How House of Reps can fight corruption, by lawmaker

Ganiyu Johnson, who represents Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 2 at the House of Representatives, spoke with reporters on how the Lower Chamber can cooperate with the executive in fighting corruption and other issues. Excerpts:

 

The report of the Transparency International showed that Nigeria has risen on the corruption index. Corruption is linked to poverty. What are the legislators doing to address this critical issue?

Let us start with the budget. When you talk about corruption, you are also linking it with poverty and that is why on the floor of the house we advocated for an increase in the capital budget by 40 per cent.

In the past, the capital budget has been oscillating below 40 per cent, once you have a performance of 40 per cent and above in your capital budget, you are spurring development, it is catalyst for development and once there is development, you are reducing poverty because you are engaging people.

It is our own little way of alleviating poverty through budget performance, increasing capital budget as against recurrent.

The issue of corruption, I am happy you know the position of the government on corruption; you see the rate at which even former governors are being jailed, which implies that this present regime is not taking it kindly with corruption. All of us must support and partner with the Federal Government if we want to get rid of corruption.

Sometimes, the activities of this global anti-corruption agency are queried. Do you believe in the credibility of Transparency International?

They may be biased, no doubt about that but for me it depends on the angle you want to take it.

What spurred you to organise the second edition of ‘Meet your Member of Parliament’?

I promised my people, it would be a monthly affair. You can see that the turnout in this edition is higher than what we had in the first. What that means is that the constituents must have gone out to tell other members of the constituency that they can have access to their representative, which is what I am happy about.

This is an opportunity to interface with my people and I am happy about that. I don’t know most of them and if I can see them and we get talking, it would assist me in serving them better.

Hopefully, before the next election, the awareness that if you vote for your representative, he would not run away, would be there, and that is the message.

The physical structure here, my constituency office also shows that I am not running away but, determined to serve my people.

How do you rate constituents’ personal issues vis-à-vis constitutional issues?

Poverty in the constituency is very high. In my little way, I have been assisting them with cash support, for their small businesses and the remaining 25 per cent is for the constituent issue, like, they want transformers, boreholes and also empowerment.

Last December, I had an empowerment programme for them and more are still coming. I intend to empower about 1,000 people before 2023 and if I am able to do that, there would be this chain effect.

If those empowered can engage about three to four people, then we should be talking about 4,000 people. I also have a programme, ‘Food for All Project’ where we distribute food to the constituents to lessen the effect of hunger.

At what stage is the dredging of Oke Afa canal and the expansion of Mushin road?

We moved a resolution on the floor of the house and the debate has been passed to the committee, which is being deliberated, and right now it is at the committee level.

Lagos State government has awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of Mushin road, not for expansion though, and I facilitated that. If the road is rehabilitated, and it is well done, it would make traffic floor better and when there is money, we would be able to expand the road.

What is your view on the establishment of Amotekun in Southwest region?

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had a meeting with the Southwest governors recently and I am happy that there was an agreement; each state was asked to create a legal framework for the initiative.

With the legal framework that would give them backing, I am totally in support. I am in support of that because it is a way forward. If that can be done, the issue of insecurity would be minimized.

As a member of the House Committee on Power and Works, what really is the problem with the power supply in the country?

To be honest with you, I want to say that the Federal Government has done a lot to make power supply constant in the country. Government has privatized distribution; it is the only generation that is still in the hand of government.

The distribution companies (Discos) are complaining that they don’t have the fund to carry on their assignment. They said there is disconnect between what they are spending and what they are getting and this is as a result of the decay in the infrastructure.

In some areas, there are no transformers and other infrastructures. I am not trying to make case for them, but this is the reality. At the moment, it is only nine million people that are hooked in the net.

But we need about 30 million people. If we get more people on the net, the proposed new tariff may not take effect.

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The biggest challenge is that a lot of people are illegally tapping the grid. They are tapping electricity without paying and this is affecting funding of the sector, which is why government is calling for an increase in electricity tariff.

What is your view on the state of the roads across the nation?

The major problem facing the roads in the country is a paucity of funds. Recently, the minister of Works and Housing said there were unpaid vouchers of almost half a trillion naira just for the roads alone. Right now, what is known as federal roads committee is in progress.

If the committee is empowered, it would help to reduce the gap in the road sector. However, there should be a road bond which people should embrace to raise money for road construction.

I strongly feel that once Nigerians are convinced that the money realized from the road bond would indeed be used to do the roads, they would key into it. The roads are not what the federal government would do alone. The citizens need to come into it.

In fact, all hands should be on deck. At the moment, we have Sukuk fund, which is different from the basic budgetary funds that are being used for the construction of Lagos, Ibadan Express Way, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano road and the Second Niger Bridge.

There are still other monies that are tied down somewhere that needs governors to meet and approve. We have talked with the chairman of Governors Forum, Dr Kayode Fayermi to make a presentation with his colleagues so that the money can be released to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

Do you think the N35 billion budgeted for the renovation of National Assembly is justified under this present hard economic condition?

To everybody, the figure may be huge, but the problem is that those who are complaining of the huge figure have not made any attempt to see the scope of work.

So, the reality is that the figure is huge and the scope of work is also huge. Since the dawn of democracy, over two decades ago, the National Assembly complex has not been renovated.

There have been lots and lots of wears and tears, so, the scope of work is huge, which is why the money is also huge.

What can you say about the clamour for Lagos State to be granted a special status?

Granting special status to Lagos is a project that has become a recurring decimal in the National Assembly. It is not something that only a legislator would do, it requires a collective effort.

I equate Lagos to New York, which is the economic hub of the United States, while Abuja is like Washington DC, which is the seat of administration.

So, Lagos deserves to be accorded special status. It is the same with recognition of the 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) as substantive local government areas (LGAs).

What Lagos State government did by constructing Western Avenue, so many years ago, but till now the money has not been paid back to the State.

Again, it is like what is going on in Oshodi-Apapa Express road. Lagos State has to do so much to support its infrastructural needs to boost economic activities, and if it fails to do them, it would amount to economic loss to the State.

What are your concerns about 2023 general election?

What I have for 2023 general election is advice. We are no doubt on the right part. However, we need more awareness.

If there is mass voter education, if people are enlightened and the card reader machines are working, we will be having credible elections.

It is lack of awareness and ignorance that is causing most of the problems in our elections. Even the thugs that sometimes come to cart away ballot boxes are acting in ignorance.