THE news of the Senators rejection of a cut in their allowances did not come as a surprise to those keen National Assembly observers. When it comes to matters concerning money, our politicians have proved themselves to be the same; their selfish interests comes first, they never yield ground.

The recent revelations concerning the activities of the past Lagos and Rivers state governments indicate that corruption does not reside in the abode of one party, the anti-corruption drive must therefore target a pot-pouri of all. Good enough,there appears to be a few good ones amongst them like Ben Murray Bruce who is been making ‘common sense’ for sometime now. But such are in a miserable minority. The question is: If the National Assembly’s budget was in the region of 15billion naira in 1999/2000 and has risen to 150billion naira at current budget estimate, how did things get to this state?

It must be noted that our legislators got the Executive arm of government to accede to their demands through various forms of subtle blackmail demands and threats. Even ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo watched idly as legislators appropriated constituency projects and allowances. Why must constituency projects be given to legislators when there are professional construction firms in abundance, coupled with governments’ public works departments that can handle these functions? If legislators execute projects, who does over sight supervisory functions of projects at the community levels? No wonder, there are a deluge of abandoned and sub standard projects across the country. This is the contradiction we are faced with as a nation. We cannot move ahead this way. Our legislators have become so used to enjoying their spoils of office and would stop at nothing to resist cuts in their allowances. But, can we make them back down for a cost reduction, inspite of their stiff resistance?

I believe it can be done, but we have to look at what gave birth to this attitude of primitive wealth accumulation in the first place and to trace our journey back to 1999, when the new democratic dispensation took off. What factors have made these ordinarily hard working and supposed honourables join the gang up in the despoliation of our economy? If the causes are identified, the solution to the problems is just round the corner. In addition to the above, we must go back to what used to be done before the coming of the present political dispensation; what body was responsible for maintenance of government projects? What body was responsible for community projects? Which body supervised dispensation of cash to the legislators? How frequently were House members’ trip abroad? Were monies given to legislators subject to controls in the form of returns of expenses? How open was the National Assembly’s account to public scrutiny? These are the questions that we require answers to.

Also to note is the extent to which the National Assembly can exert pressure on the Executive, because, we have observed since 1999, that the House is not favourably disposed towards granting the executive’s request without a reciprocal gesture that will be to their own benefit. There were many instances under President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan and when it comes down to this, the House members are united across party lines.

So, what gave birth to this insatiable craze for money and power? The answer is in the manner we conduct our politics, right from the grassroots to the federal level. There is always somebody to settle or bribe; the party godfathers, party executives, and the  gullible electorate. Nobody gets elected without heavy monetary investments and as soon as they get into positions, recouping the investments becomes their immediate priority. Some even go as far as collecting loans to prosecute election. Of course, when they get there, they have to pay back the loans. Secondly, because of their greed and insatiable appetite, our legislators are always on the look out for bigger positions, the higher the position, the more the demands financially. This was what affected Farouk Lawan’s House committee probe of the oil subsidy regime. Not the least is the absence of a firm and clean Executive to checkmate the excesses of the legislators. The executives of the Obasanjo and Jonathan eras were heavily compromised and so, were in no position to demand for equity and therefore the legislators followed suit and got away with their loots. So we had a corrupt government through and through. Neither  the kettle nor the pot,  had the  courage to bring the other to justice.

Now that we have a government that has integrity as its mantra, will they be able to ask the legislators to strictly face their legislative assignments and allow the executive to do the implementation? Stop foreign training/seminars unless they are able to sponsor themselves? Allow the executive to execute community projects while the legislators carry out their over sight functions as should be? Be strict with campaign expenses that breed corruption? Impose strict budget and budgetary controls for all Assembly members and staff?  The staff is prone to wasteful spending because of the attitude of the politicians. Will the executive be able to stop the House members from going to government organisations and agencies to ‘extort’ money? Will they be able to stop the House from inflating annual budgets when it gets to them? Will they be able to cut the unnecessary and over bloated allowances that the House is now used to?

Now that we have a president that has not been tainted by corruption- so to speak- will he be willing to relate with the National Assembly with integrity and openness, so that there will be no need for crooked paths to the passage of our laws?

These are the questions President Buhari must address or find answers to.

*Mr. Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.