Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai spoke with reporters in Lagos on his style of governance, the rift between him and Senator Shehu Sani, the violence in Southern Kaduna and how to end the crisis.

Could you shed light on the protracted Southern Kaduna crisis?
The crisis would start with a dispute between two people; as long as those two people are from different ethnic groups, different religious persuasions, they don’t get resolved by community leaders or law enforcement agencies. They get escalated into a group conflict between one ethnic group against another or one religious group against another.

The conflicts, according to the Agwai Committee, arise from the semi-settled Fulani people. In at least two cases out of the 11 we have had, it was a clash between indigenous ethnic groups that are mostly Christians. So, I want people to understand this; this has been a pattern; 11 times it has happened and not necessarily religious, and it is mostly ethnic. It was only once in 1992 after the Zangon Kataf crisis that the Federal Government under Babangida established a judicial tribunal, which tried Zamani Lekwot and others for killings, and they were sentenced to death. Babangida politically commuted their sentences to life imprisonment, and thereafter, they were released. It was the Federal Government that did it, not the state government. The state government has never prosecuted anyone. And this is the pattern, and then, we wait for another conflict.

Why is the area addicted to crisis?
In 37 years, we have had 11, and if you do the maths, you will see that it happens almost every three years. So, when we came into office, I asked for all the reports of the commissions of inquiry and I read all of them; the only one that I have not been able to find is that of the first one, the Kasuwa Magani crisis. I read all of the White Papers because I knew sooner or later that in our four years, we might have one. So, we were ready for this. But we took steps to ensure that it did not at all happen. The first thing we did was to try to understand ‘why were communities in Southern Kaduna attacked?’ We set up a committee under Gen. Martins Agwai to study the problem and tell us what is the problem. The committee was inaugurated, submitted a report in August 2015. They had some findings and recommendations that were very, interesting. They found that there were three kinds of Fulani – the settled Fulani that don’t have cattle; the semi-settled who have cattle, but don’t go very far, maybe within the confines of the state and then, the transhumane Fulani, who come from West African countries.

There is an ECOWAS protocol that allows them to move across these countries and it appears there are international stalk routes that had been marked in pre-colonial times to enable them to move their cattle up and down. What has happened is that, over the years, expansion of population, urban development, need for farmlands have encroached on these international stalk routes.

So, as these Fulani, mostly from outside Nigeria, come. they get on farms that in their minds were part of the international stalk routes but have now been overtaken by need for agricultural land. This is where the conflicts come.

What were the findings of the committees set up to probe the crises?
The conflicts, according to the Agwai Committee, arise from the semi-settled Fulani who move cattle within Nigeria and the transhumance Fulani who come from outside Nigeria. The second finding and recommendation of the committee was that under Governor Patrick Yakowa, this dichotomy was understood by him and that when the attacks on Southern Kaduna communities persisted, he figured that it had to do with the 2011 post-election violence and he began to send delegations to reach out to the transhumane Fulani and offer them compensation to stop coming to kill.

To some extent, Yakowa was successful until he died; because at some point, the attacks stopped. But, when he died, the successor government did not continue, and the attacks resumed. The Agwai Committee recommended that we should try to reach out to these transhumance Fulani because they are the main cause of the attacks. The committee established that it is not the Nigerian Fulani that are doing most of the attacks and that the bulk of it was coming from abroad.

We said to them, ‘look, we offer you compensation for deaths, for livestock lost, provided you agree that these reprisals stop. Leave our people alone; this has happened, it happened in 2011.’ We were very successful because from August 2015 when we started the outreach, following Agwai Committee report, till May 2016, there were no attacks in Southern Kaduna. There was silence. We thought that we had dealt with more than one-half of the problem – the transhumane Fulani. Once we started sending delegations, even those who were planning to attack heard that the government was going round apologising, offering compensation. so, they waited because the Fulani have their informal ways of communication and we thought that we had solved that problem.

What is your relationship with the three senators from your state?
One of the things that I initiated was a monthly meeting with members of the National Assembly from Kaduna State across party lines. Because I believe that their job is to advocate for Kaduna State’s interest at the federal level and that we should all work together.

I hosted them to a dinner immediately after the inauguration, but the senator from Southern Kaduna did not come, the two APC senators came, and most of the members of the House of Representatives came. I told them that we needed to work together to influence budgetary provisions for Kaduna, to influence projects and so on. I was doing that monthly, until the Governors’ Forum started fixing monthly meetings the same time I was having dinner with the members of the National Assembly. That disrupted it, and I have not met with them now for about four months, but we have now agreed to a monthly late lunch meeting. The senator from Southern Kaduna maybe considered himself a PDP senator and, maybe, thought we would not be fair to him; so he has never attended these meetings.

