Dickson Okafor
Chief Benjamin Uwajumogu is the Senator representing Imo North and Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour and Employment.
In this interview, the only two-term Senator of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Southeast blamed his absence during the inauguration of the 9th Assembly on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for delaying in issuing him Certificate of Return after he was declared the winner, saying that also prevented him from contesting for the Senate presidential seat.
He gave insight into the 2020 budget and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for restoring the budget circle by presenting the Appropriation Bill on time. He speaks about border closure and the agenda of the 9th Senate. Excerpts:
What is your assessment of the 9th Senate?
The 9th Senate is so far stabilized because we have new leadership led by Senator Ahmad Lawan. We have just resumed and we have passed the legislative agenda on what the Senate will pursue in the next four years. And the Senate has resolved to partner with the executive to improve the economy. So, this is a different Senate from the last one.
What is the importance of the agenda?
Economic development is paramount to us and the executive and this can be achieved if there is harmonious relationship between the legislature and the executive. We must ensure that we create more jobs for our teeming youths, as well as wealth. The way we can achieve economic development is through job creation and this can only happen if there is cordial relationship between these two arms of government. Many have blamed lack of harmony between these two arms of government in last Assembly, which they said resulted to poor performance in the last four years. The 9th Senate has decided to support the executive to deliver the dividend of democracy to Nigerians, especially now that the ruling party is in total control of both chambers of the Assembly.
Isn’t this a confirmation in some quarters that the present National Assembly is a rubber stamp because it may not have the gut to check the executive like the last one?
I don’t understand what you mean by being a rubber stamp for a Senate that is just four months old. Are you insinuating that we should bully the executive? In the process of checking the executive, we cannot go contrary to the constitution hence you don’t expect the National Assembly to heat up the polity because we want to be heard or seen as doing our job. The primary responsibility of both arms of government is to protect lives and property of Nigerians and ensure their wellbeing and not to distract any arm of government from carrying out its legitimate duty. If the three arms of government fail to work harmoniously, it is Nigerians that will suffer.
Even when the leadership of both chambers is of the same party unlike the immediate past Assembly, which put the executive on its toes, hence this may not be the case with APC-dominated federal law making body, what is your view?
Not all the principal officers in the Senate are of APC. It was an aberration in the last Senate when we had APC Senator as the President of the Senate and the Deputy Senate President from PDP. Like I said earlier, Nigerians were not happy with the relationship between the executive and legislature in the last Assembly because they were at the receiving end. So, the cat and rat relationship of the two arms of government won’t be the case this time around if we must deliver on our campaign promises to the people.
Notwithstanding, the last Assembly has been adjudged as most vibrant because of that combination and you were part of the Assembly, don’t you see it as a robust NASS?
So, you call a leadership that abused Mr President vibrant? Is that a yardstick to measure robust and vibrant Assembly? We are talking about a period when every people’s oriented bill and motion died on arrival and you call the perpetrators vibrant lawmakers? I think the Senate should be judged by what we are able to bring to bear, how we are able to transform the lives of Nigerians for good, how we are able to improve the economy that will bring about job creation through legislation. The Senate or National Assembly is not ground for abuses or where you use careless words to describe the President of your country and you forget that people are watching us globally. So, the present Senate is made up of men and women of impeccable character. I’m not saying that members of the last Senate are not men and women of honour, but some of us played politics of bitterness to the extent they forgot to pursue the wellbeing of Nigerians.
Many tipped you to be the President of the 9th Senate, unfortunately you were not in the chamber when the election of principal officers was conducted because you were yet to be issued Certificate of Return by INEC, any regret?
Like you rightly observed, I did not contest for the office of the President of the Senate. This is because I was not inaugurated at the right when I was supposed to be inaugurated because INEC withheld my Certificate of Return. The expectation was that as a ranking member of APC from the Southeast, many thought I was going to be the Senate President for the sake of equity. I give God the glory for whatever happened and I have no regrets rather, I’m happy playing the role I’m playing now
Pundits were of the view that the delay of your Certificate of Return was orchestrated by your party. They alleged that the leadership of APC didn’t want any ranking member from the Southeast to occupy the seat of Senate President, what is your take?
Was my party responsible for the delay of my Certificate of Return? It was INEC in their wisdom that decided to delay my Certificate of Return, not my party. If you say my party didn’t want any ranking member from the Southeast to assume the position of Senate President, what of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, wasn’t he a ranking member? The APC I belong believe in justice and never interferes or prevents any member from aspiring to any position as it is in other parties.
