Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong spoke with TONY AKOWE on his anti-corruption crusade, the revenue drive, plans for tourism and his agenda for peace in the Northcentral state.
Plateau is known for tourism. How are you developing this sector?
If you don’t have peace, you can’t have tourism. Plateau was known as the home of peace and tourism. I can still remember that when I was younger, people usually traveled from far and near to come Jos. I was discussing with Ambassador Jeta yesterday and he said that Plateau was a tourist attraction for every American who like spending their weekends and holidays in Jos. That was why many people kept their families in Jos even when they were working in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria. Suddenly, crisis came in and people started running away from Jos and the hope of making the place a tourist attraction was no longer there. So,when we came in, we made peace and tourism part of our policy thrust. As part of our five policy thrust, peace and security was number one. I had the challenge of first curtailing the insecurity that I inherited and I am sure that you know that in the last four month before we came in, Jos was a no go area. So we first concentrated on checking the insecurity in the state by ensuring there is mutual understanding between the fulanis and the Berons. We went as far as establishing a committee to take care of their problem and quickly, I established a Bureau for Conflict Management. We have put in place a law to that effect. So, we have been able to curtail the insecurity in the state and those areas that were hitherto no go areas are not free areas for people. Having done with peace, we are now moving into other areas of attraction for tourism. Although tourism is not the second pillar on our policy thrust, but agriculture which is also the focus of the federal government. We are also going in line with the policy of the federal government and the APC manifesto. So, we are following exactly what the President is proposing especially in respect to agriculture, commerce and industry. We just came back from a retreat where the five policy thrust were discussed. After appointing and swearing in commissioners, I realized that the best thing was to go for a retreat and so, we had a one week retreat and out of that retreat, a lot of things came out. Some of the things that came out of the retreat are complimenting what we are doing already. In my campaigns, I promised to dwell on commerce and tourism. I told Plateau people that by the grace of God, I will rebuild the Jos Market that was burnt down. I immediately established a committee which has already commenced work. They have already advertised, calling for investors who will come in and build the market. When they advertised, I was surprised at the number of investors that came forward and expressed interest in rebuilding that market. So, as far as reconstructing the market is concerned, it is a done deal.
The Jos Wildlife Park is another tourist attraction that has been left fallow. What are you doing about reviving the place.
Part of the suggestions that came out of our retreat was that we should continue to run the place through government effort or give it to private investors. We are now in the era of public private partnership where Government will only rocked the enabling environment. We are also thinking about that. We want to attract people because wildlife is very important. Apart from from the Jos a Wildlife park, we also have the Pandam Wildlife park which is untapped. We also have the Wase Rock and even the weather on the plateau. We see tourism as an advantage to us and so, we are going to develop that tourism while concentrating on sustaining the peace and then go on to fill our mandate as contained in the five pillar thrust.
In view of the dwindling resources from oil, what is your blueprint for revamping the solid mineral sector in the state.
Before the dwindling resources from oil, nobody was bothered about solid minerals. We lost so much in the area because we left it to illegal miners. This is the time to look inward. Plateau was the headquarters of the Nigeria Mining Corporation. That should tell you the importance or significance of mining to the people of Plateau state. In those days when people were talking about groundnuts and cocoa, we were hitting our chest and talking about mining. That was why the name Jos became popular. When the prices of oil started falling we said we must go back to mining and agriculture. I was very happy when the Minister for Solid Minerals Development came to Jos, he told me that the best inputs he got on ways of managing the solid mineral sector came from Jos. The day he visited Jos, I was having, I was having a wilder stakeholders meeting with the people of Plateau and they were also part of it. That meeting shifted from all other things to solid minerals and very heavy contributions came from Plateau state and those contributions was what helped us at the National Economic Council meeting and that is what is what is going to form the policy thrust of the administration both at the federal and state levels. So, to me, it is an advantage. Virtually every part of my state is rich with solid minerals. But the law was done in such a way that the states were disadvantaged. People come into your state after collecting license from Abuja, some times, they come with military and police escort, do whatever they want and give the communities stipends and you don’t know what they are taking. This time, the. President has a change of attitude according to the change mantra. He said no, we must follow the law. States must also participate in the exploration and advantage of solid minerals in their states. To me, it is going to boost the economy and have serious impact on my revenue generation. We factor that into our retreat as to how to take advantage of the new policy on solid minerals in improving revenue generation.
What efforts have you made for foster unity in the state?