I think that, once elections are over, you are governor of everyone and you should try to bring everyone along. That does not mean that I don’t have separate meetings with APC House of Representatives members or House of Assembly members; we do when we have to meet over party issues, and I meet monthly with House of Assembly members across party lines. They come, and I host them to dinner. They ask what we are doing, and we explain.

We are on one page, and I think this is why our House of Assembly, I think, is the most prolific in Nigeria. It has passed something like 25 laws in two years.

What is your relationship with Senator Shehu Sani?
Shehu Sani’s history is that he is an activist, of some type and it is up to you to determine the adjective. He contested the APC primary and defeated the candidate that I supported (General Sani Saleh), and after the primaries, I brought everyone together and said we have to win this election. I got Saleh to support him, and we supported him fully. I think the problem is that because Shehu Sani’s mind is that of an activist, he thinks that the way to position himself…he thinks politics is being in the media all the time. Activism is different from politics. Sometimes in politics, you don’t want your name in the media, but activists’ oxygen is the media, and he thinks that the way to remain visible and prepare him for running for governor of Kaduna State in 2019 is to criticise everything I do.

Even, if I breathe air, he will criticise it. I told my media team not to respond to him; we are a government of everybody, including Shehu Sani. Let the party apparatchik respond to him, let people in the streets respond to him, and I also told them to let’s work, let’s produce results because we will get to the point that nobody can come and criticise us. Because of the things he has been doing, criticising the president, saying all sorts of things about me, the party disciplinary process was initiated against him, but he blames it on me. He thinks I engineered it. But, frankly, I don’t care about Shehu Sani. I don’t think he is a threat to me politically or in any way. In 2018, when the whistle is blown we will see who has support on the ground in Kaduna.

It is claimed that you empowered General Saleh’s supporters…
I can choose who to empower. I am the governor of the state, and I have to make appointments, and in making the appointments, I have to balance merit, loyalty and paying off other debts. I don’t owe Shehu Sani anything. I asked all of them, Shehu Sani, to give me names of people that I will appoint to positions. They gave me, and I looked at them, and none of the people from Shehu’s list is good enough to be a commissioner in my cabinet.
Shehu Sani’s first anger was that the list of commissioners came out and none from his list. In a state where there are about 10,000 PhDs that I have in my data base; I am not going to take a diploma holder and make him a commissioner just because he is Shehu Sani’s man. I don’t operate like that. When President Obasanjo called me and said he was going to make me a minister, I gave him a condition that ‘you don’t appoint members of my team, I will appoint my team,’ and that is the person that appointed me. If you have a difficult job, you have to appoint your own team. One of the commissioners we appointed has a Ph.D in Physics; he was a director in the Federal Civil Service. I never saw him until the day that I swore him in.

We just looked at his CV. Somebody brought it, and we appointed him based on his CV because there is a job to be done. Do I do this all the time? No! When we were appointing local government chairmen, I didn’t get involved. I said let us go and look at those who worked for us at the grassroots and appoint them local government chairmen and councillors. There are 225 councillors in Kaduna State, 23 local government chairmen; I did not appoint one! I left it to the party and our leaders, I said go and do it. I looked, and there was no woman, I said it is not possible, 23 chairmen and no woman?

So, I looked I saw one woman councillor in one local government, and I made her chairman! That was the only thing I did. I got two women to be local government chairmen! That was what I did. I did not appoint one person because they are not working directly with me. But the people that work directly with me, I must have confidence that they can deliver. Many politicians don’t like this because the PDP system of distribution has become so engrained that people feel entitled that once they help you win an election, you must give them commissioners or so.

Even Obasanjo that made me minister of FCT did not send me one person to work with me! On his membership of the Abuja Cabal It is not correct. Am I very close to Buhari? Yes. I worked very closely with him in the CPC (Congress for Progressive Change) when everyone had given up on him. I know him, I know how he thinks and he trusts me. Primary assignment He knows that I am driven by public interest. Do I participate in federal decision making? I don’t. I am too busy addressing Kaduna problems to be part of it. When I am called for an opinion or when I happen to be around, and I have an input or if I see something going seriously wrong; I drive and go and see Mr. President I have heard A, B, C, D. I don’t think it is right, you should consider doing C, D, E. I do that and I drive back to Kaduna. My primary assignment is Kaduna. I am not involved in the Federal Government. People like to say and attribute so much to me, and sometimes it is good for me, it gives me a larger than life image!

Is there a cabal?
There is always a cabal. Even in your own newspaper, there is a cabal. Nobody can run an institution without a coterie of two, three, four trusted people. There is always a cabal; the issue is whether it is a positive or a disruptive cabal. Am I a member of the cabal? No, I am governor of Kaduna State, I work for Kaduna State 24/7.

