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Senator Joseph Akaargerger has urged the Senate to take another look at its proposed plan to embark on a constitution review exercise this year, with a view to shelving it for another time, declaring that constitution review should not be the priority of the Senate now.

He made the declaration in an interview recently. According to him: “I believe that our constitution is not well tested. Perhaps, we still need to be very patient with our constitution. But you know sometimes we response to issues with impatience.

“If we had been patient, practiced constitutional democracy all this while, for the years Nigeria have been independent, perhaps, we would have fine-tuned here and there and we would have gotten it right.

Yes, there is need for constitutional review, but I do not think it should catch our attention right now, it should be done much later, otherwise, we will get ourselves so involved in the document again and leave other issues that touch directly on the lives of the people. I believe that constitutional review is okay but not now.” Akaargerger who also said that contrary to what most Nigerians believe, he never prostrated for Chief Barnabas Gemade to come to the Senate, spoke on the nullification of his election by the tribunal, his challenges in the Senate, Mark and Akume feud and other issues.

Excerpts:

You were once a politician in military uniform, at what point did you get interested in real politics?
I would say that my decision to participate in partisan politics will not be a function of my been a military administrator but it has in some ways created in me some understanding that politics is vehicle of development in a constitutional democracy, there is no way that one could impact positively on people without participating in politics. Why I say this is because I was exposed to a number of issues, you would recall that in the Army, it is essentially a rule by order and not by consensus which is the whole gamut of politics.

So, I noticed that my community is poor and poverty stricken, poverty is written on the faces of everybody. I believe that we in the representative capacity, should be able to interface, interact and synergize with Nigerians to bring development to my community that is what informed my going into politics.

Also, my people urge me to go in, understanding that I will not look at my personal gain, but the collective good of the people. I resisted the call for a while because I thought there was no decorum in politics but eventually, I have to go in after I retired from active military service in 1999.
You would recall that the incoming administration then gave a directive that anybody who has head a particular appointment like I did must solely be retired and going by that order, I left the service.

You will agree with me that as at the time you left the Army, you have not reached the peak of your career, did you regret holding a political appointment since it was reason for your early retirement?
I approached life from the perspective that it is God that order anybody’s time, if it was God’s will that I would still be in the Army, I would have been in the service till date, because God would have influenced the policy makers then to retain us in the Army because the Bible says that the heart of the king is like string of water in the hands of the Lord and he gives it to whosever he wants. So, I believe that at any time where I found myself I give glory to God and I still believe that I am still within the plans God has for me, I have no regret whatsoever having left the Army then and I still don’t have any regret at all, rather I want to thank God for giving me an eventful career in Army and now he is opening up a new door for me in politics.

Between 1999 and 2007 when you contested for the Senate seat, what were you doing?
I am a lawyer, I hold a Ph.D in law, I have been doing my law practice since and besides 2007 was not the first time I was contesting, I had contested for the Senate in 2003 on the platform of the United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP), before I decamped to the PDP in 2004 and the PDP gave me a ticket to run for the Senate and by the grace of God, the people of Benue North East have given me the mandate to be here.

Why did you decamp?
If you have an idea of Benue North East Senatorial district, the area was neglected by government because of our opposition to government, but government continued to show that if we returned to the main stream, they will carry us along. And because we needed government attention focused on our area, we decided to return to the PDP.

Most people see military men as people who don’t know anything, how did you obtain your Ph. D?
It is an incorrect perception of the armed forces; as a matter of fact, the army anywhere in the world with no exception to the Nigerian Army or the Nigerian Armed Forces to make it broader, is a place where you find the footprint of discoveries. And if your recall most of the scientific researches and breakthroughs are always starting from the military barracks and Nigeria is not exceptional, you will recalled that a number of Nigerian military doctors have made a great inventions in the areas of medicines and so on. I think they keep emerging everyday. It is a great misconception for people to see military men as people who don’t know anything.

The army is an institution of excellence like it has always been all over the world. I believe that this misconception may be founded on the colonial armies where the object of keeping our army was different from what we have today and I want to seize this opportunity to thank the Nigerian Army for given me the opportunity to reach up to this level, and quite a number of people who are better than myself still in the barracks and they will continue to excel.

With your level of education, why did you have to prostrate before Chief Bernabas Gemade because you wanted to come to the Senate?
No, rather, there is also a misconception there, I was not prostrating for Gemade, it is traditional between my ethnic group to give respect to the elders and if you look at the occasion, the elders of the entire Benue State were there and it was good to humble myself before them and say I have humbled myself before you, I have humbled myself before anybody who is born before me and who is senior to me in age and I would not understand what is going on that this man (Gemade) persist in creating problem for me, I was pleading with my community to ask him questions why he would continue to pursue me to that level and there were some misconceptions here and there that I was prostrating for Gemade, I was not prostrating for any individual.

