Hon. Abubakar Hassan Nalaraba, Chairman House of Reps Committee on Aid, Loans and Debt management, is a two term member representing Keana/ Awe/Doma Keana federal constituency. In this interview with MUAZU ABARI in Yola, he speaks on the recent clamour for parliamentary system of government, state police and sundry issues.
Moves were made by some lawmakers in the House of Reps to return the country to parliamentary government via a bill. Were you party to this and do you think this is the way out for the country?
Yes, I belong to that group proposing for parliamentary system of government for Nigeria and what gave birth to that bill, is the fact that if you look at the present presidential system of Government we are practicing in Nigeria you wiĺ realised that, it is not working for Nigeria. There are so many loopholes in that system which give birth to all forms of agitations threatening the corporate existence of the country as one indivisible entity. There are all manners of agitations for resource control, true federalism, among others, with some advocating for succession out of the country. So we feel there is the need to address all these agitations and loopholes so as to preserve the country’s unity by giving everybody a sense of belonging and the only way to do that is to return the country to parliamentary system of government. If you also look at the 1999 constitution as amended,you will agreed with me that,it is not the people constitution. It was just hastily arranged and imposed by the military on us. It was not a constitution agreed by Nigerians and did not reflect their wishes and aspirations which further justify this agitations.
Are all these enough justification to return the country to parliamentary system taking into consideration that every system has its own weaknesses and strength?
Our agitation for the return of the country to the parliamentary system of government, especially, with the ongoing constitutional amendments, is in the overall interest of the country for our collective good, and it is not just because of the loopholes associated with our presidential system but also because there are so many advantages the country can derive in the parliamentary system of government, that is why we are pushing for its adoption where you can have the president but the prime minister is the Head of Government as obtained in UK.
The system will also allow the parliament composed of the true Representatives of the people to elect the Head of Government based on competence, capacity and capability to handle governance of the country and the Head of Government can either come from the parliament and the parliament can have the power to removed him if he fails to lived up to expectations of Nigerians. We know there will be a lot of challenges for this to scale through but we are not relenting, we are hoping and soliciting for more supports from notable and respectable Nigerians, groups and organisations to see the need for the return of the country to parliamentary system. If a system is not working, then what is the alternative? The alternative is to proposed a new system that can work bearing in mind that our unity and development as a nation is non-negotiable and our together is a fundamental issue that must be safeguarded at all cost, and by all means and we believed strongly that, parliamentary system of Government is the only way to go and can address most of these challenges bedeviling the country and strengthen our unity.
What is your take on the ongoing efforts to establish state police in Nigeria and do you think this will curb the current security challenges bedeviling the country?
Honestly, speaking, I’m not an advocate of state police and I will never support it because there is no doubt that state governors could use them to intimidate and harass their political opponents and innocent citizens who did not share their ideology. Even without state police, how are they innocent citizens and opposition faring in̈ the hands of most of these governors? Much more of allowing them to have their own police. I don’t even think that most of them even have the financial muscles to fund state police. Don’t forget that up to now, most of them have not even implemented the old minimum wage of N30,000 citing financial constraints despite improved allocations and now the minimum wage has been perked up to N70,000 and they are still crying despite increased federal allocations. We have to be realistic with ourselves. I believe that the state that will be able to have the resources to cater for state police will not be more than five states, may be Lagos, Rivers and few others but most of them I can confidently tell you, they don’t have the resources to run state police. So I don’t believe in that. The issue of policing the nation should be left in the hands of the federal government because they have the resources, the ability and capacity to police the country more than the state governments. Also as a politician, I can have some differences with my governor and if he is in control of state police, he can make life difficult for me and other innocent citizens who are not on the same page with him. I may not even be able to visit my state, constituency or local government without his permission as we have seen in some cases in this country and this will spell doom and disaster to our democracy because democracy is about freedom of speech, association and rights of citizens to dissent and also elect their leaders in a free and fair contest and when these rights are curtailed or denied, then there is no democracy, because it has lost its values and essence which will escalate impunity in the country, especially, at state level. So I belong to those school of thoughts kicking against the establishment of state police in Nigeria which I strongly believe will not be in the interest of Nigerians.
Having been in the House of Representatives in the last five years, what legacies would you leave for your people in 2027?
