By Gabriel Enogholase

SENATOR Matthew Urhoghide, who represents Edo South Senatorial Zone in the Senate, in this interview spoke on the Senate report on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachair Lawal, Acting EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, the multiple Foreign Exchange rates in the country and why the National Assembly is keen on amending the 1999 Constitution among others issues.

What aspects of the Constitution is the National Assembly looking at amending?

One of such is the aspect where the head of one of the three arms of government will decide the appointment of another arm of government such as the judiciary. It is one of the shortcomings of the 1999 Constitution. You will find out that some provisions (of the 1999 Constitution) have contradictory effects when it comes to implementation. That is the fight you witnessed between the executive and the legislature when it was time for the legislature to decide its leadership. Up till today, the legislature is still trying to wean itself and wriggle itself from the stranglehold of the executive. These are just some of the aspects of the 1999 Constitution that we hope to look at.

Urhoghide

What will the Senate do if the President refuses to remove the SGF? Is it an impeachable offence?

The matter is in the public domain and Nigerians now know that the fight against corruption is selective. Yes, for Mr President to condone it, he breaches his oath of office.

What about Magu?

Coming to that of Magu, his case is very clear. The President nominated Magu for confirmation but the security report about him did not come. Off course anyone that will come to such office, particularly the chief corruption fighter in the country, must be screened and be above board. The Senate is not saying Magu is corrupt or not. The Director of the DSS wrote a security report about Magu and four other nominees that were sent to the Senate. The other four nominees were cleared because the report that came from the DSS said that they do not have anything against them. The report is a five-page and 15-paragraph document. We had agreed to screen them during plenary but we had to look at the security report about him.

In the security report, Magu was indicted. Questions were raised about his lifestyle. It was said that he pays N140 million a year for his house. He was tied to a businessman, whose background checks were really not satisfactory. He flies first class within and outside the country and that he was involved in some fraudulent activities when Farida Waziri was the head of the EFCC.

It was also stated that he was sent out of the EFCC back to the police at about this time. The report also stated that it was the former head of the EFCC, Lamorde, that brought him back. These are facts contained in that letter.

One may ask if Mr President was aware of this report before nominating Magu. Off course, you know that the Director General of the DSS reports directly to Mr President and the NSA. The NSA also reports directly to Mr President. Did the NSA not inform Mr President about the report? So, we decided that if all these people cannot inform Mr President, we will report to Mr President ourselves.

We were expecting Mr President to say, ‘Don’t mind the DG of the DSS; what he has written is not true’ or say, ‘I have found out what he wrote is true, please I will submit another nominee.’

The issue of integrity that the DSS raised was important but Nigerians were just busy castigating us, saying that we took it personal because Magu was fighting corruption. Unfortunately, the President wrote back and nominated Magu again without any reference to the letters written by the DG of the DSS or the Senate. I think it is either somebody is doing good by telling Nigerians the truth or someone is doing mischief between the DG of the DSS, the EFCC or the Presidency.

On the SGF, Mr President in his letter to the Senate said three people out of the nine committee members signed the report. First and foremost, Mr President ought not to bother about our procedure. Is it not one third that forms quorum of standing or ad hoc committees? Senator Shehu Sani was the chairman of the committee, but they didn’t even mention his name in the report that was sent to the Senate because of their own personal reasons.

They couldn’t even hide their odium and dislike for him. Either way you look at it, Mr President has not looked at the issues dispassionately.

Do you think Mr President has low opinion of lawmakers or he doesn’t believe in that arm of government?

At times, one is forced to question the democratic credentials of Mr President. Let us first ask, are you a repository of knowledge? No. Has he really fathomed the importance and relevance of the legislative arm of government? The difference between a military government and a civilian one is the legislative arm of government. Anybody saying one seat should be removed from the National Assembly or that the Senate or the House of Representatives should be scrapped should have a rethink.

How many of these people making these demands understand the working of the Senate or the House of Representatives. They have painted us black and described us as corrupt. This is really unfair. That is why I took exception to what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that the Senate is corrupt.

I challenged President Buhari to mention any senator who has ever asked him for money for whatsoever reason. He (Buhari) has been bringing names to the Senate for confirmation. Has he ever brought money along with the names? The same Obasanjo, who said that the National Assembly was corrupt, was the same person who gave out N50 million to lawmakers to have his tenure extended. If the National Assembly is corrupt, Obasanjo corrupted it.

Has there been a resolution between the executive and the legislature about the constituency fund?

As far as we know, they said after December 2016, they will release 50 per cent of constituency fund. We are now in February. We have up till March ending for the execution of capital projects which constituency projects largely are. So, if we are saying that they are not serious or honest about it that is not enough reasons to drag this country back because they can tell you that they don’t have money.

The total sum of the constituency fund is N100 billion in each of the six geo-political zones of the country. It is 0.3 per cent of a total budget of N6.06 billion. When we did the calculation, my own was about N200 million that I planned to spread across the 77 wards of my constituency. I’m trying to do borehole for N2 million, not N14 million. I want to put bridge in Iyekogba community for about N10 million so that people can cross.

I don’t need N50 million to do that. I said give me N2 million, I will sink borehole but they said no, it is N20 million. I have been able to attract some NDDC road projects to my area here in Benin. I’m a member of the committee on NDDC. My senatorial zone is the only reason Edo is called a Niger Delta state. There is no NDDC project in this state that is good. I told them that I don’t need a penny but I must bring the projects to my state.

Do you have hope that your party, the PDP, will win the Edo governorship election case at the tribunal?

It was clear that the PDP was rigged out in that election. The figures that were bandied were different from what was recorded on the day of the election. As a party man, I want my party to win, but more importantly injustice must be corrected.

My party participated in that election and God in heaven saw the election. My prayer is that may the truth about that election prevail. May God help the judges so that they will be able to pronounce justice.

What is your impression of the APC government of Governor Godwin Obaseki?

Things have not changed from the time Oshiomhole was there. I can’t see any changes.