By Ben Agande

MR Lanre Odubote, who was recently elected into the House of Representative to represent Epe Federal Constituency of Lagos state is one of the new members whose contributions to issues stand out. A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), this  journalist turned politician spoke on a wide range of issues including the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government as well as the worsening security situations in some parts of the country. Excerpts:

Being a first time in the legislature, what has been your experience six months after?

The experience has been wonderful. It has been an opportunity for me to see how important the legislature is in running the government especially on the issue of Appropriating money. We came in about the time that the 2011 budget had just been passed.

In the last two months we have been busy calling on departments, ministries and Parastatals to brief us on how far they have gone in the implementation of the 2011 budget. For me my short stay in the parliament so far has been very interesting and educative. I am proud to be a member of the parliament of the federal republic of Nigeria.

In the sixth assembly, the story of jumbo pay for legislators rent the air so much so that Nigerians were calling for the reduction of the salaries and allowances of the legislators. Do you think that what legislators collect as salaries and allowances is commensurate with the input they make into lawmaking?

There is nothing jumbo in the pay of legislators. The three hundred and sixty members of the House of Representatives have to visit their constituencies for consultations; they have to carry out over sight functions. Is it the money they use for these that people call Jumbo pay?

These are running costs. How much do ministers use for their frequent travels abroad? How many cars are in their convoy? What legislators get is a sort of allowance for their running costs which must be retired. The salary of a Legislator is N435,000. The pressure on the legislator is so enormous compare with what we are getting as salaries.

Mr Odubote

The pressure they go through is even a minor thing compare with the type or work they are doing for the country. If you are not properly remunerated, how can you carry out oversight function on people you have appropriated money for? If you want a good legislature, if you want good democracy in this country, you have to strengthen the position of the legislature. As far as I am concern, what we are getting is not commensurate with what we are doing.

Despite the opposition from the parliament on the removal of oil subsidy, the president seems determine to go ahead with it. What do you think should be the middle ground to be adopted by government?

All over the world, it is a known fact that government cannot run a successful business but unfortunate for us, these countries have developed their transportation system, they know the quantity of oil they require for internal consumption. We cannot even account for the oil that we are exporting not to even talk about the money accruing from the petroleum sector.

The refineries are not working; the transport system is so bad. If we had good roads, if the refineries are working, if there was any social system in place there would be no need for anybody to complain about deregulation. Government has to invest in the infrastructure and make sure that there is proper reorganization of the petroleum sector.

There is no way this National Assembly will support the executive on the fuel subsidy. What the executive has to do is to let us know what is happening in the oil and gas sector. The cartel in that sector must be exposed. We as representative of the people are only reflecting the opinion of our constituents. When they change their mind and opt to support the removal of subsidy, then we can also support its removal.

The security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate with the recent bombing of a Church in Madalla which killed several Christian worshippers. In your opinion, do you think the government has handled the situation well?

The truth of the matter is that the security challenge in the country is rooted in our faulty constitution.It is because the federal government wants to control every aspect of our national life. All over the world the issue of security is compartmentalized from the federal to the local level.

We don’t have state police, we do not have local government police and yet we want to confront the security challenge. How do you know who is a criminal within your community when you don’t know the people that live in that community. I think we have to amend the constitution to reflect the aspirations of our people at the grass root.

Let the grass root police themselves. Let the state and local government create security outfit and more importantly, this issue of federalism has to be given its true position. Until this fundamental error is corrected, we will continue to grapple with this. Unfortunately this government does not seem to be committed to the issue of state police.

The issue of Toll gate on the Lekki road in Lagos has generated a lot of controversy recently culminating in a demonstration by some people. Why do you think the project is so hated by the people? Was there enough consultation by the A.C.N government before embarking on the project?

There was widespread consultation before the decision was taken on the project. I am a stakeholder so I know. The Epe express road is the route to my constituency. Our prayer is that we want the road to extend to the border between Lagos and Ogun state. The people that are opposed to the toll gate are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party. They are playing politics.

As far as I am concerned, those people making noise about the toll gate are ill informed. Anywhere in the world where you have good roads you must pay for it. We in Epe and Lekki are ready to pay tolls. It is only some people in Eti Osa that have been making noise. We want that road and we are ready to pay tolls on it.