Chairman, Committee on Communication in the House of Representatives, Honourable Benjamin Okezie Kalu speaks with KEHINDE AKINTOLA on his aspiration for the position of Speaker in the 10th Assembly, interest of the South-East in the leadership of both the Senate and the House in the next political dispensation.
Speculation is rife that you keen on occupying the seat of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The speculations out there as regards whether or not I have shown interest in the contest for the speakership of the 10th Assembly is true. The question on whether it is true that I have the intention to contest is yes, I’m interested in the position. I’m interested in running for the position of the speaker of the 10th Assembly. There are reasons that motivated my interest and I’m sure in the course of this engagement, I will be able to give some of those reasons why I should be up there to lead the House to prosperity, to progress to lead the nation to unity and peace as Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives.
Your kinsman, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu is eyeing the Senate Presidency. So, some people argue that your speakership ambition will not jeopardise his own aspiration?
The legislature we have in Nigeria is bicameral We have the House of Representatives and we have the Senate. The question is: is he qualified to run for the office he’s aspiring to occupy? The answer is yes. And the question is: is Benjamin Okezie Kalu qualified to run for the position of Speaker of the 10th House of Representatives, the answer is yes. Definitely, I don’t think there is going to be any conflict because he’s fully qualified to run for the president of the Senate, just like I’m fully qualfied by the house rules to run for the speakership of 10th Assembly. My people usually say a good hunter goes hunting with more than one arrow or spear so that if he misses a target with one, definitely he will make use of the second to be able to get the target. And if the question is whether I’m qualified to run for this position, I don’t think my qualification or my aspiration or ambition will impede his own aspiration. Neither do I think his will impede mine, the reasons being that we are both competent to lead the legislature. Let me also mention that though the zone I come from is not the only reason I’m interested in the speakership of the House, it is true that for 40 years, the Southeastern region has not occupied that position. The last time that position was occupied by people from the Southeastern region was during the reign and full tenure of Right Honourable Edwin Ume-Ezeoke. That was from 1979 to 1983; from 1983 to date, we are talking about 40 years of my people not being on that seat. Is it we don’t have competent people? Is it that we don’t have the capacity to be there? It is high time we introduced our capacities to Nigerians, our competence to Nigerians. Forty years is long enough for us to hold the gavel for the House of Representatives. We know we will do well when we occupy that position because of what we are thinking of bringing on board that strengthens our democracy.
Your party struggled to get 25 percent votes in the presidential and other elections from the South-East, don’t you think see this as a major obstacle to your bid for speakership?
I think what Nigerians are looking for is not just the 360 people that will cast these votes. Those 360 people are holding the mandate of more than 200 million people. So, whatever you see happen that day is a reflection of the desire of Nigerians. The question should be: what is it that Nigerians are looking for at the moment? It’s not really about just an isolated case of regional interest. It’s what are Nigerians looking for at the moment and I can assure you what Nigerians are looking for at the moment is how to increase our cohesion and to increase our national loyalty. The question are: how do we help Nigeria achieve this cohesion, this national unity this inclusiveness this politics that will bring everybody together for the purpose of achieving prosperity for the nation? How do we give a sense of belonging to each of the geopolitical zones? But beyond looking at region, Nigerians should be asking for is and what I believe Nigerians are asking from the legislature is: who is that Speaker that will come on board and sustain Speaker impartiality that we have enjoyed in the 9th Assembly? That is what Nigerians are asking; the person that will not be sentimental with the gavel; the person that will not be moved emotionally by the gavel, lured by the beliefs in your religion or your region, or your language, your tongue or your tribe. Nigerians need an impartial Speaker that will continue the impartiality introduced by the current Speaker. Nigerians are looking for a legislature that will be led by a Speaker that understands that though we are diverse, it’s not an impediment. We need a sensitive person to add to that diversity so that he would give everybody that sense of belonging.
Nigerians are looking for a Speaker that will increase what I call parliamentary sovereignty; where the motions, the resolutions and independence of the arm of government will be showcased better than that of the 9th Assembly. We need somebody that will take the baton and sustain that independence. Many people say rubberstamp but, we have always consciously monitored the borderline in the way we sustain this rancour-free relationship with the executive, understanding the doctrine of separation of power, knowing the borderline between what is expected by the mandate of our arm of government, constitutionally speaking and where the mandate of the executive starts.
So, Nigerians are looking for parliamentary sovereignty. Nigerians are looking for the Speaker that will increase institutional trust. You and I will agree that the coming of the legislature appears like a strange arm of government when Nigerians had been used to the military rule – the executive and the judiciary. The issue becomes, who is that man that will increase the credibility, the capacity, the knowledge base Legislative intervention that would gladden the hearts of Nigerians to begin to understand that really this is the fulcrum of our democracy.
Could you expatiate what you mean by institutional trust? How key is it?
The institutional trust is key in the minds of Nigerians and I’m a Nigerian as well, so I know what all of us are looking for. Who is coming to sustain what has been done by these builders? And I think Nigerians are also looking at how we are going to have a Speaker that would look at balancing the various inequalities, especially as it concerns participatory inequality during plenary. I say so because the voice of a constituency heard during plenary is a problem solved for that constituency. We would trickle the dividends of democracy down to their constituencies when the voice of members are heard equally in the house. Also, Nigerians are interested in a Speaker that will try to sustain the non-exclusionary, non-discriminationary parliamentary infrastructure policy. We want it to be on a balanced space to enable us represent our people equally.
We are looking for a person that is gender-sensitive so that when you balance the inequality it will be that old members will hold the hands of the new members and show them how they can benefit from this experience. Nigerians are looking for those who will come on board and begin to look at ways to increase the participation of women.
What are those areas you think you can give fillip to if elected Speaker?
There are certain things in the constitutional review, some of which were dropped, that should be looked at. One of them is the women bills. It is a Speaker that is gender-sensitive that will reopen that space and begin to see reasons why the bills did not pass Laws around the economy, economic growth, job creation, poverty reduction, insecurity and healthcare and environmental sustainability are some of the things that the Speaker that is coming on board should be equipped to be able to deliver and I know Benjamin Okezie Kalu is equipped to represent 365 members of the House of Representatives for four years. We have to make sure that the image of the National Assembly is not lower when we are leaving.
We have tried our best to ensure a good relationship at the constituency level, at membership level, between members and arms of government as well as the vertical relationship with the executive. We have kept our image through public engagement; we have always listened to the yearnings of Nigerians as it pertains to transparency and opened up the space. If we have done that well, I can assure you that we will be able to lead knowing where it hurts members most and knowing what the yearnings of Nigerians are. So, I’m qualified and I’m ready, I’ve been prepared to lead and I can assure you beyond the sentiment of region I have the credibility, the competence to be able to mount that position and give Nigerians a fresh perspective to leadership. Demography between the young and the old benefits Benjamin Okezie Kalu. I am in-between the young and the old order. The youths need to see the face of fellow young people in national leadership. If we have made the law that says not too young to run, this is the time to practicalise it. I am young; I’m energetic; the youths are standing beside me as my constituency and we want to be part of the leadership of this country.
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