By Wole Mosadomi

Between 2007 and 2015 (eight years) when Dr. Muazu Babangida held sway, as Niger State governor, seven lawmakers served as Speakers of the state House of Assembly. But the one whose case is most intriguing is Alhaji Idris Ndako Kpaki, who was in office for only three days.
Kpaki, who is the immediate past Secretary to Niger State Government (SSG), tells his story.

What motivated you  to go into politics.

Actually, my late uncle, who was deputy governor in the state and also Minister of State, Ministry of Internal Affairs,  Alhaji Idris Alhassan Kpaki, lured me into politics and, since I picked

interest in politics, I have been making sure that things are organized in a democratic way. In my village, I established an association which, till today is the only standing association of my age group and that is where I further developed interest. Before then, I had played politics during my higher education days while also participating in INEC works since 1978

For someone who had been involved in politics from the grassroots and risen to where you are today, do you think those at the helm of affairs especially, at the local government level, are the right people?

Actually, some people have the syndrome of big man. But in my own case, after obtaining my master’s degree in 1996 and was already pursuing my Ph.D, I went for the council chairman position because  I never saw it as a small job. I believe that if you really want to serve the people or play politics, the best thing is to start from the grassroots.  My thinking is that we should make the House of Assembly or local government council not available for those who do not have at least a degree so that we know it is for highly productive people. For example, if you look at the caretaker chairmen we appointed before we left office in the state, you will discover that all of them were graduates. Politicians should start to realize now that if they cannot serve at the local government level because of

their qualifications, then they may have no place to serve at all because there are turnovers   of graduates and master degree holders all over the place.

During your days as local government chairman, there was nothing like joint local government account, but now, there is in most states. Do you think joint account is the best?

*Alhaji Idris Ndako Kpaki

First of all, joint account has been badly misinterpreted. Joint account actually started in our period – 2003. To me, the joint account is okay. For example in Niger State, if the joint account had not been in existence, some local governments would have folded up because they will not be able to pay even their salaries based on what is accruing to them from the Federation Account. The essence of the joint account was to bring all the money accruing to local governments from the Federation Account, add  10% of the revenue generated monthly by the state and then redistribute based on needs of each council. I think it is a welcome development because if the councils are left on their own, many of them, wouldn’t have been able to pay salaries. The idea is not to siphon or divert money of the local governments but to give room for even development in all the councils inspite their economic status.

 If the history of Niger State House of Assembly is written, do you see yourself being addressed as Speaker, going by the crisis that engulfed the House some years back that brought you as Speaker for only three days?

Of course, I see myself as once a Speaker because I was sworn-in and I presided over the House and adjourned for eight days before the tide turned. Again, that was a case of interpretation because my being there led to misinterpretation by people and I was portrayed as a traitor, but, today, I am happy because all those things have turned out to be positive for me. God did that to announce my arrival into a political landscape and, going by the appointment given to me in 2011, two years after that crisis, I was not guilty whatsoever of the allegation of being a traitor. I thank God for that opportunity because there are so many ways God can use to announce you, including that very painful process which I passed through.  For the first 24-48hours after my exit as Speaker, I felt so bad but believe me sincerely, God came out in another form and vindicated me. I voluntarily quit the position of Speaker in order to give peace a chance: I tendered my letter of resignation, and because of this singular act, the the Governor Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu saw a different person in me and had more respect and confidence in me; that later led me to becoming a commissioner and later SSG under the leadership of Aliyu.

But don’t you see the involvement of the executive in the affairs of the House that eventually led to your resignation as interference?

I don’t think so because most of those things had nothing   to do with the official functions of the two arms of government because most of the people responsible for the lies were part of the legislature. It was not the executive.

I was in my house when I was confronted with the fact that 18 of the 27 lawmakers had signed document to impeach the then Speaker and that the next Speaker was me, but I told them that I was not interested. In fact, I had excused myself from the sitting in the House of Assembly that day for another engagement and they insisted that I should not turn their request down. I told them that I would not be involved in the sack of the Speaker because he had not done anything to me but they insisted.

I conceded especially since those who were very close to me and who had respect for me in the House had already endorsed the document and that was how I was dragged to the House and sworn-in as the Speaker.

Didn’t you see that there was no stability in the House having changed Speaker for more than two or three times?

My appointment as Speaker led to the end of the crisis because, after I voluntarily resigned, I was consulted on who was going to take over and I suggested that who ever was going to be the Speaker should be among the   19 that signed to remove the former Speaker and not among the eight who did  not sign and that is why Alhaji Maali, who is the present state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) became the third Speaker in the 6th legislature and everything went on smoothly after   him.

 You were part of the Aliyu government for years. How do you rate the performance of the government?

I rate our administration high because it was the first government that took the opinions of the people into consideration before executing projects.  And most of the projects were based on the thinking of the people down there and that was what gave room to this ward development projects and some other key major programmes that we worked on.

The Jamaa Forum (Peoples Forum) was an opportunity for the governor and his cabinet members to meet with people and interact with them, know their problems and solve those

that could be solved instantly.

All the ideas we implemented were products of what was discussed and submitted through the forum’s visits from all the 25 local government councils.