Gyang Bere, Jos
Ayuba Tangshak Santos is the Plateau Central Senatorial candidate of Green Party of Nigeria (GPN). He said he is the most credible candidate with verse knowledge and experience to replace Senator Joshua Dariye in the Senate.
What is your take concerning the huge take home pay of Senators in Nigeria in the midst of poverty and security challenges in the country?
I have always argued this, and I argued with all sense of responsibility attached to it, the National Assembly should be on part term basis, that has been my argument; your salary should be personal to you. Personal in the sense that if I earn a kobo as a professional, your salary should move with you, there are other agencies that your salary follows. The truth about it is that if we have solved most of the problems of Nigeria, then there will be justification for that huge pay. I am of the view that those who don’t attend sitting should not be paid their sitting allowances because they are not there. It is a sitting allowance and I am not there, I am standing somewhere for as long as there is no excuse. It is time for us to tell ourselves the truth and running our National Assembly on part term basis is the best.
But as it is today, you and I, even Journalists from the fact of their researches, show that nobody knows how much a National Assembly member is paid. The closest I got to know about it was when Sarah did an analysis of what you call the running cost and it relates to our own representative, Senator Joshua Dariye where she put in N13.5 million and they calculated over N30 million for six months as running cost and that was why I mentioned it must be retired in terms of transparency and accountability. How can they give you a running cost and you don’t retire it and you don’t have a constituency office, this is also a window of corruption.
As you asked and sincerely from the bottom of my heart, if I am become a Senator, I have a right and I will let you know what comes into my account and people will see a change.
How are you going to overcome the ethnic sentiment in Plateau Central considering the fact that you come from a minority tribe and your rivals are from the majority tribe, how will you win the election?
Looking at the pedigree and the ethnic sentiment to beat, my first question in most times is a throwback questions to our generation and I have said it that the younger generation in Nigeria of two decades and half possibly 25 years to 50 years, seems to have lost it, lost it because of fear and as they called it ‘stomach’ but I call that oral and stomach infrastructure, we missed the point. You do not expect to be talking about a Canadian person who was like three years and welcomed Gen. Yakubu Gowon when he went to Canada, today Trudean has served as President of Canada, and he is running his second term. We like using examples, is it a Prime Minister of Ukraine or is it about other Presidents who are much younger at 35, and someone look at me and say a 44 year old man is a young boy, I am not because we have gone to the level with my contemporaries and colleagues who today are fighting to come out of this slavery of fear that we are into. We are not saying we are the best, anyone that is 35 years old is qualify to be Senator; you don’t have to get five credits or F9. It is not about parading a PhD or Master’s Degree; it is about conquering your fear. The pedigree and the winning is in the hands of God but if you are talking about pedigree and they are going to measure pedigree on the basis of qualitative network, I think I will stand in between such breed, as it is my exposure over time, my education over time, my interactions over time and the people that will help conquer the two variables. The issue of religious bigotry and issues of ethnic nomenclature and extraction are being used to fight ourselves and then we breed what will not help us. I don’t think we have doubt because power is in the hands of God and He passes it through the minds of people and they would cast their votes and then protect the mandate of the vote, I cannot be in the 777 polling units, I can only be in one and then I am also restricted as a candidate, I will remain indoor until after the election. Once I go to the polling unit they will say I am campaigning and there is a deadline to campaign, 24 hours to the time. I do respect the law because I am going to make laws.
On my opponents, let me say this, the open space doesn’t breed disrespect, we are not in this to fight, or to compete with anybody, we are into this contest to provide ourselves as option for people to have credible alternative that will represent them well. If they decide to say Santos, we don’t want you they will also come to begin to narrate that ‘had we known.’
What do you think is your selling point or what will give you an edge over your opponents?
I want people to confirm this that I have the exposure from the student days, I do understand legislative practice, from my reading, and I also have the experience because I have also tried over time to train myself to be competent and once you missed the two lenses of competence and capability, there is no where anything can be actualise. I have given the rundown of what we can possibly do to add value to the community and what will help reduce some of these issues. I think we will beat them by God’s grace if the people vote rightly.
How will you assess Dariye’s years as the representative for the senatorial district?
If I were, I wouldn’t have come out to contest but again right from 1999, each one of them I must give them the credit, they have tried their best to the point at which they were relieved of that duty. I also want people to know that if you can still go back to Egypt, why can’t you remain and move through the wilderness, you don’t know if the promised Land is just a step ahead, so why not try me, you have not tried me and I fail but those who have met me in the past have told them that I am the one that can give them credible representation, just simply vote for me. We are not satisfied and I think they have tried their best, everybody has his limitations, and I am going to bring in my expertise to help the situation.
What is the most challenging issue in your constituency?
The most challenging issue as mentioned earlier is that in our communities, poverty has eaten deep into us; it is all about the money how much do you have to pay. Outside the money we should also look at the ethnic extraction, about the religious bigotry but again I tell people, there is no body seated here and on earth that choose where to come from, we were made into it, God made that and was consolidated by the social relationship of our parents and then the law now took to the side, are you paternalistic inclined or maternalisic inclined?
For us in Nigeria and by our culture we are paternalistic inclined. Some of us have both parents from the same extraction and I also ask questions for those who have parents from different extractions, is that not supposed to be an advantage to them? They learn two languages, two cultures; we should not allow these challenges to conquer us. We move everyday under God’s guidance. For us, this is not just an outing but we are contesting to win and by the grace of God the people are on our side.