Why have you not transmitted some good things you did in Kaduna like the attachment of portfolios to commissioners-designate to the president?
Every leader has his leadership style, and every governor has his own culture. The culture in the Federal Government is to send names without portfolios. But that was the culture in Kaduna before you came? But I have decided to change it. I am not the president. If I am the president, I probably may do things differently, but if I am the president, also, I may get information and briefings by officials and security agents that may help me do things differently. You don’t know how much briefing or information he has. Every leader has his own style, information that guides how he decides. So, I can’t say that what I have done in Kaduna is necessarily relevant to the Federal Government.

The marking of Inuwa Abdulkadir’s house?
I don’t know that. I didn’t even know Inuwa Abdulkadir had land or house in Kaduna. I know that he has a wife that lives in Kaduna, I would assume that like most northern elite that he has a house in Kaduna, but I really didn’t know. I don’t know about this. These things are done as a matter of procedures and duties, and if he has his title and approved building plans, nobody would touch his house.

Of course, there is a problem between us because he is trying to mess up our party in Kaduna State in pursuit of an agenda and I have told him that if he doesn’t stop doing that, that I will deal with him and I got three witnesses to that. I am not a guerrilla warrior, if I am going to fight you, I will give you notice so that you will prepare. If Inuwa Abdulkadir has a house in Kaduna and he built without title or permission, I will not ask KASUPDA not to demolish just because he will blame me for it; I don’t care about that.

On the other hand, if he has his title and approved building plans, you better ask him to produce them to KASUPDA because this KASUPDA is three or so levels below me and I don’t get to know what they are doing.

Nigeria has a long way to go when it comes to supporting women’s rights and gender equality. Religion and culture affects how women are treated in society. These factors often hinder progress. This year was especially challenging for women and girls around the world. The world’s remaining superpower, the United States of America failed to elect its first female president. However, there were strides in other areas. For instance, Ilhan Omar was elected the first Somali-American lawmaker in the United States.  In Nigeria to date, no woman has been elected governor, president, or vice-president.  2016 was just not the year for women and girls. Why?

The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill was rejected. The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill also known as the GEO Bill was voted against by Nigerian lawmakers. The bill sought to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls. It should come as no surprise why this bill is necessary and needed. On a daily basis, women and girls in Nigeria are discriminated against solely on the basis of their gender, whether on the job or in society at large. On December 9, 2016, the senate public hearing on the GEO Bill was cancelled for the lack of quorum. Nigerian lawmakers do not deem women’s rights and gender equality important, so not only did they vote against the GEO Bill, they also did not even show up to achieve a quorum on the day the Bill was to be discussed.

President Buhari’s Comment about Women. To date, President Buhari is yet to apologize for his comments in Germany where he relegated women’s role to the kitchen, the living room, and the other room. President Buhari’s inappropriate comments were made in the presence of Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor of Germany. Merkel is also recognized as one of the most prominent world leaders. His comments came three days after the International Day of the Girl Child. What impact does such statement have on women and girls in Africa considering that Buhari is the current President of the most populous country on the continent? It means that there is no public leadership role for women and girls in Nigeria. It means that women and girls are not respected or seen as equals.

Sexual harassment and assault in Nigeria’s Prisons. Data from The National Council of Women’s Society reveals that 90 percent of female prisoners are either pregnant or nursing mothers. The organization therefore urged the Nigerian government to implement and create policies that would protect female prisoners. Many of these prisoners are reported to be poorly educated, from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and have some form of mental health problems. What can be done to protect this vulnerable group?

Terrorism in Internally Displaced Person Camps. On a daily basis, women and girls in internally displaced person (IDP) camps are raped and sexually exploited by security forces and vigilante groups. Many are drugged and coerced into having sex in exchange for food and other basic necessities.  The Human Rights Watch reports that Nigerian government officials and other authorities have raped and sexually exploited women and girls displaced by Boko Haram. We can agree that more needs to be done to protect women and girls to ensure that they have access to basic rights, necessities and services.

Continuous kidnappings of women and girls. Nnamdi Obasi, Senior Adviser at the International Crisis Group reported the kidnappings of about 35 women on December 12, 2016 by over 100 armed bandits in Matankari village, Maru local government area, Zamfara State, Nigeria. These kidnappings are one of many to have occurred in 2016 that either went unreported or were not given adequate media attention.

