Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Mr. John Enoh, in this interview with FISAYO FALODI, says recent political developments have proved that Nigeria is not heading for a one-party state
What is your view on the spate of defection in the country, especially with the report that six members of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State House of Assembly have defected to PDP?
I wish it was not happening, but the hope is that as we keep on running this democracy and we sustain it for a long time, it will get to a point that defection won’t happen anymore. I think our party system doesn’t seem to be as strong compared to other world democracies. If you go to the United States, some people were born into the Republican Party while others were born into the Democratic Party. In such a situation, it will become odd to find someone leaving one party to another. But in fairness to our system, it doesn’t appear to be any serious difference between the ruling and the opposition parties. We still seem to belong to parties as a platform to get to power. It is going to get to a time that this will change.
Don’t you think that the persistent defection of Nigeria’s politicians to the ruling party will amount to the country drifting to a one-party state?
I don’t think it will. If anybody ever thought we are drifting to a one-party state, what has happened in the last couple of months with the opposition parties being able to come together should have allayed the fears. With a number of governors belonging to the two major political parties in the country, that should show that the country is not heading for a one-party system.
You and the Senate Leader, Ndoma-Egba are from the same Cross River State Central Senatorial District, how has your relationship with him been?
We have good relationship. For many years, Ndoma-Egba is the Chairman of the Cross River State National Assembly caucus and I am the secretary. I wanted to contest for the Central Senatorial seat in 2011, but Governor Imoke lifted Ndoma-Egba’s hand up to run for a third term and the governor was booed by the people.
Why?
Because people are tired of Ndoma-Egba; they did not want him. He has gone to the Senate three times. It is the governor who actually insisted that people should support him.
What do you plan to do if elected a senator?
For a lawmaker, you have to do basically three things -lawmaking, oversight and representation. You must carry the people along especially in Nigeria’s type of democracy and the kind of development that we have among our people. You must carry them along. You can go and stay in Abuja; you can speak all the grammar but it has no direct bearing on the people in terms of their expectations from you. So, you must sacrifice for the people who elected you. There were some intervention programmes that I did in the state House of Assembly, without knowing that I would spend a long period in office. When I finished my first four years in the House of Assembly, there was no community I didn’t do one little thing for. Every year, I have an intervention programme. I have continued to sustain them because the people are too poor to be ignored. Majority of them are just looking for an opportunity to be heard; they want somebody who can talk to them and who can give them hope.
At what point did you make up your mind to contest the Senatorial seat?
When I announced my campaign in 2011, I made up my mind that I was not going to run for the present seat anymore because of the peculiarity of my constituency. I represent two local governments and the other local government is three times bigger than the area I come from. Somehow, because of the connection with the people that I represent, I have continued to be elected. I am sure that if I go back to the people for a third term, I won’t have problem getting the people’s support. But for 16 years, the other local government has not produced a member of the House of Representatives. Because I have not decided to go into the House, about 17 people are jostling to become the representative. Second, I got people who said they wanted me to run for the Senate but I said not yet because I had just been re-elected and that they should give me the next three years so that I could weigh my options and be sure that I was ready to take that additional responsibility.
Is Governor Liyel Imoke disposed to your aspiration?
The governor is not running and I am sure it is unusual. In a system where every second term governor wants to return to the Senate, Governor Imoke has told everyone that he won’t run. He said he had gone to the Senate before and he had been elected governor for two terms. So, he is now concerned with the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Will you defect to another party if you don’t get the Peoples Democratic Party ticket at the primary because you want to serve your people?
It will depend on why I don’t get the ticket and I want to see why I will not get it. Are you going to ignore the wish of the majority of the people and impose somebody on them? Nigeria’s democracy is developing; it is changing. Nobody knows the demands of the next general elections, so everybody is careful.
What is your view on the spate of defection in the country, especially with the report that six members of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State House of Assembly have defected to PDP?
I wish it was not happening, but the hope is that as we keep on running this democracy and we sustain it for a long time, it will get to a point that defection won’t happen anymore. I think our party system doesn’t seem to be as strong compared to other world democracies. If you go to the United States, some people were born into the Republican Party while others were born into the Democratic Party. In such a situation, it will become odd to find someone leaving one party to another. But in fairness to our system, it doesn’t appear to be any serious difference between the ruling and the opposition parties. We still seem to belong to parties as a platform to get to power. It is going to get to a time that this will change.
Don’t you think that the persistent defection of Nigeria’s politicians to the ruling party will amount to the country drifting to a one-party state?
I don’t think it will. If anybody ever thought we are drifting to a one-party state, what has happened in the last couple of months with the opposition parties being able to come together should have allayed the fears. With a number of governors belonging to the two major political parties in the country, that should show that the country is not heading for a one-party system.
You and the Senate Leader, Ndoma-Egba are from the same Cross River State Central Senatorial District, how has your relationship with him been?
We have good relationship. For many years, Ndoma-Egba is the Chairman of the Cross River State National Assembly caucus and I am the secretary. I wanted to contest for the Central Senatorial seat in 2011, but Governor Imoke lifted Ndoma-Egba’s hand up to run for a third term and the governor was booed by the people.
Why?
Because people are tired of Ndoma-Egba; they did not want him. He has gone to the Senate three times. It is the governor who actually insisted that people should support him.
What do you plan to do if elected a senator?
For a lawmaker, you have to do basically three things -lawmaking, oversight and representation. You must carry the people along especially in Nigeria’s type of democracy and the kind of development that we have among our people. You must carry them along. You can go and stay in Abuja; you can speak all the grammar but it has no direct bearing on the people in terms of their expectations from you. So, you must sacrifice for the people who elected you. There were some intervention programmes that I did in the state House of Assembly, without knowing that I would spend a long period in office. When I finished my first four years in the House of Assembly, there was no community I didn’t do one little thing for. Every year, I have an intervention programme. I have continued to sustain them because the people are too poor to be ignored. Majority of them are just looking for an opportunity to be heard; they want somebody who can talk to them and who can give them hope.
At what point did you make up your mind to contest the Senatorial seat?
When I announced my campaign in 2011, I made up my mind that I was not going to run for the present seat anymore because of the peculiarity of my constituency. I represent two local governments and the other local government is three times bigger than the area I come from. Somehow, because of the connection with the people that I represent, I have continued to be elected. I am sure that if I go back to the people for a third term, I won’t have problem getting the people’s support. But for 16 years, the other local government has not produced a member of the House of Representatives. Because I have not decided to go into the House, about 17 people are jostling to become the representative. Second, I got people who said they wanted me to run for the Senate but I said not yet because I had just been re-elected and that they should give me the next three years so that I could weigh my options and be sure that I was ready to take that additional responsibility.
Is Governor Liyel Imoke disposed to your aspiration?
The governor is not running and I am sure it is unusual. In a system where every second term governor wants to return to the Senate, Governor Imoke has told everyone that he won’t run. He said he had gone to the Senate before and he had been elected governor for two terms. So, he is now concerned with the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Will you defect to another party if you don’t get the Peoples Democratic Party ticket at the primary because you want to serve your people?
It will depend on why I don’t get the ticket and I want to see why I will not get it. Are you going to ignore the wish of the majority of the people and impose somebody on them? Nigeria’s democracy is developing; it is changing. Nobody knows the demands of the next general elections, so everybody is careful.
No comments:
Post a Comment