I have a lot of achievements and legacies that I’m leaving behind for the people of my federal constituency at the end of my tenure in 2027, which will continue to stand the test of time and impact even generations yet unborn. But first and foremost, I want to put it on record that this is my 5th year in the National Assembly and my constituency is one of the most complex constituency in the entire state with different tribes and languages. So the greatest challenge is how to navigate and balance these vested interests among those tribes and religions and having succeeded to do that, we are able to achieve what we achieved in all our priority areas in line with our campaign promises. I have constructed four to five kilometres road projects in all the three local governments in my constituency and communities, I build community multi-purpose hall in all the local governments headquarters as well as some communities like Agaza in keana local government, and Agbashi in Doma local government. I have constructed so many classroom blocks in various communities, I have 30 electoral wards in my constituency and to the glory of God, I succeeded to link 27 out of 30 with portable drinking water and motorised boreholes, carried out empowerment programmes, secured employment for my constituents, among many other interventions which I cannot even remember them at the moment but before I leave office, I will make a compendium of my achievements in office for the public to see and for our children yet unborn to know how effective my representation in the 9th and 10th assembly was.
But the greatest legacy I’m proud today that am leaving for my people is the newly established Federal College of Education Technical Keana. I singlehandedly initiated the bill for the establishment of that institution and got it actualised. It has now officially taken off. This is one legacy very dear to my heart for which I will forever remain grateful to God for making it possible.
When I initiated the bill for the establishment of this institution and started the struggle to get it actualised, most people did not believe that this is achievable. But I was very optimistic that God will put his hand on me to actualise this dream. The federal government, few months back, has officially taken over the institution, signifying its official establishment and they were presented with the certificate of occupancy by the state government. I must confess that it has not been easy for me, and I can now understand why most lawmakers spend years in the National Assembly without a single bill to their names.
The process of initiating a bill and getting it actualised is rigorous, frustrating and full of uncertainties. It has to undergo so many processes like first reading, second reading, third reading, public hearing, consideration of public hearing report, then to the concurrent in the senate where the actual lobbying will begin. You have to lobby the senate, you have to lobby the ministry of finance, you have to lobby the ministry of justice, you have to lobby the presidency before the bill could be transmitted to the president for assent. It will shock you to know that the bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education Technical Keana went to the Presidential Villa for assent more than three times. It was the fourth time that we are lucky the president had signed it into law just three to four months to the expiration of Buhari’s tenure. It was the fourth time that we are lucky to lobby those close to the presidency and God who knows our intention and made it possible for former president, Muhammadu Buhari, to sign the bill into law on 24th February, 2023, three to four months to the end of the administration.
There is this belief that the Federal College of Education Technical Keana was supposed to be in Doma as contained in a bill sponsored by your predecessor but you diverted the institution to Keana. What is your reaction to this?
For those that are familiar with legislative processes, it is practically impossible for any lawmaker to take a bill initiated by another member and change it to his own, I will give you an example. In every bill initiated by a member, there is a number in that bill, the year of the assembly and it must be under a name of that lawmaker. During the 8th Assembly, my predecessor Hon. Onawo six months to the end of his eight years tenure, he proposed a bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education Technical Doma, and I earlier told you that it is practically impossible to get a bill see the light of the day within six months so the bill couldn’t see the light of the day. Secondly, it is practically impossible for me, Abubakar Hassan Nalaraba, to take Onawo’s bill in the previous assembly and make it my own because his bill is under his name and I’m Abubakar Nalaraba. So the bill did not see the light of the day and any bill that did not survive cannot be carried on to the next assembly. Before I initiated that bill, I carried out my research. The first person to initiate such a bill was Dr. Hashimu Onawo’s predecessor who sponsored a bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education Technical Awe but the bill did not see the light of the day.
Then Senator Sulaiman Adokwe who sponsored a bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education Technical Agwatashi, still the bill did not see the light of the day. Then Onawo brought up similar bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education Technical Doma, it couldn’t see the light of the day and now Abubakar Hassan Nalaraba initiated similar bill -Federal college of Education Technical Keana – and it saw the light of the day. So with due respect and humility, I don’t think I have offended anybody for initiating this bill and get it actualised. So anybody that thinks that because some one have started or initiated a bill, then no one should sponsor similar bill to see the light of the day is making great mistake. legislative processes are not done that way.
Most people expected you to vie for senatorial seat of Nasarawa South in 2027, but your interest seems to be the governorship seat, do you think you are better suited for it?
I did not declare intention to vie for the gubernatorial seat of the state come 2027 yet. I’m still consulting widely before making up my mind whether to contest or not but looking at my successes and performances, the people of my constituency and other parts of the state feel that if given higher responsibility, I will bring development to the state which informed their decision to call on me to vie for the gubernatorial seat of the state come 2027. My response to them, was that they should allow me to consult widely. 2027 is still over three years from now. So we are still consulting and have been receiving positive responses. At the end of our consultations, we will make our position known and if the coast is clear, we will definitely put our interest forward.