The National Soccer Team were not paid. When will the talents of women and girls in Nigeria be taken seriously and respected? After winning the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations, the biennial international football championship organized by the Confederation of African Football for the women national teams of Africa. Nigeria’s national women’s football team, also known as the Super Falcons, were not paid their allowance and other bonuses after winning the championship. The nonpayment of their allowance led to a protest at the Nigerian National Assembly (NASS) and the Presidential Villa for a little over 9 days. This peaceful protest was also followed by an outrage on social media from Nigerian citizens in support of the team. The team began protesting on December 6, 2016 and were recently paid after the government felt publicly humiliated by the media.

I posted this question on social media, was 2016 the year for Nigerian women and girls? Andrew Alli, President of the Africa Finance Corporation responded, “There has never been a year for Nigerian women and girls as far as I can figure. They are probably the most marginalized in the country.” Juliet Kego Ume-Onyindo, engineer and leadership coach stated, “In some key areas we saw gains. There has been more focus on Girl-Child education especially in the North East. Advocacy continues for us all.”

My hopes for the coming year. As 2017 approaches, I hope that Nigeria and other African countries will work hard to implement and take seriously the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I hope that Nigerian lawmakers will do what is right and pass the gender equality bill. I hope that Nigeria will ensure equal rights for all, protect and provide security for women and girls. I hope that the Nigerian society will understand that women have an enormous role to play in Nigeria’s economic development progress and growth. I hope that Nigerian women will fight for their right and take what is rightly theirs to take. Women’s rights are indeed human rights.

Here are 14 Organizations Changing the Lives of Women and Girls in Nigeria. Feel free to add to the list: mary [at] awpnetwork.com

My Dear Tunji Abayomi,

It is said that to err is human. By your letter to me, it seems that you seek to remind me that I am human. Of this I am constantly reminded. I know I have made my share of mistakes. But my progressive inclination remains firmly rooted. However, by your pained and inaccurate letter, you have proven that you are human too.

You have been a friend and will continue to be. Thus, I can dispense with needless formality so that we can get to the crux of the issue. Your career is that of a lawyer and a activist. I appreciate all that you have done in the pursuit of a more just and democratic Nigeria. However, your letter to me is an impetuous display unbecoming of a man of your status and a man seeking the highest leadership position in his state. And as a lawyer you well know that one cannot seek equity without having done equity.

In writing the letter, you appear to have been bitten by a bug that often blinds the objectivity of a man. You have been bitten by an ambition that you fear you shall not be able to realise. In your pursuit of office, you have sought my support and influence. When you sought that support, you thought it proper and democratic to do so. If I had signalled my support for you, I am sure that you would never have written this letter alleging that I was undermining the democratic will of the people. You would have been pleased with me, I suppose.

But here I want to give you and others a clear assurance that you may rest more at ease. I reserve the right to support any candidate I wish because no one has the right to take this away from me. However, I will also do everything in my power to ensure the primaries are free and fair and that there will be no undue influence on the process.

However, because that support has not been forthcoming, you fear that the support you wanted may now go to a rival candidate. In your judgment, my support for you would have been democratic. Should I support another, then that same support is now to be considered dictatorial and unfair. Frankly, dear friend, I do not see the objectivity in your analysis or the merit in what you claim as your injury. If you seek a person’s support, you cannot in good conscience turn around and object that such support should never be given to another person. Your position is more undemocratic and unfair than what you accuse me of. Your words attack me for being undemocratic when in reality your heart attacks me for not giving you what you want.

I have participated in elections for decades for myself and others. Some have been won. Some lost. Never, however, have I asked a friend for support then condemned him or her for giving the very support I sought of them to another person. To do so is not to stand on principle but on bruised pride.

You said I seek to deny your democratic right. It is you who seeks to grab mine. If not mistaken, I believe I am a member of the APC. I have a right and duty to support the candidate who I believe will best represent the party. What your letter is really saying is that if I don’t support you I should keep my mouth shut. You complain of a purported meeting I had to discuss the coming primary in Ondo. Do you deny me and other APC members now the right to assembly and to talk? Had you heard that the meeting anointed you, I doubt you would have written the first word of the letter you sent to me.

But here I want to give you and others a clear assurance that you may rest more at ease. I reserve the right to support any candidate I wish because no one has the right to take this away from me. However, I will also do everything in my power to ensure the primaries are free and fair and that there will be no undue influence on the process. The candidate who can garner the most support and votes will win. Since its inception, the APC has run the cleanest and most transparent primaries in the history of this nation. The just concluded primary in Edo State is further evidence of this. My dear friend, I leave you free to run and win the primary. If you do, I shall congratulate you and support you in the general election. However, you must respect my rights as well and leave me to my own conscience to support who I wish to support. And to show interest in whom I wish.

I am a democrat. I am ready too for the chips to fall where they may after an open and fair primary election in Ondo State. Instead of welcoming this, it appears you are afraid of it. Instead of fighting me who is but one man with no vote, you should be fighting for votes and support. Your letter to me was woefully misplaced and inappropriate.