When you were coming to the Senate, you had a vision, and high hopes, so far, have you been disappointed in any way?
No, rather, I have found the Senate more challenging than I expected it would be, challenging because the Nigerian society continue to expect more from us and it is necessary for us to make decisions that will affect the lives of the Nigerian people positively.
But also, I would have expected that I would move in a faster pace in bringing development to my area in my little way in partnership with the government at the state and federal level, and other agencies and organisations. However, I believe that slow and steady wins the race.

Why has it been difficult for the senators from Benue State to work together, particularly the former Benue State governor and the Senate president?
I am not a major player in this issue and I think the personalities you have mentioned will be in a better position to answer this question but I want to see a more harmonious relationship between the senators and the Benue State government so that together, we can propel development in the state.

Before the Yar’Adua led administration was inaugurated, he talked so much about declaring a state of emergency in the power sector, six months into the administration, we are yet to see the emergency he is talking about, what is your take on this?
Let me send my deep appreciation to Mr. President, for one, recognizing one of the major problems of Nigeria particularly in the power sector and two, taking a bold step in declaring a state of emergency in that sector. In the first instance, it takes perception and conviction to make such declaration but the problems are complex, they are not problems that can be solved in a day, there is also the need for Mr. President to study the sector properly and come out with a roadmap for redeeming that sector and I think that the time he is spending to study the sector is adequate and proper because if he rushes, it will crash and I think in the circumstance, the problems have been identified over the years, the problems that have been there for quite some times, so it is not possible to expect the president to solve it within two or three months.

But do you think we are moving at the pace we are supposed to be moving?
Before I answer this question, I would have wanted us to make reference to statistics but sometimes, statistic may make it more academic and end up theorizing practical issue. If you look at the people on the street, the common man, you will be able to judge in that way whether a policy is impacting on the lives of people negatively or positively. I believe that there is still a lot to be done and with a new administration in place, I believe that new frontiers and new dimensions will emerge for Nigeria to move forward as a country. I want to say that one of the commitments of the present administration is to see Nigeria as one of the emerging top 20 economies of the world by 2020. I believe that we have a framework to move ahead. It is true that there are certain fundamental flaws in the 1999 Constitution, but most times people have also argued that the problem is not with the document, but the operators.

Bearing this in mind, do you think we need a constitutional amendment at this point in time?
I believe that our constitution is not well tested. Perhaps we still need to be patient with our constitution. But you know sometimes, we response to issues with impatience. If we had been patient, practiced constitutional democracy all this while, for the years Nigeria have been independent, perhaps, we would have fine-tuned here and there and we would have gotten it right. Yes, there is need for constitutional review but I do not think it should catch our attention right now, it should be done much later, otherwise, we will get ourselves so involved in the document and leave other issues that touch directly on the lives of the people. I believe that constitutional review is okay but not now.

When is the right time?
It will be after we have tested this constitutional well. There is need to allow us operate the constitution very well before we rush into reviewing it because doing that now will mean abandoning other issues of concern to the people.

I don’t know if your constituents have started asking you but they have started asking some of us who the 419ners lawmakers are. What do you have to say on that?
Senator Nuhu Aliyu has apologized to the entire lawmakers over what he said, as I want Nigerians to close the chapter on that and let us move ahead rather than wasting so much energy on that.
But we are still awaiting the committee that probed the matter to come up with its recommendations.

What is your take on the call for the merging of EFCC with ICPC?
I can’t see the wisdom in that call; rather, what we should do is to streamline and strengthen them. You will see that the EFCC was concentrating on states and Federal Government as if every other place was neat, as if every other place was above the law, as if every other place do not require the intervention of the EFCC. But the truth is also that the EFCC alone as an institution may not be able to handle the enormous problems of this country in the realm of corruption.
So, I think that ICPC should remain as an independent with its functions streamline in such a way that there are no overlaps of functions and then we can move forward at a faster pace in the fight against corruption.

You are the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Communications; I know that in the last few months, you have been interfacing with the service providers, what has been the result so far?
Well, what we have been doing is to interact with these people, present to them the cry of Nigerians about the quality of service. You will recall that we have held several interactions with them, public hearing on this matter and pretty soon, it will be in the Senate and Nigerians will know what we are doing but I believe that if you continue to talk on one issue for too long and people refuse to change, the best thing is to sanction them.

Finally, are you loosing sleep over the nullification of your election?
One can only be moved when the mandate of your people is shaky but when it is solid like mine, it is irrevocable and irreversible. My constituents are even saying that we can go back to the poll when INEC is ready, but at the moment, I have appealed against the tribunal’s judgment.