Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, is a leading candidate for the office of Speaker of the 9th House. In this interview with the New Telegraph, he speaks on his candidature, the recently concluded elections and the Atiku factor in Adamawa politics.
You are the representative of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the House. How were you able to win re-election under the APC?
It is true that I am representing Ganye/Mayo Belwa/Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State, where Alhaji Atiku Abubakar hails from. I did my best. When I was elected in 2015, I realised that the only way you can go back to your people is to attract quality projects and identify critical needs of the people. So, I got to work to deliver on the mandate given me by my constituents and I sponsored a lot of motions that directly touched the lives of the people of my area. Specifically, I moved the motion for the reconstruction of Mayo-Belwa road. The motion was passed by the House and consequently, about N22.7 billion was released and as I speak with you, work is ongoing on the road. I thank the Federal Government for taking up the road project. So, what I have been able to do has defined the kind of relationship I have with the people of my constituency. But when election came, in the entire southern senatorial zone, I was the only person that won election on the platform of the APC, because PDP cleared all the seats there. So, I really thank my people for the confidence they have in me and I see it as an opportunity to work even harder and attract more projects to my constituency. And it is part of the reason why I seek a higher office of Speaker to further attract more projects and development to my constituency and Nigeria at large.
Many people believe that you had a very close relationship with Atiku Abubakar and you decided to remain in APC after he defected to the PDP. How were you able to manage this relationship?
Well, you see there is no genuine politician or democrat in Adamawa who has not had one thing or the other to do with the former Vice President, AtikuAbubakar. I worked very closely with the PDP candidate at the state level and I was the Director General of his campaign in 2014. But when he left the party (APC) and now that I am here in the House of Representatives, I realised that politics is local because he was contesting for president of the nation, while I was seeking to return to the National Assembly. And the executive (Federal Government) had done so well for us and given that my people appreciated their efforts, I had no reason to leave the APC. But I still have respect for the former Vice President, and I also value the impact of the Federal Government is making in my constituency.
A few days ago, you declared your intention to contest for Speaker of the House of Representatives. Why do you want to lead the House?
I believe it is time for the younger generation to also hold critical positions in this nation because they have a lot of ideas to share. I also realised that the National Assembly is very critical to the development of this nation and we need to forge a cordial relationship with the executive for sustainable development. We, therefore, need people who can uphold the principle of checks and balances and who are at home with parliamentary practices; because the legislature operates in accordance with laid down rules. And you need someone with the temperament to lead people effectively. As spokesman of the House since 2015, I realised that the National Assembly has an image problem, which stems from the perception of the people. I tried in my own way to change the perception. But I believe that as Speaker, I will be able to finally put to rest the negative perception. When you want to change a perception, you invest in the media’ and being a journalists who has practised and also manage the image of the House, I am in a better stead to lead the House. Sometimes, when lawmakers go out on their legislative functions, they are given names by the people. We therefore need a Speaker that has what it takes to change this negative perception and bring the people to be on the same page with the legislature. I am offering myself for the position of Speaker because the 9th Assembly deserves the best of leadership. I am convinced and I believe you are aware that I possess the necessary legislative and personal credentials to effectively lead the House to enviable heights. But most importantly, I have a charter with the people, tagged ‘New Legislative Charter’ and the essence is to advance the cause of our society and nation. The New Legislative Charter is our contract with the Nigerian people; this is a contract that will be driven by good laws and ethical legislative practices. I am desirous to enter into a contract with the Nigerian people for the good of the nation. And with the charter, I want to incorporate the Legislative Agenda of the 8th House. I believe that I possess the required pedigree to move this House to the next level. I have the pan-Nigerian attitude and that is the kind of Speaker we need now.
The Legislative and Executive are always at loggerheads especially in the outgoing 8th Assembly. How do you intend to resolve this if you’re elected Speaker?
One advantage we have is that the APC has an overwhelming majority in both chambers and we hope to leverage on this to put to rest the rancorous relationship between the two arms of government. But most importantly, I will make the Executive to imbibe the spirit of lobbying and eschew use of coercion or force. There are certain things the Executive should avoid doing to the legislature because even as father, when you have a grown up child, you train and advise him cautiously. So, we intend to build a mutual relationship that is anchored on respect and trust with the Executive. The good thing is that we are in the majority and the APC is also the ruling party. So, if the Executive wants anything from us, they should employ lobbying and we will reason together. We will be having constant caucuses meetings and consultations to discuss critical matters. Again, we will not take the opposition for granted because we need them for progressive governance. We also have to streamline our legislative oversight. We will train lawmakers on how best to engage the executive during oversight so that unnecessary clashes between the executive and legislature would be minimised.
The APC has zoned the position of Senate President to the North-East and specifically allocated it to Senator Ahmed Lawan; don’t you think this will affect your chances having come from the same geopolitical zone?