I also need to correct what appears to be a mistaken impression on your part about the 2015 election. Your letter seems to indicate that it was on your advice that I backed President Buhari. You assume too much credit and should be more guarded in your assertions. As a veteran in the political arena, I do not make important decisions lightly. I make final political decisions and calculations on my own after deep reflections and consultation with many people, and from many perspectives. I can assure you, dear friend, that I trust my own political counsel more than yours and that I have numerous other advisors whose advice I weigh more than yours. After all, had you so much influence over me in the presidential election, it would mean you surely should have greater influence over me when it comes to the primary in your state.

I do appreciate your passion and concern for the welfare of the people. Yet, you are not the only one who feels this. The love of the people is not exclusive to you, Tunji. My entire life has been devoted to the betterment of the people and of this nation. Lagos is a much better place because of what we have tried to do and I pray that it will be better still. Many worked hard and long and sacrificed much, even more than you, to bring in the new federal government. We did not do this as sport but to improve the lives of the people. You need not lecture me about the plight of the people. Their right to a better life is what motivates me. I do not doubt your love for the people and this nation. Yet, you have no right to doubt mine for you do not love this people and this place more than I do. Of that, I can assure you.

I am a democrat. I am ready too for the chips to fall where they may after an open and fair primary election in Ondo State. Instead of welcoming this, it appears you are afraid of it. Instead of fighting me who is but one man with no vote, you should be fighting for votes and support. Your letter to me was woefully misplaced and inappropriate. Still, I wish you the best and may democracy and the people’s will prevail above all else.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu is National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has reiterated that allegations of budget padding levied by him against the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and other principal members should not be taken as an attack on the House as an institution.

In a personal statement by the lawmaker released to the media, Jibrin gave details of how the process of screening the 2016 budget by the appropriation committee was hijacked by Dogara and a cabal within the House. According to him, the relationship between him and Dogara turned sour long before the budget padding issue came to the fore.

FULL PRESS STATEMENT BY ABDULMUMIN JIBRIN

MY ALLEGATIONS ARE AGAINST THE QUARTET OF SPEAKER YAKUBU DOGARA, DEPUTY SPEAKER YUSUF LASUN, HOUSE WHIP ALHASSAN DOGUWA AND MINORITY LEADER LEO OGOR NOT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AS AN INSTITUTION AS MR SPEAKER DESPERATELY WANTS HONOURABLE MEMBERS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO BELIEVE.

I am compelled again for the purpose of emphasis to state categorically clear that my allegations are against the quartet of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun, House Whip Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor not the Honourable House as an institution nor other members of the body of principal officers. The other members of the body of principal officers were to the best of my knowledge completely excluded from decisions on the 2016 budget and the budget inputs inserted on their names were exclusively carried out by these QUARTET.

I have to state this very clearly because these QUARTET have resorted to desperate moves to drag the entire House of Representatives into the case of gross abuse of office I have leveled against them as individual Presiding and Principal officers of the House. This is clearly a mischievous move to set me on collision with the entire house. They have also recruited four from the VERY FEW members of their cabal to use some elements of the Nigeria police to kidnap, harass, blackmail and intimidate me into silence.

Until yesterday, the police were laying siege by my house blocking the entrance and exit shouting that they want budget documents. They embarrassed my entire family with a nursing mother and a seven-month old baby that cried all night. The game plan was to arrest me and dump me in police net while a heavy media propaganda will be carried out to mislead the world that I have been sacked and police have picked me up as a culprit in 2016 budget. Whenever I am released, an irreparable damage would have been done to my person and that will stick for life.

As God Almighty will have it, I had travelled out of town before they could execute their evil plan. God is always with the innocent. The members in the thick of this plot are Hon Jagaba Adams, Hon Jika both chairmen interior and police affairs respectively, Hon Muhammed Bago, Hon Muhammed Zakari and the last one I need not to introduce him to Nigerians, you know him better and know what he is best remembered for. He is the one who threatened my life and the police are yet to take a single action on him. He is now the Leader of the Dogara cabal. He calls the shots in the House. He makes all the decisions of Mr Speaker. He talks down on members and gets away with it. He has SUDDENLY began living such an expensive life style. Lately, a former influential principal officer of the House complained bitterly that it is only Dogara that will hand such a committee to a person like Hon Herma Hembe of this world, chairman FCT. They have been running from pillar to post looking for evidence in their wild dream to nail me. I made a huge sacrifice to leave, shouldn’t they just leave me alone?