Are you not concerned that Southeast geopolitical zone has been relegated to the background politically?
I disagree with you, after all Southeast is occupying the office of Senate Chief Whip. That is a sensitive position.
Is that what is due for the zone?
In life you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiated for. So far, the Southeast is not in support of APC. Therefore, we have not played a role that can justify us to make such demand from the party.
Many are astonished that you sit in the hallow chamber with former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha who never wanted you in the 9th Senate, at this point what is your relationship with Okorocha like?
My relationship with Senator Okorocha is cordial and as somebody I have worked with we are getting on easily.
Have you sat down with him one-on-one since you came into the 9th Senate, if yes, what did you discuss?
Unfortunately, we have not had such opportunity. I hope someday, the opportunity will come.
Okigwe South Federal Constituency is considered as being lucky for producing you as Senator representing Imo North, Hon. Chike Okafor, member House of Representatives and Emeka Nwajiuba, Minister of State for Education all from the same constituency and the same party, how will you describe the combination?
No doubt, we are blessed at this time for being fortunate. It calls for us to close rank and work together. We should look for opportunity to attract development to our constituency. So, it is left for three of us to find ways to ensure economic, social and political emancipation of our people.
Is there any move to reconcile aggrieved members of your party in the constituency?
Yes, there is such move. It is not a one-day thing, but I know that very soon all aggrieved members of APC in Okigwe South will be reconciled.
2020 appropriation bill has been described as budget of assumption predicated on taxation, which many have faulted, saying it would further impoverish vulnerable Nigerians, do you share the same view?
Budgets are prepared on expected revenue and that is why it is called budget. So, government is desirous to source fund from other avenues not mainly from oil. Of course, you know that the price of oil and output have not been encouraging. As it stands now, government is depending on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to fund the budget, including customs duty. In other to implement the budget to reasonable level, government must ensure that the areas it expected to generate funds are stipulated in the budget. It is in line with international best practices.
The budget has further cast doubt in the mind of most people over government promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty and all attention has shifted to the National Assembly to take a critical look at it and make necessary adjustment, can this Assembly take such bold step?
This budget is called budget of priority. Before now, capital budget had diminished and instead to spend more on recurrent expenditure we spend more on recurrent expenditure. So, we can only have growth if we increase capital investment. We need to spend more on infrastructure, such as railway, aviation and electricity. These are sources that can drive the economy.
With the timely presentation of the budget, which is aimed at restoring the budget circle to January to December, are you confident the National Assembly will adhere to this time frame?
It has been the desire of members of the National Assembly, especially the Senate to return to the budget circle of January to December. So, I commend the President for helping us actualize this dream by presenting the 2020 Appropriation Bill on time. Back to your question, we are working round the clock to ensure we tidy up grey areas and to pass the budget on time.
As Senate Committee Chairman on Labour and Employment, government and organized labour reached a consensus recently on the N30,000 minimum wage, how was your committee able to broker the peace?
As representatives of the people, we stood between the government and organized labour and made them see reasons and by so doing we reached a consensus. We made them to understand that we have 1.5 federal workers which government’s expenditure covers. The result and reward of my committee’s intervention is what led to the Federal Government directive to the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed to effect payment of the new minimum wage on or before December 31, 2019 bearing in mind that the approval of the minimum wage took effect from April 18, 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law. Don’t forget also that the Federal Government approved the payment of all outstanding financial implications of the consequential adjustment as worked out by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, beginning from April 18 this year. We all know that the organized labour and the Federal Government had since October 18, 2019 reached an agreement on the consequential adjustments of the implementation of the new minimum wage of N30, 000 after three days of negotiation. If everything labour is asking is given to them, the wage bill will amount to N30 billon when government is not sure that it can fund the budget up to 50 per cent thereby reducing us to salary paying government. This does not include the cost of running the legislature, judiciary and other public enterprises. So, government may end up paying just workers salary. And labour saw reasons and decided to cooperate with government and that was why they didn’t go on strike as they threatened. The adjustment is just from 14 to 17 hence, in the last 11 years there has not been salary increment. Therefore, we tried to balance it so that we can invest more on infrastructure. We must build our railways, increase electricity supply and construct roads, invest in education and health and all these will come from the budget.
From what you have said it is clear that this government is faced with financial challenge and you talked so much about job creation, with limited resources at the disposal of government, what is the assurance that the Buhari’s administration can create more jobs?