Plateau is a very unique state. Unique in the sense that when they want to so something, they do it without looking back. Plateau is also a very religious state. That is why you don’t find many cases of corruption in the state. So, when the election came, we knew that something was going to happen, change was going to happen on the Plateau because we are united. Suddenly, an administration came that was almost diving a list everybody along religious and ethnic lines and Plateau people said no, this is not the time for that; we must get a change. Lucky enough, the change came through APC. Some of us were diehard members of the PDP. You know I was Speaker under PDP for seven years. But we realized that many things were going wrong in the party and that was why some of us left the party and joined the opposition. When we saw the opposition moving under a driver like the present President, Buhari, we knew that something was going to happen in this country and so. We followed that opposition and that was what gave rise to our election. You said the PDP won everywhere. It is not everywhere they won, some of the elections were rigged and the tribunal gave it to them. Other wise, if it were true election, APC won in so many places and the governorship was very clear. It was the collective opinion of Plateau people and the hard work done by he then opposition. When I won my election, everybody came on board irrespective of political affiliation. It was seen as a Plateau project and I am also managing it as a Plateau project. I can only manage and build the confidence of Plateau project when I deliver the dividends of democracy to the people and when we see a change in attitude from what was obtained before. That is what we are trying to do to bring unity to the people of Plateau state, to being our hop and ensure equity and Justice.
Many people believe that the past administration in the state should be probed. What are you doing about this?
I have said it severally that the fact that you are not hearing anything from the Plateau does not mean we are not fighting corruption on the Plateau. We have sent several cases to the EFCC and ICPC. My Accountant General just came back from the EFCC. They were called to come and give evidence as to the investigations that at going on. We have a lot of such investigations going on, we have also had so many arrest especially from the last administration and many of them are on bail. At the appropriate time, prosecution will start. EFCC may be slow, but I know they will prosecute. We had a transition committee and we came out and told Plateau people what we inherited, some of the genuine and others not genuine. Some of them we have submitted to the EFCC and others, we have commissioned a very reputable accounting firm, KPMG who are currently auditing the state and at the appropriate time, when they come out with the result, you will hers what will happen on the Plateau. We have recovered money too. Recently, we recovered N2.7 billion in the state. That was money that was supposedly lost. We traced the money which was meant for teachers. If you remember, teachers were not paid in my state for 11 months, civil servants were not paid for about nine months. When I came, the Judiciary was not there because everybody was on strike and it was like government was dead. But when I came on board, we did our best. We now have arrears of salaries of only two months. For teachers, we paid all, they are back to work. The judiciary is also back to work. Litigations were here and there between labour and government but right now, there are no more litigations because they have all withdrawn the litigations. So, for us on the Plateau, we are moving well. But, in the area of corruption, we are putting pressure on the EFCC, because at the appropriate time, when they finish their investigations, let them start prosecution. We want prosecution and the refund of the looted funds.
Have you been able to pay all outstanding salaries?
No, in my state, not yet. Before the issue of bailout came, we have already started paying workers in the state even with the backlog of problems we inherited. When the issue of bailout was announced, we applied for 10 billion which was supposed to be for the arrears of salaries for about eight or nine months. Even without the full bailout, we only received five billion. Today, I was in CBN, trying to pursue the bailout for Plateau state. Plateau was supposed to get 10 billion for salaries and 10 billion for infrastructure. But we got only N5 billion and even with that, we were able to clear the backlog of salaries. From May till date, I am not owing salaries, but the ones we inherited, we have been able to pay with only two months remaining. For local government, we have paid all the arrears and presently, we are not owing them. If I am able to get my balance of five billion, within a week, all the remaining salaries outstanding would have been cleared.
The Treasury Account Account is aimed at assisting in the fight against corruption. Why are states finding it difficult to implement Treasury Single Accounts?
Well, other states may be finding it diffult, not Plateau, we are already implementing TSA. Immediately I saw the introduction of the TSA by Mr. president, I called my accountant-general and Commissioner for Finance and told them they must implement. I am not an accountant and at that time, I didn’t know the implication. But from what I saw about the advantages of TSA, I said let TSA be implemented in the state. I immediately set up a committee and today, it is being implemented in my state I don’t know why some governors will find it difficult to implement TSA. But for me, if wasn’t difficult for me to implement and we are getting some reserved funds. Things that were not know at all, some accounts that were not known to us are being traced and we are getting excess money from there. I will ask governors that has not done TSA to quickly adopt and start implementing it in their state.