I therefore urge my Hon. colleagues and the general public to call on Speaker Yakubu Dogara and the 3 other principal officers to stop their desperate attempt to drag the entire House of Representatives into this matter. They should also stop using the House Spokesman Hon Namdas to issue statements in respect to these allegations because it is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public into believing that they have the backing of the entire House on this matter.  They should come out and defend themselves and prepare for the investigation that will be instituted by the House on this matter. At least the Minority Leader and Whip have attempted some response which are at best lame! The House of Representatives as an institution must live above board and will continue to survive beyond people who abuse public trust like Mr Speaker and his 3 cohorts.

Let me make further revelations in addition to the ones I have already made which are in public glare.

ONE: During the budget period, when they discovered that I was not the kind of a person they could use to perpetrate their illegality, Mr Speaker and the 3 other principal officers took away the entire Appropriation Committee Secretariat to a secret location where all sort of insertions were made into the budget. The blackmail has always been – “Abdul people will laugh at you if anything goes wrong between you and Dogara because of the lead role you played and the many toes you stepped on to get him elected”. It’s been a painful experience.

Again the secretariat was taken away from me on Speaker Dogara’s instruction for the second time to a location I don’t know and all sort of insertions into the budgets were made and returned to me for signature. I said over my dead body! It was a massive crisis behind the scene until the early morning of the Friday that Mr President assented the budget. It was Sen Danjuma Goje that brokered a compromise that since the Deputy Speaker leads the harmonization committee, he should also sign such that the harmonization committee will share responsibility with us. Senator Goje pleaded with me so hard all night and later shouted heavily on me reminding me that he is not talking to me as a Senator but as a father. I cried heavily all night.

TWO: When the budget harmonization committee headed by Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun gave out 80% concession across board to the executive demands during the harmonization negotiation, it was agreed that the remaining 20% should go to the entire NASS. The Deputy Speaker excused himself that he wanted to go and consult with Mr Speaker. He came back after few hours and in an unprecedented display of greed presented to me a hand written note distributing the remaining 20% to only principal officers. 70% of the 20% was reserved for Mr Speaker and himself while the remaining 30% of the 20% goes to other principal officers. I am sure he will recognize the hand writing when he sees it. My colleagues didn’t know all of these.

THREE:  Mr Speaker also directed me to create what I advised him will be a controversial line item under service wide vote to introduce about N20 billion project using the name of NASS. He directed me to see a highly placed PDP politician which I did and collected the documents. I advised him repeatedly against it but he kept pressuring me until I bluntly told him I will not!

FOUR: When the Appropriation Committee received all the budget reports from standing committees, an analysis was conducted. We discovered that about 10 only out of the 96 Standing Committees of the House introduced about 2,000 (two thousand) projects without the knowledge of their committee members amounting to about N284, 000, 000, 000 (Two hundred and eighty-four billion naira). I was alarmed. But I was cautious because at our pre budget meeting with the committee chairmen, I was clearly warned not to touch their budgets. I reported the matter to the speaker. He did nothing about it obviously because he was working behind the scene with the committee chairmen. That was the beginning of the whole budget problem from the side of House and the whole exercise had to go through several versions before it was passed.

So, is it Abdul that introduced 2000 projects into budget worth N284billion? But I quietly bore the pain and abuses from all over the country and continued to defend the committee inputs as a show of loyalty to the institution I represent which I so much love and still have many great minds in there. Apart from Chairman Agriculture Hon Mongunu who owned up and explained his inputs at the only executive session I was allowed to attend, the other few chairmen who loaded the budget kept quiet and watched me bashed from every angle by angry Nigerians.

People have asked why did I wait this long to open up, so much was happening behind the scene. I fought the battle of my life to raise these issues internally and get Mr Speaker to address them to no avail. I pushed so hard that I got frustrated and depressed. All my attempts met brick walls. That was why some members were always raising their voice against me because they do not have the facts. I later on realized that the Speaker enjoyed that so much and colluded with his cabal to dump everything on me. I am sure not too long some members that knew what I went through will come out and testify. I also have evidence to show my internal struggles.

In any case, under circumstances like this, and for young people like us that are lucky to have accelerated career growth, the system scares you from becoming a whistle blower. They will tell you that if you do such, nobody will trust you or have confidence in you again. They will scare you that it is not good for your image and it will affect your career progression. Many young people in different sectors are faced with such frustrating situation. Even at the moment, if I take the advice of some people, I will get deeply scared and just keep quiet, so that I can grow career wise?  My usual response to them is that, isn’t that selfish? Your only luck will be if a trigger occurs then you open up. This is one such trigger! In any case, I would have opened up anyway. I have written so much about these issues and more on NASS. I posted over a month ago on my Facebook page that I will release the piece as part of my 40th birthday in September. Well, I never knew it will come much earlier.

