Electoral Bill? Right now, there is suspense as to whether the President will sign it. Didn’t you do your home work?
For us, we did our home work. I told you earlier that we have a good working relationship. I want to believe that even the Executive has interest in it. The only problem is that there are other people who are interfering and it is this interference that keeps changing the mindset of people in the Executive. When the President returned the bill and say you cannot subject all political parties to direct primary only, allow people to make their choice and we said fine. If we had overridden the President, the relationship may become sour. This relationship is not only about Electoral Act. There are other things for which we need to work together for the benefit of Nigerians. So, we feel that we should not start fighting in spite of the fact that people were saying override the President. We said, if we can achieve the same goal, why start fighting? We now included indirect primary so that the parties can make their choice. The Senate came with consensus and we also agreed.
There is this undemocratic clause that political office holders cannot participate in primaries unless they first resign…
I think we are just using this to create tension. What is wrong if somebody resigns from his position when he wants to contest an election? Do you know what it takes to be a politician or what it takes to convince people that you are out for business? You need to go and start campaigning. I want to run as governor of my state and I started consultation on January 1, 2021 and I have been on that for over one year. I have been spending my resources and talking to the people so that they will know that I am serious. It is also to give them ample opportunity to screen and analyse me. You cannot just come two minutes to elections and say you want to be this or that. That is why we are not getting the right people most of the time. If you present yourself early, the people will scrutinise you. So, why are they afraid?
Are you tired of being a lawmaker that you are aspiring to be a governor?
The truth is that I have served in the Executive before when I was Chief Press Secretary to Governor Boni Haruna and I know how the executive functions. I am a Legislator and so, I know how the Legislature functions. Right now, we have leadership problem in my state and I feel that with the experience I have, I can do better. Don’t forget that I was a Deputy Governorship candidate about 11 years ago under the ticket of the ACN and we came runners up to Murtala Nyako. We were defeated with about 68,000 votes at that time. I have been in this game for sometimes. I was Director General of Atiku Support Group that took care of Atiku’s campaign in the entire North East. I feel that with what is happening in my state today, if I become the governor, with the experience I have both in the Executive and in the Legislature, things will be better. In fact, at the international level, I was a member of the Pan African Parliament. So, I have friends both internationally and locally. If I take the kind of experience I have now to the state, I will do better. Right now, what I have been able to do in my constituency is so much that the state has to work hard to get to where I am.
Why is there always leadership deficit in Adamawa?
I wouldn’t say all together that there has been a leadership deficit. In some cases, we have produced good leaders. A politician is like somebody playing football and the coach is always watching. He knows at what point to substitute a player and bring in the right hand. So that is what is happening. Even me, I have realized that as a player, I am sensing that for us to get far, I have to come in. We have to substitute the Governor. If we substitute the Governor and I come in, I am a better striker. So it is very likely that I am going to make it. The point is that we have the likes of ex-Governor Boni Haruna. In his time, he delivered. Ex-Governor Murtala Nyako delivered. Even ex-Governor Jibrilla Bindow delivered. He provided good road network for us.
But I can tell you that no matter how good you are, there will always be some deficiencies in certain areas in any leadership. Right now, I feel that if I should be governor tomorrow, education will be one of my key priorities. I am a young person. My father was a primary school teacher. I am not the son of a big man. God brought me to where I am through providence. If not for my being educated, I may not have attained this level I occupy today. Our youths are very vibrant but we need to put in more efforts in education because it is key. Secondly, Adamawa is an agricultural area. I will also focus on agriculture. We have to be self sustaining. Even this Boko Haram challenge, if you educate people very well, there is the likelihood that brainwashing such persons in the name of terrorism, will not succeed.
Is it true that you are from a minority tribe in Adamawa? What are your chances?
I wouldn’t say I am a minority. I don’t know what you mean by minority. Yes, I am from a great tribe in Adamawa. I have four Local Governments as my constituency, which is the largest constituency in Adamawa state, out of 21 Local Government Areas. My constituency is the largest. No other constituency has up to four local governments. I am a Chamba by tribe and we dominate three and half of these local governments. No other tribe has that kind of dominance. But that is not all. The truth is that you must have something to offer the people. I have been in politics for several years. You know my antecedents as a legislator. You know what I did even when I served as the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Boni Haruna and you know my antecedents as a legislator.
