Recently, the Delta State Government hosted a retreat of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Asaba. The host governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, spoke with journalists on the coordinated national efforts to create a new Constitution. Deputy Political Editor, ABRAHAM OGBODO was present at the chat.WHAT do you make of the Constitution review event that held in your state'What I see from these events is that everybody is eager to do something about our Constitution. It is obviously a Constitution that requires some tinkering. People in government ' the executive, legislature and judiciary, who are using the Constitution to manage the country ' have seen the flaws. Then, the people (public) themselves, who have been governed with the Constitution, have also noticed the various flaws in the document.So, whether you are in or outside government, there is the belief that there is a need to deal with the Constitution and I believe that what will come out at the end will be the real Peoples Constitution. I say this because what has been discussed today (at the Senate Retreat) did not just start today. It is a result of various discussions, observations and efforts of the various committees that have crystallised to where we are today.What is the major challenge for the people of Delta State and the South-South'People have had their own definition of federation, but you either have a federation or you don't have it. There is nothing like true or false federalism; it is either you are a federation or you are not.Those talks about fiscal federation are academic, as far as I am concerned. If we say we are in federalism, are we really practicing it, as it should be' The answer is no. Thus, for us in the South-South, we are saying let's really practice federalism the way it should be, and the way it is known worldwide.In a real federation, the States are not appendages of the centre. There is no big man up there, and then you have the small men, and the big man just starts distributing crumbs to the people down, which seems to be happening now.We are saying that as a federation, the Federal Government is taking on too many things. The Federal Government should be confined to certain areas, and let the States do a lot more than they are doing now. Why would the Federal Government, for instance, be going to build a primary school, primary healthcare centre or a borehole' We believe that the States should handle that.But in so doing, we also need to review the Allocation Formula. I hear people saying States should be having their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), but the reality is that Nigeria today still depends on oil. Most of the revenue today, whether at the federal or the state, still comes from oil, and if that is the situation, there has to, first of all, be a proper way of dealing with the proceeds from the oil, with questions like who gets what, and who has the right to get what'Justice and fair play demand we (States) should be getting more than what we are getting today. Ideally, we should be getting 100 percent and paying taxes to the centre. But if that arrangement is not on, then they should increase the derivation to the various oil-producing areas.Secondly, we are talking about the challenges of security. Today, every part of this country has one form of security challenge or the other, and we think that with our long history, we need to review our security arrangement. One of the areas we believe should be reviewed is an arrangement that will ensure that the States have their own Police.Fortunately, this was one of the exciting parts of today's programme. Everybody seems to agree that there should be a State Police. What is left is how do we ensure that there will be a good relationship between the State and the Federal Police, and two, how do we ensure that when the State Police is put up, it is not abused by either the governor or whoever is in charge of the state.Those are far-reaching details that can be discussed but everyone has accepted the principle of having a State Police. If we don't, and I speak from my vantage position as governor, our security challenges will continue to get worse.'Due To Politics, People Force You To Put Some Projects Into Budget'ON possible disintegration of NigeriaIt is not possible. The country will not break up; forget it. In fact, the review of the Constitution is not even going close to that at all. We have our contacts and our friends; nobody is contemplating a break up.Is this optimism about a new Nigeria not misplaced'If you listen to the Deputy Senate President's speech, he said there are 16 critical areas, amongst others (for amendment). That means they have been able to narrow the issues to at least 16 critical areas; there are some others he did not mention.If we take the 16 critical areas, even if we cannot get all of them, if we get some percentage, we would have succeeded. What gives me hope is the way we were able to amend the Electoral Act. It is for a people to have the resolve that they need to change some of the things, and those things are changed.I am very hopeful again now that we have narrowed it down. The National Assembly (House of Representatives) have done their own retreat, the Senate have done their own here; when they finish, they will come together, and articulate their positions. These products they have gotten are a result of looking at various documents, meetings, and positions; so once they agree at the National Assembly, things will go on smoothly.Now, the Speakers are here (at Asaba retreat); it means the Houses of Assembly are represented. All the stakeholders are in agreement on one thing, which is that we need some amendment. It might not be all of the 16 critical areas, but I believe that something will come out.On high cost of governance, and poor budget implementationTake any budget in this country; most of them are deficit budgets. What does that mean' It means you come out with a budget in which you want to execute N100 billion project, but realistically, what you are expecting is N60 billion, both from your allocation and from your IGR.As a result of politics, people force you to put some projects into the budget. When it gets to the Assembly, whether national or state, one project or the other is added such that by the time the process finishes, the expenditure itself is quite high.But there is another aspect that people do not consider, which is income. How do you get the money to execute those projects' At the end of the day, in the execution, you are forced to go and look for a loan to be able to bridge the gap. Of course, you cannot consistently take loans every year because you must pay back.Sometimes, midway into the budget year, there is wage increase that shoots up the expenditure. Sometimes, there is a problem with our exchange rate and that increases the cost of contracts. So, there are a lot of things that could combine to make it difficult to execute the budget 100 percent.
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