For now, I am not yet aware about the zoning arrangement. We have not been told this is where the Speaker of the House should come from. But I have heard that the Senate President is for the North-East and if that is true, it means the chances of the North-East are brighter. There is nothing wrong with us contesting for these positions provided we have the capacity to deliver. I am very sure, Senator Ahmed Lawan will not contest alone, he may definitely have a challenger and of course you are aware that there are very many contestants for the position of Speaker; so, I will also be contesting against other candidates. However, these are elective positions and not appointive positions. So if our colleagues decide that we are the people they want, there will be no problem. This is democracy and we are all free to exercise our rights if we so desire.
Some of the people vying for the position of Speaker have spent more years than you in the House. Don’t you feel intimidated considering the fact that you will be coming in as a second timer?
The most important thing is whether I have the capacity to do the job of Speaker. At least, I have legislative experience of four years and remember we had a Speaker who had no experience in 1999. Salisu Buhari was Speaker at his first election and if not for the issues and scandal that ensued after his election, he was doing well. So, why should a second timer like me, who has been speaking for the House be intimidated by other lawmakers? I have been around and I know how the parliament operates. Besides, as speaker, I will be working with other experienced colleagues, so there won’t be any problem at all.
In 2015, the APC was enmeshed in crisis as a result of the emergence of the leadership of National Assembly. Already, some analysts are predicting a similar scenario this time around. With the way the APC is going about this, don’t you think it will not run into trouble with the opposition again?
We have taken steps at the level of the party to prevent the reoccurrence of the issues that caused the disagreement in 2015. And we have told the leadership of the party to treat us fairly and equitably. We are not oblivious of the fact that the party is the platform that brought us to the parliament, so it is a relationship between the father and the son. The party should treat us as partners in the interest of the nation. But as politicians, we have to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship. I have lost election before and I have also won election, so we must eschew the idea of do-or-die affair politics. But what we want from leaders is fairness. Once we are fairly treated, there will be no problem.
Some of the lawmakers contesting for Speaker have been endorsed by certain individuals or groups; which groups do you belong to? Have you been endorsed by anybody or caucus?
I am an independent candidate; I am not aligned and nobody is sponsoring me. Besides, I do not have the money to throw around but I’m doing this with the support of colleagues who believe in me and have confidence that I can deliver. I am the candidate of the Nigerian people; I stand for my capabilities and personality. I think we should start looking at the track record of candidates and drop other factors. We should look out for lawmakers that have the credentials and capacity to deliver. I believe for us to get to that destination where Nigeria ought to be, we must start thinking progressively and not retrogressively. However, at the end of the day, our colleagues will decide who they want because we are here together and we know who is who. I know one of the fears has been the issue of confrontation between the executive and the legislature. But people should not expect us to be rubber stamped legislators or leaders. The constitution has clearly made provision for checks and balances and independence of the three arms of government. My leadership will however be defined by logical and positive arguments; we will not be confrontational or quarrelsome but we will engage the executive on cogent issues; issues that will advance the cause of the common Nigerians. We will never be selfish in our approach to matters that come from the executive, and we will not disagree for the sake of disagreeing but we will encourage robust engagement with other arms of government.
The 2019 general elections were marked by inconclusiveness; some have blamed this on the National Assembly. How do we end this gale of inconclusive elections?
I think the National Assembly should not be blamed for the problems encountered in this year’s elections. If the Electoral Act was signed into law, most of the problems we are complaining about would have been settled. I want to say that if I become speaker, we would review the entire Electoral Act because we have staggered elections beginning from late 2019 and if we don’t correct some of these anomalies, we will have a long to go in terms of conducting credible elections. My leadership will work closely with the Executive to address these knotty issues. But most importantly, we the politicians must change our attitude; we must desist from undermining the electoral process. How can you blame INEC when politicians engage in vote buying or employment of thugs to disrupt elections? So, if we do not change, no matter the amount of amendment to the Electoral Act, we will just be going round a vicious circle.
Another issue that Nigerians have frowned at regarding the conduct of lawmakers is constituency projects. How do we get it right?
The problem of constituency projects is not just the Legislature but also with the Executive because when monies are appropriated but not released, what do you expect to be the outcome? Go and search the records, since I came here no constituency budget has been fully implemented due to lack of funding. That is why we have abandoned constituency projects across the country.
Your party, the APC came with ‘Change’ in 2015, now it is Next Level? What kind of next level are we expecting from you?
The Next Level is good governance and purposeful leadership. We hope that in the next level, the executive would submit budgets on time, and we will also pass it in record time to create an enabling environment for full implementation of budgets to touch the lives of Nigerians. It is a period to consolidate and make amends where we made mistakes. In the next level, the three arms of government would need to work together.
As you await the inauguration of the 9th Assembly, What message do you have for your colleagues?
I would advise all lawmakers both returning and those elected for the first time to conduct themselves with integrity. They should attend plenary and participate actively in all legislative activities. So, we must not be part of those who only come to mark the register and go loiter or engage in their private businesses at the expense of the larger interest of the society. We must justify the money the state is expending on us.
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