So if given that opportunity, if I am able to bring four local governments – there is no candidate that can bring four local governments to the table like I will do. Right now, I have four local governments in my kitty for now by the grace of God. All I need to do is to tap from A and B and we will carry the day. In the entire southern zone of Adamawa where I come from, it has nine local governments but I am the only aspirant for this office since January 2021. I am not saying other aspirants will not signify interest, but before they match what I have done, they need to work hard.
Can you defeat ‘ATM’ Ahmadu Fintiri?
The truth is that even in his first election, we were the ones that helped him. Our people, out of anger and frustration, were angry with the governor and they decided to engage in anti-party activity and that was why he won. All of us are aware that there was a second round of elections. If he had won convincingly from day one, I would have had that fear, but since our people did anti-party to enable him win, this time around, we are saying that all of us as aspirants, we are not going to fight ourselves.
We will work together. Even if I am not the one, any other aspirant that picks the ticket, we are going to work for the person and the party, because people have come to realise that if you are angry momentarily, don’t lose your senses. If you engage in anti-party activities and your party loses out, the winner cannot reward you with any juicy appointment. Because the people who worked for you on the other side, will not even allow you to do that. Look at them now, they are crying all over the place. He does not even pick their calls now.
He knows that I can defeat him. Everybody knows that I can defeat him. That is not something to debate about. I don’t want to talk about Fintiri too much. I want to talk about my party, APC, because no matter how you do, if I don’t pick this ticket, I will not be facing him. So I pray and hope that my people understand that I am the man to beat once I pick the ticket.
Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar has a larger-than-life influence on Adamawa politics, have you secured his buy-in?
The former Vice President is from my constituency. I represent him in the National Assembly. But we are of different political parties. I am in APC while he is in the PDP. So I am not going to engage in anti-party activity just like I am praying others not to do same. The only thing is that I have total respect for him. He was my boss. Seventy per cent of Adamawa politicians have one link or the other with Atiku. Whether you like it or not or whether you are no longer with him, at one point or another you must have related with him. Some of us worked with him, we benefited from him and we have worked very closely and he is a father. But today, this is politics, I am on the other side in APC. Allow me to get the ticket and we can hold this interview next time (general laughter).
I want to take you back to the National Assembly. When you started you talked about the 9th National Assembly being on the same page with the Executive and the President. What people are saying right now is that the executive has capitalised on that ‘same page concept’ to treat members of the National Assembly as errand boys. Let me give you an example. You talked about having restored the annual budget cycle. Only last week, the President wrote to both the Senate and House of Representatives accusing lawmakers of having inserted projects worth N889billion in the 2022 budget. He asked that you should remove such projects. That is number one. Number two, the Finance Act 2021 has stripped the Nigeria Customs Service of powers to collect revenues on behalf of the Federal Government. All revenues are now to be collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service. How do you want to react to this development?
Let start from the issue of the letter from the Presidency. Let’s look at the relationship between children and their parents. The mere fact that this is your father does not mean that at one point in time or the other your father cannot say don’t do this or that. That does not suggest that he is no longer your father. For us in this relationship, there is nothing wrong for the President to say, look do this. I understand that you have done A or B but to me that is not good. Can you do C? We will look at the letter. It is not everything he says that we will accept hook, line and sinker. We are not going to take it that way. We will not be aggrieved if he points out certain things. In any sincere relationship, it presupposes that if you have anything against anybody, say it out. That is why we were happy with him. We always say if we pass bills, he is one of the first Presidents who will not keep quiet. At least, if he does not want to sign these bills, he will say look I am not signing these Bills and these are my reasons. Some presidents will not even write a letter and we will not know what was wrong with the Bills. So the mere fact that he has done this, I want to tell you that my leaders, because I am not the one to make a final statement on this, I know my leaders will take the right decision and we will be informed. If you look at it critically, what we read in the papers notwithstanding, we have seen the letter and we will respond appropriately. On the Finance Act, I think are cleaning up. The most important thing is that we want to block leakages. And if these leakages can be blocked and this is the only way to go, we will be able to do it. The only problem is that at any time you come out with a law, that is why there is want we call amendment and repeal. This is not Quran or the Bible. Any law you have passed and when you practice it and see that it is not workable, you will recall it and amend it. There is nothing wrong in that because this is a democracy. People sometimes will not even allow you to practise what you have put in the law. People often assume that if this thing is done it will not be good and probably if we start it, it may be good. So let’s do it. This is all about amendment and repeal, we can always look at things. We have no problem with that.