It is only in this country people expect government to provide employment. In other clime, employment is provided by the public sector. Government is not the major employer of labour. The major responsibility of government is to create an enabling environment for businesses to grow and that will create jobs. And this is why government has given priority to agriculture and solid minerals so as to create employment in the country. We need to develop our industrial, service and IT base in order to engender economic growth. This will help small and medium enterprises to flourish.
Yet the blame is still put at the doorstep of government for not creating enabling environment for businesses to thrive at least by proving uninterrupted power supply?
Let’s not fool ourselves; all of us in this country have seen the effort this government is making to increase power supply in the country. Mr President affirmed his government’s readiness to ensure steady power supply in the country with the recent signing of six years electricity roadmap agreement with the German company, Siemens, which is aimed at achieving the administration’s target of 7,000 megawatts in 2021, and 11,500 megawatts by 2023 up to the phase of one and two respectively. Therefore, the president knows that if Nigeria must attain 25,000 megawatts of electricity in 2025 when the contract is expected to end, power supply must improve. President Buhari realized the importance of steady power in economic growth because no matter how you want to raise revenue or improve the economy or create jobs, steady power supply is the only thing that will make it happen as it will open up the economy. Let’s not forget that poor quality decisions taken by past administrations, especially in the area of power are what this government is trying to redirect. Successive governments did not build infrastructure, including electricity roadmap towards ensuring steady power supply. At least you can attest to the fact that the unbundling of the power sector by the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has a lot of lapses, which this government is trying to address.
Are you not concerned about the untold hardship the closure of land borders by this government has brought on Nigerians and this measure goes to further show the insensitivity of the APC government over the plight of Nigerians?
The land borders were closed to curb smuggling. I disagree with you that the closure has brought untold hardship on Nigerians; rather those complaining are mostly smugglers because their sources of income have been closed. So, they must complain. The APC-led administration under the watch of President Buhari is very well sensitive to plight of Nigerians and that is why Mr President signed the N30, 000 minimum wage into law and he has directed the Finance Minister to effect payment of the new minimum wage on or before December this year. Smuggling destroys the economy of this country and you want government to fold its hands and watch smugglers deplete our economy. Today, it is Benin Republic with a population of less than five million people that is the highest importer of rice in the world. Where is the rice taken to? It is taken to Nigeria. Government made it clear that it cannot allow importation of rice through land borders, yet every day this rice finds its way into the country thereby destroying economic activities of our farmers. The same goes for petroleum resources, the subsidized petroleum product is smuggled out of this country through our porous land borders even vehicles are also smuggled into the country without payment of duties. This government has put its feet down to ensure our land borders are protected through stringent measures. They want to test-run it by closing the land border partially. We have reached out to the neighbouring countries and told them the importance of supporting our economy, which they failed to do.
Many are insisting that half of the nation’s annual budget goes into maintenance of members of the National Assembly and they are of the view that federal lawmakers should cut down their salaries and emolument, why are you people refusing to make sacrifices just as Nigerians are making every day?
This allegation is false and I don’t know when you people in the press will begin to address this issue properly. I hear all sorts of stories how much Senators earn. Some of your colleagues reported that a Senator earns N30 million while others put it at N50 million, but all these reports are false. We have made public what we earn and we made clear that a Senator is given allowances to run his office. A Senator needs an office and staff in the National Assembly and in his Senatorial zone which is less than N14 million every month. In Nigeria, a Senator is like welfare officer or a guarantor for his Senatorial zone. So, the figures, which are being brandished in the media are false. I urge the Nigerian press to as a matter of duty report the accurate amount the constitution approves for federal lawmakers.
Most people have expressed fear that the leadership of the 9th Assembly is an appendage of the executive, what is your take?
I don’t understand how the leadership of 9th Assembly and the 109 members will becomes an appendage of the executive when we have a good number of opposition members and members of the ruling parties in both chambers that have their jobs cut out. Our job is to oversight the executive and it is a constitutional role and so far, we have been discharging this role and other duties. But we will not create issues just to heat up the polity in order to attract attention.
From the look of things, it seems like the ruling party is build round President Buhari, there is fear that there may be no more APC in 2023 after the exit of Buhari, do you share the opinion?
Even though President Buhari represents the true image of APC and we are glad to have him as the leader of our great party, it does not mean that the party will die at the end of President Buhari’s tenure in 2023. Yes, Buhari’s image is larger than life which has contributed immensely to the acceptability of APC by Nigerians. No doubt, APC will sort for a replacement when President Buhari’s tenure is over.