Some people are also saying I kept quiet while it was good and now I am talking because things have gone sour. Many members of the House and Nigerians will be shocked to know that there has NEVER been good times between myself and Speaker Dogara. It took few weeks after his election as Speaker for me to realize I never really knew him well. I was hasty to judge him by his innocent looking personality. We practically disagree on everything. From when he started conducting himself like a lord, wanting everybody around him to just say yes sir and go, shutting and looking down at his colleagues,  playing double game between the executive and legislature, drafting of a new house rule, senseless splitting of committees which raised the numbers of committees to 96, appointment of committee chairmen, Chairmanship of NILS, issues of bills and allotment of sponsors, chairmanship of budget consultative committee, budget process and house inputs, the PIB, his divide and rule approach, his frequent dealings with heads of MDA’s as if he is a committee chairman and so many other issues. In all of these issues, there is none that has not remained controversial till date.

All these forced me to stay away from him except on official assignment. I can count how times I have been to his office or home. I stayed away completely. It was such a frustrating and depressing period for me. Who will I complain to? How do I face the world and say I got it wrong after playing such a lead role in his emergence? When you see a house you sacrificed everything to build is falling apart and the driver believes he is firmly in charge because he has 8 votes advantage, you are left with no choice than to tie your seat belt for obvious eventuality.

I must admit I made an error of judgement. I don’t know to whom and from where I will start apologising for not heeding to wise counsel. There is nothing I am saying now that I have not discussed or warned speaker Dogara on the few occasions that I sorted and got private audience with him. But he has been hijacked and surrounded himself with a small cabal of sycophants, corrupt, mediocre, money hungry, vindictive, envious, self-serving small minds who have already done an irreparable damage to his person and office.

Speaker Dogara has completely derailed, remains clueless, keeps on with an unmatched ego and surely leading the House to the biggest scandal it may ever experience. He has failed to live above the fog in public duty and private thinking, a direct opposite of what my favourite American Poet Josiah Gilbet Holland prayed Lord to grant us in leaders.

All I am asking for is my right to be heard by my colleagues which they denied me. I am calling on my colleagues to plead with Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Lasun, Whip Doguwa and Minority leader Ogor to stop obstructing justice and allow me my right to be heard by the House. It is the House that will institute a special investigation on this matter to allow me testify and provide evidence before any other external action.

I will make a more detailed statement in due course.

The last few days have been exciting in Nigeria’s social sphere, courtesy of president Buhari’s appointment of Hajiya Hadiza Bala Usman as the new head of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Her appointment did not come as a surprise to many, particularly those who are following events with keen interest in Kaduna State. It is not out of place to assert that Hadiza’s pedigree, capacity, and experience have been phenomenal to the successes recorded in Kaduna State in the last one year under Mallam Nasir Elrufa’i.

It is therefore laughable to see her critics advance arguments that are not only intellectually impotent, but also logically imbecile in order to seek attention and score cheap political points. More shallow are the reasons given by an “author” Muhammed Auta in his article titled: Hadiza Bala Usman: A Square Peg in A Round Hole, Period! Published on the 14th of July 2016.

From his arguments, it is apparent Muhammed Auta is a Doubting Thomas—One who habitually or instinctively doubts accepted beliefs. Doubting Thomases are nonbelievers, sceptics, unbelievers, pessimists and doomsday prophets. The author admitted he “has never met Hadiza in person, but has read about her since her days at the BPE as an aide to el-rufai when he held sway as the DG….” Hadiza must have made giant strides as an aide to be noticed and even read about by Muhammad in faraway Jalingo.

It is unfortunate that the only experience the author saw after taking a “cursory look” at her CV was when she worked as a research intern at the Centre for Democratic Research and Training (CEDDERT) in the early stages of her career “except as an aide to Mallam Elrufai”. This narrative is myopic and misleading. Indeed Mallam Nasir has been phenomenal in Hadiza’s career, and that has prepared her to take up greater challenges in the service of the people in which she has so far demonstrated her altruism and capacity.

As difficult as it is to convince Doubting Thomases, here is Hadiza’s CV in a cursory look… Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (ABU), Masters in Development Studies (not a Postgraduate Diploma as the author suggested). It may also interest Muhammad Auta that while at BPE, Hadiza played a key role in the privatization policy of the Federal Government that saw the concession of many government assets including our seaports. She was the Special Assistant to (arguably) the best FCT minister on Project Implementation in the FCTA. She was also Director of Strategy and Planning at the Good Governance Group (3G) until her appointment as Chief of Staff to the Kaduna State Governor.