After the last security summit held by the House of Representatives, you submitted about 18 recommendations to the President. What is the level of implementation of these recommendations right now?
You know that security issues are things that you have to be very cautious. The recommendations were not only executive in nature. The recommendations were both legislative and executive. Those that were legislative, we took actions ourselves. We excised about eight bills from it. I sponsored one of the bills which we have transmitted to the Senate for concurrence. Once that is done, I will take it to the President because the bill I sponsored is to make sure that human rights desks are established in most of the military formations. As I speak with you, we have what we call civil/military affairs in almost all the Armed Forces – Navy, Air Force and Army. Again they have already started putting these things in place before the bill is assented to. There is also what we call overlapping of mandates. There are certain mandates that are meant for the Police but you see the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps handling them or the Federal Road Safety Corps handling it. We feel that some of these overlapping mandates are unnecessary. They are the things that create conflicts. But some are also good. For example, if an offence takes place here and there is no any law enforcement agency to handle it, it could also be against the interest of the public. What you do is to allow certain agencies to handle it and they can later hand it over to the statutory agency. I give you an example. The Act establishing the NSCDC is majorly to handle infrastructure but they are allowed by that same Act to arrest terrorists and interrogate them. But once they have done that, they should hand them over to the police. Sometimes, if you find a terrorist being arrested by the Civil Defence, somebody will pick offence and say but this is not their mandate, but it is in the Act, only that he cannot complete the exercise. The executive is consulting regarding the recommendations because it is something that if you don’t take care, you will run into troubled waters.
Now 2023 is by the corner. Your party is in crisis and in court. We have so many Presidential aspirants. Should power shift to the South or should it should remain in the North as it is? Again one of the foremost aspirants that have come out is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. What is your take on him?
Personally the North is known to keep their promises. Even the South respects us for that. In those good old days, you will see Hausa boys go to the East to work and they are given access to all properties because they believe we can keep promises. So, I feel that this power should go back to the South. But sometimes, most of these insecurity issues you find, is based on simple things like not keeping to agreements. What is there? We have done eight years now. Hand it over to the South. To me, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the leader of the APC and I think there is nothing wrong for us to support him to be presidential candidate. Let me give you a personal example. Asiwaju was the man that brought in or gave Atiku ticket to run for the Presidency and that was the first time Atiku had a Presidential ticket. The one former Vice President Atiku contested in the PDP is only his second time of all the number he has been contesting. That was the only time he was given a ticket to be President of Nigeria. Asiwaju did that and the man is from my state. At another point, he brought Nuhu Ribadu who is also from my state. He gave him a ticket to run for the presidency of this country under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Both of them didn’t make the Presidency. Now he wished someone from Adamawa to be President and he has done his own part. Even Babachir Lawal who became the Secretary to the Government of the Federation under the Buhari’s regime, we know that he is Buhari’s man, no doubt about it. He gave an interview at one point in time that Asiwaju has a hand in his emergence as the SGF. He is also from Adamawa state. Boss Mustapha who is the current SGF was the Deputy National Chairman of the ACN at that time when I was also the deputy governorship candidate in my state. All is because of Asiwaju. Apart from me these, if you look at the leaders he has groomed and brought to limelight, no politician alive that can boast of that. No any politician alive has been able to at least tutor people to be able to sieve good leaders than Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Given this and since he has the capacity with what he has done in Lagos state, I feel if you rule Lagos which is a semi Nigeria, I believe that he will do much more in Nigeria as a President. So for me, he has my support. If he is able to get the ticket, we will work with him throughout. That is just the truth of the matter.