NAMDAS: Nigerians Must Have Confidence In NASS

Elite Portraying Lawmakers In Bad Light
Abdulraqak Sa’ad Namdas is the Chairman, Media and Public Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. In this interview with the Deputy Abuja Bureau Chief, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR, he blames the nation’s elite for misinforming the public on workings of the legislature.

At the inauguration of the 8th Legislative Assembly in June last year, some leadership challenges were encountered. Seven months down the road, would you say these hurdles have been surmounted?
BELIEVE me, for the House of Representatives, I think we have overcome the challenges because even when we were on recess, the Leader of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, was the one who gave the performance record of the House in the last six months. He did that in Lagos. And now, for him to have defended our performance, as a Leader, it means we are all on the same page. So, I think largely, when people come in newly, certainly, there is bound to be misunderstanding and misrepresentations. Politics will come into play, but I think we have realised that we have one Nigeria. We must key into the programme of the President to bring about the desired change.

But the public has a different perception. They made the Presidency to even believe that we have earmarked N45b for purchase of the vehicles, which is not true. The entire budget of the National Assembly was N150bn in 2015, which was reduced to N120bn, which represents two per cent of the national budget at that time. So, how would somebody whose budget is N120bn use N45bn of the sum to buy just one item? We can’t be as irresponsible as we have been portrayed.

People want jobs. We want to fight corruption. I come from the North East. We need to rehabilitate these people that poverty is hitting hard. We have the highest number of orphans, widows, and children that do not attend school. People should be seeing results, not talking about fighting. We are happy that we have resolved our differences. I think there is maturity in the House of Representatives now, and I’m happy that things are working well.

Our main challenge is that the elite portray NASS in bad light. Thank God that we are here as part of the 8th Assembly and I have been given a task as Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs. I admit that I have a little challenge because as a professional, I need to bring professionalism to bear on this job. But I realise that the public has a very different perception about who a legislator is. In our constituencies, those who elected us feel that we should attract projects to the communities. The elite keep feeding the public that we earn so much. And in the constituencies, they believe we are getting so much. They feel we have so much about wardrobe allowances and so-called jumbo pay, and these people want these things to materialise in their constituents.

But the public has a different perception. They made the Presidency to even believe that we have earmarked N45b for purchase of the vehicles, which is not true. The entire budget of the National Assembly was N150bn in 2015, which was reduced to N120bn, which represents two per cent of the national budget at that time. So, how would somebody whose budget is N120bn use N45bn of the sum to buy just one item? We can’t be as irresponsible as we have been portrayed. I think the problem is that we have an issue of perception. I realise that I have so much work to do. I know it is something you just cannot convince Nigerians over night. But I believe that if the media partners with us, by providing the public with the right information, we could certainly change perceptions.
How much have you approved for the cars?

To be sincere, we have not even arrived at a figure; that is speaking for the House of Representatives. We have, on the table, two proposals on the types of vehicles to be purchased. First, some are proposing that we go for Toyota Camry, 2016 model, and some are suggesting we buy Peugeot 508, also 2016 model, which is assembled in Nigeria. This is still subject to discussion, because as a democrat, the Speaker or any Principal Officer, for that matter, cannot just come and say, ‘gentlemen, we have agreed that we want this particular item’. People will say that we have received a commission out of it. So, the process has to be democratised. This is where we are at the moment.

What happened to the cars used by the previous Assemblies? Did legislators take them home?
Now, let me also explain that. It is a practice in the civil service, long before now, that vehicles are procured for official functions. After some years, these vehicles are valued at that particular stage and then sold to those who owned them, and who are interested. In the case of the National Assembly, after four years, the Assembly values the vehicles. And once you pick them, they deduct money from your severance pay. It is not as if you will just go with the vehicle; that’s not true. You have to pay for it. In fact, if you don’t finish your clearance, the National Assembly would not pay your severance. All diplomatic passports also have to be returned to the National Assembly, which ensures that everything is cleared before each lawmaker is finally paid his severance package, not just for the vehicles.

How do you rationalise the sudden lifestyle change of an average federal lawmaker, a situation where someone who was nobody steps into the Assembly and suddenly starts living a luxurious lifestyle?
I think that also needs to be really explained. There are people who are once chairmen of local government councils; they were elected chairmen before they became lawmakers. Some of these guys were already established, even before they came to the Assembly. Some of us were members of state legislatures; some were even former Speakers, former Majority Leaders and other Principal officers. We have some that were commissioners here.

It is very difficult for you to find somebody who has never been in one elective or appointive position or the other before coming here. Even where you find them, the number is negligible. We have former ministers who are now legislators, even in the House of Representatives. Now, when you see somebody living that kind of lifestyle, people assume he got this money as a legislator. You must have known them only as legislators, but you don’t know their background. If you say, ‘this man has this type of car and he is a legislator’, people just assume that he got the money from the National Assembly, which is not true. There are established businessmen. Some came from outside the country and are here. So, they are comfortable. We should not use that to judge the people.
The 2016 national budget is attracting diverse reactions. What are you in the House of Representatives looking at?

First, let me make one issue clear. Before the budget was laid before the National Assembly, there was what we called MTEF (Mid-Term Expenditure Framework), which is just like a projection. And both chambers approved $38 per barrel at that time. But this is not sacrosanct; we will look at the realities on the ground. This is the approval we have given. This thing will also go to the committee stage. And at that stage, these decisions will be taken there.

You are in the Assembly on the platform of the APC that came into power on a change mantra. A lot of people believe there is hunger and suffering in the land. Are you not concerned?

We have been having problems for the last 17 years. That was why Nigerians voted for Buhari, because people needed change. And for you to have change, it cannot come in the twinkle of an eye; you don’t expect that in the life of a four-year administration, things should get set in six months. I think we are a little bit less patient. I must admit that we are going to get the benefits of what the President is doing later.

Let me ask you, with the revelations of how people have been sharing the nation’s resources, if this was not brought to our attention, assuming it was the previous government wouldn’t it have continued? Where would we have been? We would have been doomed. You know, as a matter of fact that when the President came in, states couldn’t even pay salaries. Bailouts had to be given to them to enable them pay salaries. Assuming it was not a change government that came in, people would have continued looting and we would have had a collapsed economy.
But some Nigerians believe they have had enough of these revelations, and that it is time to begin real governance…(cuts in).

Government does not work like a mechanic. People should understand that. If you wake up in the morning and find that your car is faulty, you expect a mechanic to fix it immediately and you move on. In this case, things are not done like that. In government, you have to follow due process. One, there were allegations. We knew that money was set aside for people to buy arms. We have to investigate. Were the arms bought? No. What happened to the money? I think it was shared. How? There has to be an investigation. Crude oil has been lifted. Some of it went into private accounts even internationally.

Now, we have to even meet the international community to know where the money was deposited. This is not something that can be done overnight; it has to take time, investigations, cooperation of international communities and agencies. A lot of things come into play here and this cannot be achieved in two days.