THE Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on NNPC and member, Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs, Kabiru Garba Marafa, (ANPP Zamfara Central) recently spoke with journalists on implications of state police and why Federal Government must improve budget implementation. ISAH IBRAHIM was there. Excerpts:WHAT is your opinion on the calls for state police, which the northern governors have rejected'I don't support the idea of state police, but I cannot speak for the Senate. I oppose state police in its entirety. As a northerner, I have seen politics from one system to the other. I have not seen one person that can convince me on why we need state police. The police are there and the Commissioners of Police are answerable to the governors to a very large extent. It is only on some very few issues that they need clearance from the centre. There is no way the President would deny any state governor the usage of police to bring about peace within the state. So, I don't know why people are agitating for the state police. We can only create problems that we can solve; we should discharge our responsibilities with every sense of responsibility. I think what is deceiving people is the refusal to accept the transient nature of power. We should not because we are in a position of authority today create a monster that will suit us to harass people and intimidate others. And maybe tomorrow, someone else will use the same weapons and kill us. I may use the weapons with the fear of God but I cannot say that of someone else.So we are supposed to do what will safeguard our future and what will only suit us today. What I am advising is that when we are doing something, we should do it with some measure of deep foresight. For instance, if somebody grabbed the same weapon I have fabricated while I am no longer in a position of authority to stop him, what do you think will happen to my followers and I' We have seen how elections are conducted, we have seen especially council elections, the larger part of the problem we are having in council election is because governors have constituted themselves as the umpires of the election. and this is why we find that any party that is in power in a state usually wins every seat contested for at the council level. But this is not the case at the Federal level. In a state like Zamfara, we were able to snatch away power from the PDP, the then ruling party at the centre in the 2011 election. A party like the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), which many will consider small, defeated the PDP. But the ANPP is large in spirit and that is why we were able to snatch power from the ruling party, the PDP in the state because the elections were conducted nationally.The composition of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) itself inhibited any arbitrary use of the office because the INEC Chairman might be from Kebbi State and his deputy is from Bayelsa while the Secretary may be from South West and the operational Director is from Maiduguri. So, you find out that because of the composition, the people cannot sit down and say 'let us edge out the mandate of Oyo State or Kebbi State or Bayelsa State' because of selfish interests. The moment you raised up that kind of idea, others will immediately kick against it. I opposed state police from its roots, its stand and branches. In fact, I don't see reasons we need state police now and if it is brought before the Senate I am going to oppose it.As a member Senate committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental affairs, what do you intend to do about such incidents as the recent protest over the recruitment exercise in the NNPC, which generated complaints from some states that alleged marginalisation'I saw it in the newspapers but we have not received any formal complaint on it. Awesu Kuta heads the Committee, which supervises the Federal Character Commission. It has done a lot in the area of recruitment. One of the reasons for being in the Senate is to ensure good representation. I want to see that my people are adequately represented and since I got there I have ensured the employment of over 50 people from my zone. I am ready to question any authority regarding this issue, because is a constitutional requirement of balancing of appointment and balancing of even infrastructure. However, we are still investigating but unfortunately from the time the report was published, we went on recess. We are investigating to find out, and if there are facts on ground, I am ready to confront NNPC. But until the investigation is complete, I cannot say that the newspaper report is accurate or not.What is your assessment on sharing of infrastructural developments by the Federal Government'If the people of Zamfara Central feel there is something wrong with the sharing of the projects they will complain to me. Infrastructure are not things that are distributed for fancy. We get what we deserve or need. The basic fact is that if you feel marginalised and you have anything to say or present as wrong, then you bring it up and it will be considered. We are trying to balance things so as to have harmonious working relationship among the six geopolitical zones.How do you feel when people describe the National Assembly as the rubber stamp for the Executive'Is the National Assembly a rubber stamp for the Executive' I don't think so. Recently, the House of Representatives threatened to impeach the President. Although we are on recess, the joint committee of Finance and appropriation headed by the Deputy Senate President called on the coordinating Minister of Finance on two issues and she didn't appear before the committee and they threaten to send the arrest warrant on her and at the end she appeared before the joint committee and interrogated her and even made her to recant her earlier assertions. She was earlier reacted to the issues of House of Reps where she said that they have implemented 56 per cent of the budget. The Senate did not like that, so the Senate felt it was time to react. The public ought to understand that the Senate and the House of Reps is one body. When the Senate is dealing with an issue, the House doesn't go into it, and when the House is dealing with an issue, the Senate doesn't interfere. In what way should people think that the Senate is a rubber stamp to Executive' It is only when you are fighting somebody that people will say are not a rubber stamp. But we don't have to fight; there is one Nigeria and one government and that government has three arms 'Executive, Judiciary and Legislature. We don't have to be at loggerheads.The President has enormous power and there are about 500 people Nigerians elected to checkmate one person. The 109 senators and 355 members of the House are doing the job of checkmating this power. Let Nigerians be fair to us.
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