Muhammad Auta’s ignorance of public service rules and procedures is glaring, he is not familiar with the differences between mainstream civil service and other government agencies. What is good for the goose cannot be good for the gander in this case. He suggested and I quote… “I thought the seat should be advertised, certain number of candidates should be pre-qualified, interview and or examination be conducted preferably by a foreign consultant, and the candidate with the highest score appointed”.

Oga Doubting Thomas! This is not a Federal Tender’s Board and neither is it a contract award exercise. It is a presidential prerogative to appoint whomever the president wishes to, be it on a personal recommendation or experience, and Hadiza is so qualified on both fronts.

I borrow your words, “Lets call a spade a spade”! Your obsession with the name Elrufai which you have mentioned many times in your write up, seems to suggest that the piece is more about Mallam Elrufa’i than Hajiya Hadiza. Goodwill and prayers are what Hadiza Bala Usman needs from all of us­­­­­-the doubting thomases, the wailing wailers, the hailing hailers, and the fencing fencers, to deliver her mandate and revamp the Nigerian Ports Authority.

Habib Gajam can be reached via habibgajam08@yahoo.com or Twitter handle: @habibgajam

I have followed with keen interest ongoing debates within Nigeria’s social media stratosphere regarding the 2016 budget, and the power tussle between the Executive and the National Assembly over the inclusion, or exclusion, of certain projects and appropriations. The details remain sketchy, even as the Executive remains reticent in driving home these accusations, but a major contention remains the absence of the Lagos-Calabar rail project as a line item in the budget of the Ministry of Transportation.

Testimonies by those in the know, and details obtained from other credible sources on the matter point to the fact the Lagos-Calabar rail project was not in the budget presented by President Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22nd. After the anomalies in the budget became public knowledge, an amended version sent to the National Assembly also failed to make any provision for the Lagos-Calabar rail project. A case was made for the inclusion of this project in the budget by the Minister of Transportation during the screening process, but the law is clear on how such amendments can be made. Only the President is empowered by the Constitution to forward such an amendment to the National Assembly, not any Minister.

But these facts have been pushed from the centre-stage in what should be a landmark constitutional matter but has been reduced to a war of perception between the Executive and the National Assembly, fought in the minds of Nigerians, a war in which the Executive clearly has the upper hand. President Buhari was admitted based on the strength of his personal integrity, and that trust Nigerians have in him remains intact even after a less than stellar first year in office. The National Assembly on the other hand suffers from a morally debilitating credibility deficit engendered by the activities of scrupulous elements who have occupied the hallowed chambers in the past.

Perhaps one of the biggest casualties of this war is Abdulmunin Jibrin, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives, who has been accused, without any verifiable evidence, and even when the facts prove otherwise, of removing a non-existent Lagos-Calabar project from the budget and appropriating the funds to his constituency. This is ironic considering it was Jibrin and his committee that discovered a sum of N54 billion left padded in the budget of the Transport Ministry and reported several other instances of gross misappropriations in the entire budget.

He has also been accused of working against the Change agenda of the President, but I remember this statement in the press credited to him on March 20 in which he praised President Buhari for working with them on the budget – But it is also interesting that the President took direct responsibility and got involved in the process, not only to ensure synergy between the executive and the legislature but also that we can both arrive at a budget that is implementable for the good of all Nigerians. I don’t want to go into details about the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari but I want to put it on record that he has played the role of a father and he deserves commendation.

It also hasn’t gone unnoticed how some online media platforms have hijacked the responsibilities of presidential spokesmen to report events surrounding the budget impasse with bias to unduly curry public favour for the Executive. In the past couple of days we have seen SaharaReporters release statements that contradict the facts of the 2016 budget and the screening. Even statements released by other individuals were blatantly twisted and headlined to misrepresent Abdul Jibrin and the leadership of the National Assembly. Releasing screenshots of text messages sent to committee members and deliberately twisting the content of same to lead the gullible astray does not count in any clime as investigative journalism.

What no one who has any respect for the truth cannot argue against is that on the part of the National Assembly this has been the most open and transparent budget screening since return to democracy in 1999. The current impasse was brought about because the Presidency bungled the budget process from the get go. And while we all respect the President and want him to succeed, the reality is that he is human, and as such not beyond making mistakes. The 2016 budget as presented was fraught with errors, and that did not originate from the National Assembly. If those errors are to be corrected for the common good of the nation, the Executive must first be willing to admit to its failings, and work with the National Assembly instead of playing to the gallery.

On a final note, this war is being prosecuted at great cost to Nigerians and we can no longer afford to have it drag for any longer. The Executive and National Assembly must find a common ground to resolve their differences over the budget for the sake of the people they represent. That is the only way to prove the good intention they claim to have for the people, not on the frontpage of newspapers.

via Abusidiqu