Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Speaker, Borno State House of Assembly, Hon. Abdulkarim Lawan, has told critics predicting the collapse of the All Progressive Congress (APC) over its current leadership crisis following the suspension of its party national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to hold their peace, insisting that conflict was part of party politics.
Lawan who became the Speaker of the state assembly in 2012 following the impeachment of his predecessor said that his election and re-election were deal done divinely through his colleagues in the house without his prompting.
He spoke extensively on how he was elected three times as Speaker despite his reserved disposition, why the Borno State House of Assembly has not experienced any crisis in nine years of his leadership, ongoing amendment of the sexual abuse and harassment law in the state, among others. Except:
How did you become the Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly three times and has sustained the leadership unchallenged, the first in the history of the state?
My colleagues decided that and not me and it is because Almighty Allah has destined it. In the first time in 2012, I was not even aware that the honourable members have decided to nominate me as their Speaker. When we went into the chamber to nominate a new Speaker, I even raised up my hand to nominate someone as Speaker, but the presiding officer didn’t recognize me to stand up to nominate. One of the house members from Megumeri who sat beside me raised up his hand to nominate me and all the members unanimously agreed that I should be their Speaker. I can tell you I am not even aware that they have resolved to nominate me. I didn’t tell anybody I wanted to be the Speaker, but members decided on their own without my consent that I should be their Speaker. Honestly, I didn’t ask anybody to nominate me, I didn’t. Up till now, nobody can tell you I Abdulkarim came to him looking for Speakership. Members themselves decided to nominate me for the position of the Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly. They decided on their own in 2012, 2015 and 2019. The secret is that since 2007 when I came to the house, I have always made peace with all my colleagues. I don’t speak negatively of my colleagues whenever we are in the house. I am always on the side of truth and fairness and I do not harass anybody and I don’t speak words that are embarrassing to any of my colleagues. Maybe that is why my colleagues keep me as their leader till today. When I became Speaker, I ensure I contact members on anything I am doing in the house. We sit together to understand ourselves. I am always telling them on the need to unite ourselves, to be together. I am transparent in my leadership and always give them all their dues. I take whatever belongs to me after everyone has got his due. Since I became the Speaker, I have never had any challenge from them. We operate as family and in fact, we are like brothers.
We understand also there has not been any reported clash or crisis between the state assembly/leadership and the executive/governor unlike the situation in some states. Is there no time you had conflict of interest?
There is no need for any conflict between the governor and the house. We are members of the same family of APC and the relationship between the assembly and the executive is cordial. Why do we need to fight? This Boko Haram thing is enough crisis for us in Borno and there is no need for any faction or conflict between the two arms of government. Whenever we received any communication on executive bill from the governor, past or present, I usually call all the members to look at the communication and we take a decision on it in the interest of the state.
There was a public hearing early this week about a bill to amend sexual abuse law. Why the interest?
The reason we decided on the amendment of sexual harassment and abuse law is because of the increase in the number of rape cases and sexual harassment in the state. So, when the member representing Jere State constituency, Hon AjiKolo Khadi brought the issue as motion; we then advised him to bring it as a bill at the floor of the house, which he did. He then presented it as a bill and after it passed the first reading, we referred it to the committee. We granted the committee logistics to find out from states that are using this law before like Nasarawa, Lagos and Kano states. It was then the committee came out with the proposal of a public hearing to collect input from all stakeholders and we are happy that many people are making input on the amendment now. After the public hearing, the committee will present the final bill to the house for deliberation before we will pass it to law. The punishment in the previous law is very low and by the time the law is amended, it is going to help Borno State and at the end of the day we will have a very good law.
Aside the rape bill the house is currently working on, how many bills have the house initiated under your leadership and passed into law?
Honestly, they are many and I can readily recall all. But I remember we passed into law Borno State University bill, bill on Borno State Emergency Management Agency, also Borno State Road Maintenance Agency, Borno State College of Health. Even for the 9th Assembly, aside some other executive and private bills, we have passed into law geographical information system bill, public procurement act, education trust fund, security trust fund. There are some other bills now on the floor of the house especially traffic management agency, bill for the amendment on local government law, among others.
What are you doing to improve good governance in the state?
We have been working harmoniously with the present governor, Prof Babagana Zulum who is showing great commitment in the leadership of the state. So, we are doing enough to ensure government delivers basic services to the people
As the number three citizen, what is your concern about the security situation in the state?
Well, my concern about the security situation is that we still have some challenges. But I know the situation has also improved especially in Maiduguri, the epicenter of the insurgency, compared to what it was some years ago. If you compare 2014 and now, you know there is improvement. You know what the situation was before especially here in Maiduguri when many people, including even journalists ran away, but today we are all working around either in the evening or in the night. We know we still have security challenge in some local governments, especially in northern Borno. We hope Insha Allah in the next two or three years the issue of insecurity will be over. We will continue to assist and collaborate with the military to bring the Boko Haram problem to an end.
How would you assess the governor, his style and policies?
The man has done a lot. In the area of displaced persons, the governor has gone far. He has visited many camps and many communities to boost their morale, distributing relief materials to IDPs at Monguno, Diffa in Niger Republic, Ngazai, Askira-Uba, Kaga, Damboa and other parts of southern Borno. He has gone everywhere. The man is everywhere. He has improved on the health sector and education. He renovated some hospitals and still renovating schools. He has started road constructions and rehabilitation within the short period in office. He has tried in the area of infrastructure development within Maiduguri metropolitan. I think it is too early to assess the governor.
You hail from northern Borno and your constituency has been displaced by Boko Haram for a long time. How do you feel about this situation as a leader?
Honestly, I am not happy because my local government, Guzamala, has been displaced since 2014 by Boko Haram. Many fled their homes and are taking refuge at Monguno, some in Ngazai, Gubio and some in Maiduguri. The challenge is beyond us, but we have talked to the military on how we can return our people home to start their farming life. Around 2017, the town was liberated by the military and the Chief of Army Staff led us to reopen Gudumbali town, headquarters of Guzamala Local Government. But later after two or three months, the insurgents came back to displace people again. However, Insha Allah, we will do everything possible to ensure people return home safely.
What is your take on the current leadership crisis in your party at the national level? Does it signify end of APC ahead of 2023 as some have argued?
Crisis is not new in politics. As a political party, there will always be crisis for one reason or the other. Even the PDP has its own crisis now. APC is a big party, the party of the majority and leading party. But there is no crisis that we cannot overcome. Even now, there is a committee working to resolve the crisis. The committee will mediate between the national chairman and some governors and national assembly members. Chief Bisi Akande, the leader of the committee, is a gentleman and great politician and we hope Insha Allah, he will reconcile everyone and everything will be resolved.