Senator George Akume is the Minority Leader of the Senate and Chairman, North-Central Zonal Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution. In this interview with Sanni Onogu, he speaks on the two-day public hearing in Makurdi, the Benue State capital; the need to maintain a strong centre to keep the component parts of the country together and why state electoral commissions should be retained.
What is your impression about the turnout of the North-Central people at the two-day public hearing on the review of the Constitution?
There is no document or book that is perfect except the Bible and the Quran. Therefore, even the Constitution, which is a very sacred document, must, from time to time, come under a review in view of the dynamism of society. Human society is dynamic, new challenges arise, which may warrant a rethink. The Constitution, being a wise document, also recognises this fact and it says, if you want to amend me to meet exigencies, this is the procedure. It is against this background that we have gathered Nigerians in all the geopolitical zones of this country to take a second look at the Constitution to see if we could effect further alterations to the provisions of the Constitution. The 6th National Assembly along with legislatures in the states were able to do something. The 7th National Assembly in conjunction with state legislatures are also about doing that. The turnout was massive and very impressive. We want to congratulate Nigerians, especially people from this geopolitical zone for finding time to participate in a very purposeful way in this sacred national exercise. We took over 52 presentations yesterday and they bordered on a number of critical areas, which in their wisdom, require further alterations and these are devolution of powers. They believe that the Federal Government is too powerful, therefore, there is need to visit the Exclusive Legislative List to devolve powers to the states and the local governments in order to spread development to all parts of the country.
Don’t you think these people have a point?
In a way, we will reduce bitterness as people struggle to control the very strategic position of the President of this country. But we are also mindful of the fact that if you want to devolve power, you do it in such a way that the federal government still remains strong because it remains the only unifying factor in the country. So, among the three tiers of government, federal government must be sufficiently strong to hold the entire country together. Of course, this depends on the way we allocate responsibilities to each tier of government without diluting the powers of the federal government.
What are the other areas that people focused on?
They mentioned creation of state; people are still passionate about it. There are divergent views even though autonomy of state legislatures came under very serious scrutiny. While government may say no, the Conference of Speakers’ is very firmly committed to financial autonomy of the legislatures. This will ensure balance and fairness as far as Nigerians are concerned. If you will recall, the presentation of most of the people outside the government framework, they were of the opinion that we have to grant financial autonomy to state legislatures. If the National Assembly, which is also a lawmaking body should enjoy that, why do you deny state legislatures of it? Every tier of government is important, whether federal, state or local. Again, every arm, whether Executive, Legislature or Judiciary is also independent to a large measure in order to ensure that each arm is able to do its duty well. Therefore, there is need to grant financial independence to state legislatures.
What is the position of the people on controversial issues like indigeneship etc?
Yes, they talked about indigeneship and citizenship. The people’s belief is that wherever you reside, that should become your state of residence and by implication, your state of origin. But some suggested the time frame within which such a person would be conversant with the culture of the people. I think this is not a bad idea, we are all Nigerians. The situation in the United States is a little bit different in the sense that there is commonality of language and shared values as it were. You move from one part to the other, you are still an American citizen because you are a citizen.
The essence of democracy is to talk and where the situations are so tough, build up a consensus with a view to finding a lasting, workable and acceptable solution. So, we are at the verge of making history again and we must commend the leadership of the Senate for this initiative.
How prepared is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the forthcoming local government elections in Benue State?
ACN is a very strong party in this state. You recall the performance of ACN in the last general elections. We believe strongly and rightly that we won that election but the Nigerian factor robbed the ACN of major victories. But don’t forget that in the State House of Assembly, if some of the cases had gone through the court, we would have been controlling but again, the Nigerian factor. So, we have 10 lawmakers in the state. That is a strong showing and the party has a senator at the National Assembly and three members in the House of Representatives. This is not something you take for granted. For the forthcoming elections, our worry is that some of the people who are sponsored are carrying guns, threatening to destroy the polls. That is dangerous to democracy. Remember my comment; the threat to democracy is not even the military but the action of the electoral bodies. If they play by the game, democracy will grow. We in Benue State on the platform of ACN believe totally in democracy. We are fully prepared and will continue to campaign in spite of massive provocation from the other party. We have been beaten and charged by some of these gun-trotting youths; our vehicles have been vandalised and people have also been arrested in a most unserious manner for doing nothing. We were attacked a few days ago in Makurdi. We reported the case to the Police but they ended up arresting our own people. It is reminiscent of what used to happen in the apartheid South Africa. A white man would slap a black man, he would go and report to the Police but the Police would turn back and arrest the black man, but it was just a matter of time. What happened? ANC took over. So, God is always on the side of the just. My appeal to ACN members is to continue to work very hard. Whosoever comes to Benue knows that we are very strong on ground; the people of Benue know that we are very strong. I am sure, given the massive support from the people, we are going to win. My appeal is that security forces should rise to their responsibilities. Their job is to protect people and not to work for a particular political party. All of us are Nigerians and are entitled to protection by the security agencies irrespective of party or religious affiliation. We want peace; we want free and fair elections. That is the true taste of a democracy. It is not a question of ballot box snatching, it is not a question of thumb-printing massively or diverting electoral materials. Democracy is a matter of everybody’s vote counting. Otherwise, are we expected to resort to self-help in the 21st century? The whole world is watching us. I also want to appeal to other political parties to show lots of responsibility and maturity as we approach local government elections. Where the party is strong, let it win election, where you lose gallantly, you know you have tried and you prepare better outing in the next election, but to continue to say ‘we are going to announce results in Makurdi, we are going to write names’ is not democracy and democracy that is built on fraud will fall.
Many groups called for the scrapping of SIEC during the public hearing; what is your view on this?
First, we are talking of devolution of powers and if we are to be judged by those very strict cannon of democracy, we should understand that having State INEC is not antithetical to democracy. It is expected to enrich democracy. In other parts of the world, states conduct even presidential elections. The problem in this country is not getting the right people in the right position. There are some of people who are working for the electoral body in this Benue. How can they be impartial in the conduct of election? Sometimes, people say that if you hang a bone on dog’s neck, it will not eat it. There are some of them who have a date with history and therefore, in spite of persuasions, will stand by the truth in the best interest of democracy and the country.
Are you saying you are not comfortable with the electoral body in the state?
We want to see what will happen on the 24th. There are people who are worried that given the composition, we might not get the correct result. The challenge is in the court of INEC. Most of them have tentacles in the PDP and those of us in other political parties are shouting foul because we think they might not do a good job. Everybody is entitled to his conscience. So, let me believe that they will do the correct thing and I am appealing to them to do the correct thing in the interest of the people. We believe in the sanctity of human life, we believe in the sanctity of the ballot box. If we want to grow democracy, let the SIEC show that we can depend on them to deliver, otherwise, the clamour for scraping of SIECs will continue. I want SIEC to conduct a different election, it is headed by a Professor. Let us see what he will deliver. I pray God to touch their hearts and let them see the plight of Benue people and behave in line with the yearnings and aspirations of our people.