Eight months into the life of the Buhari administration, Nigerians are beginning to complain. Are you worried about this?
While I am worried because of the kinds of complaints that are coming, I am also worried because of the impatience of Nigerians. If you begin to compare the state of the nation before the election, you will understand what the President is facing. Before 2014, what was the cost of a barrel of oil? At a stage, it was over $140, but today, we are getting back to less than $30 with the same budget and the same responsibility. Like in my state, it is the same salary and every other thing. In the past, allocation to my state was between N5 billion and N8 billion, but today, with a salary bill of about N1.8 billion, we are getting about N2 billion, sometimes less. Last month (January), we got N1.6 billion. But the people will not understand. They will tell you it is change and since you said change, it should have been better. But they must also understand the economic situation we are going through. What we need to do is to be a little bit patient because the reforms that are going on is yielding fruits, but it will not be something that will be immediate. We will have to take out time. Let us give ourselves at least one year and see what Mr. President is doing. Let us give ourselves one year and see what the states are doing. We are already moving away from oil and no longer depending on oil because many of us are now diversifying. We are moving into Agriculture and other ways of enhancing our revenue generation. If you give me adequate funding, (I say adequate funding because I have not received my bail out) and successful Internal Revenue, if you come to Plateau in the next six months, you will see a different thing. That is what I am also expecting of Mr. President.
At the federal level, we heard that the President is under sever pressure to drop the anti corruption war. Are you facing the same pressure in Plateau?
If you are fighting corruption anywhere, corruption will fight you. Those of us on the Plateau know what I have gone through. Within the civil service, when you are fighting corruption, you get frustrated from all angles. We have done our best through Transition Committee, but each time we come out, if is frustration here and there. We are going back to investigations. The EFCC is there, but sometimes, people refused to come and give evidence. Let me just emphasis that corruption is not an easy thing to fight. But you must have a way and anytime you are fighting it, don’t look back. At the end of the day, if is sacrifice that everybody must do. If we have to make this country good.
You said federal allocation to your state has reduced drastically and this is the complain of your colleagues, who have argued that they cannot keep up with the minimum wage. What is your position on this.
Initially, there was misconception about what we were saying. At the Governors’ Forum, we were appealing to the president to reconsider the position of the states so that people will be able to pay salaries it is not inky payment of salaries that we have as our responsibility. There are so many people on the street and so, you need to employ people and this was becoming very impossible and to pay salaries. So, we were calling for measures. Thank God that the president has introduced some measure. For example, we are talking about solid minerals now, we are beginning to open the space so that we can use that to improve our internal revenue. I am not sure they got us right when they say that we wanted to downsize. As far as I am concerned, it is going to be very difficult to saying will downsize on the Plateau. I am not thinking of doing that. What I am trying to do is to be able to retain what I have and be able to improve on it. That is why our concentration us on how to improve our revenue generation so that we can sustain the salary structure that we have, and if possible, employ additional workforce. Downsizing is going to be very unpopular especially in the change era. The President has said it will be difficult and that he will not advice any state to downsize. Not only state, but corporate organization. So, what we are trying to do is to manage what we have and also improve on it.
It’s always been very difficult for most states to run football clubs. Plateau United has just gained promotion. What is your arrangement.
Let me tell you that if you go to my state, they will say there will be no reason why football will fail because I was also a footballer. I played with the likes of Nduka Ugbade. We were all selected to go to Kwara. It was from there that they went for international engagement. Some of us were writing our exams and so could not make it. That is to tell you the level I played football and so, I tKe football seriously. When I came in, my first task was to be able to take Plateau United to the Premier division. They had no hope of achieving that because they were just managing. But within that short period, I was able to struggle to take the team to the Premier division. It was not the past administration that took them there. I tried that win a short period of time and they were up. We are doing our best in other sports. It is just the dwindling resources that we have. I inherited a stadium that was uncompleted. A very big stadium which was abandoned. Right now, we are going back to complete it. The National Sports Commission have also advised that incomplete that stadium. Once we complete that stadium, the Super Eagles will have a place to be training. I am sure that there is place as to where to play now. It would have been Jos especially because of the weather. I play a lot of golf and last year, we had the governor’s cup. It was the first time in the history of this country that a golf tournament had participants more than expected. We we’re expecting 100 people, but 340 people were in Jos. They said it was the first time that a tournament was being played on two course at the same time. If you quantify the cost of the influx of people into Plateau state, it was put at about N50 million and above. That is the kind of thing we are supposed to be talking about. We are not relenting at all in the area of sport because we also want to engage our youth, empower them and employ them.
President Buhari just returned from a five day break and statistics revealed that he has done 15 trips out of the country in the last eight month. He has also released a bulletin indicating that he will be visiting three more countries soon. The question Nigerians are asking is, should he continue to travel. Probably if he had sat down, he would have noticed the padding of the budget because he did not study the budget and that is why the budget mafia hijacked the budget.
For me, I see nothing wrong in traveling. Today, I am granting an interview in Abuja and not in Jos. Sometimes, people say that we governors don’t seat down in our states. But travel a lot. Imagine if I seat down in Jos, who will fight my bailout fund for me? We are concentrating on donor agencies, but they are in Abuja and always, they would want to meet with the Governor. When I became governor, because of the insecurity, foreigners were not coming to Jos, but will only end up in Abuja. So, if you are looking for investors, they will say if you don’t come to Abuja, we will not come to Jos. So, I had to be coming to Abuja because if I don’t, they will not come to Jos because in most cases, they will say we want to meet with the governor.
Sometimes, they will refuse to meet with the deputy governor. In that case, you have to move round. That is what the President is doing. We are moving into attracting the private sector into doing business in this country and so, he cannot sit down in one place. So, I think we cannot undervalue these trips. It was not because he travelled that he had problem with the budget. Sometimes, whatever you are doing, there will be sabotage. Sometimes, you do your best. But the civil servants will always be smarter than you. You will trust everybody, but these things happen from time to time. So, I think that the President’s trips should not be a thing of concern to us as long as the trips are bringing the benefits.
The roads in Jos are in a terrible state. What are you doing about that.
I am sure that the last time you were in Jos was last year. Those are some of the things I inherited and it was very glaring that it was going too be difficult for those of us who are going to be governors in such states. We inherited a debt of over N200 billion and an impending contractual liabilities of about N105 billion. Everything that was left in that state was N95 million and that was horrible. Uncompleted projects were littered all over the place, including the main road leading into Jos. Contract was awarded and abandoned. So, what I did in my own way was to say, these roads are for the people of Plateau state and so, must be completed. We are investigating the cost of some of the contracts, but that will not stop us from going ahead to complete them. It may interest you to hear that if you get back to Jos now, it will be a different story. There was a flyover bridge that was left abandoned and nobody believe that we will complete the bridge. Right now, we have completed that bridge and all the main roads are under construction. I am hoping that in the next six months, if I am able to get my bailout, I will complete most of the projects that were abandoned and even engage new ones.
The EFCC chairman has accused the Judiciary and lawyers of being a problem to the fight against corruption in the country. As a lawyer, how would react to that.
If there are allegations against a profession like that, it is always good to be specific. We have had cases like that severally and each profession had a way of disciplining their members. We can’t say that the law profession is a perfect one. We are not angel and that is why there are disciplinary measures against members. That is to say that there are members who are recalcitrants. There are ways of going about that and not to make a blanket statement like that. Of course, he did not say all, but some and I am sure that with time, he will name those lawyers. It is better to name those lawyers and not to make a blanket statement against a profession like that. I hold the EFCC in hong regard. I was also a guest of the EFCC. If you are aware, in 2005/2006, I was detained by EFCC as Speaker for more than 40 days. I was prosecuted and discharged. Those ones were during the Obasanjo era. It was complicated with desire to impeach illegally which some of us resisted. We were all detained and at the end of the day, we didn’t do that. Many people who did it regretted it after. My lawyer. My reason was not because I was defending somebody against corruption, I was following due process. Some people did if without following due process and at the end of the day, many of us were vindicated by the Supreme Court. What I am saying is that I respect my profession and hold it in high esteem. So, for anybody to say there are some that are bad, it is good to be specific. As EFCC, if you know some of these bad lawyers, you have a right to arrest, investigate and prosecute them because they don’t have immunity. Even governors who have immunity cannot go away from investigation.
What is the place of women in your government
The manifesto of the APC which we also copied in our state, we have something called the three Es- Empowerment, Engagement and Employment for youths and women. Everything we are doing in the state, we are doing it for the youths and women. I have three female commissioners and all of them are occupying very sensitive positions. The Commissioner for Finance is a woman, same with Commissioner for Agriculture. I have seven Permanent Secretaries who are permanent secretaries. So, we are taking good care of women affairs in the state.
