Former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State, Dr Rotimi Olulana, speaks on the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, impact on the people, tax reform bills controversy and local government autonomy, in this interview with BOLA BADMUS. Excerpts:
What do you say to this power that has been given to the states across the country to generate electricity? Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, just signed an electricity bill into law, and Lagos will begin to generate electricity by itself soon.
Let us see how it is going to work out, my brother. We are praying for a solution. Isn’t it? Let us see an example; let them do something that will give us an example. What every Nigerian wants is for the government to succeed because the success of the government is a blessing to all Nigerians. Is that not what we are expecting from them? Is there any expectation from any leadership of the government other than putting things right?
The Tax Reform Bills that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has introduced have been generating controversies. Some northerners are kicking against the bills, saying that, if passed into laws, they will create more poverty for their region, contrary to the position of the Federal Government and other people that the bills are designed to make the states work to generate more VAT.
I am yet to get to the heart of the policy and what it is going to look like. But, I don’t think I need a soothsayer to tell me that a management team that is led by an accountant and a management team that is led by an administrator, and also a management team that is led by a medical professional would be different in their approach to issues. If you put an accountant in charge, I am trying to explain and I want you to understand me, I don’t need a soothsayer to come and tell me what would happen. In Nigeria today, we are led by an account professional, which is President Bola Tinubu. Don’t forget his background. He is an accountant; he started his life as an accountant and he worked with Mobil Oil, Victoria Island. I know the work of accountants; I know their brains. What is going to happen with whatever organisation that is led by an accountant is simple, and that is taxation because that is what they know. That is the grammar they understand: how to generate funds through taxation. Go to the records, that is what they read in school; that is what they were taught and that is what their expertise is on. You cannot compare an accountant to an administrator. This is because everybody has his own area of specialisation. What Tinubu specialized on is what they are trying to introduce to Nigeria. That was what he introduced in Lagos State when he was there as governor. We are talking of Internally Generated Revenue and all that.
Let’s look at the granting of financial autonomy to local government by the Supreme Court. What does it mean to you, given the trajectory of the country?
I will give Tinubu’s administration credit in that area for what the president is planning to achieve with that if Nigerians will allow this policy to work. This is because the state governors are the ones controlling the affairs of the local governments and they dictate the terms. If you look at the aftermath of the NASS procedure on this local government’s issue, you will discover that the governors were quickly running to introduce some kind of laws to counter what the Federal Government was trying to put in place. So, the government of Tinubu, to the best of my knowledge, has a very good plan in that area with that perspective. Unfortunately, the situation we are facing now is that every region has a different opinion about it, especially state governors. They want to remain the controllers of the affairs of local governments so that they can be dictating who becomes who in every local government. It is unfortunate, but we will get out of it.
But some critics claim that it is not what the country needs now, that federal and state should constitute the federating units. What is your reaction?
Local government is a good tier of government for the people at the grassroots. Local government is, in fact, more needed than the state government. This is because local governments are the ones that deal with the grassroots. They are the ones that every village and town is directly under, They know who is who in every area and it’s from there that you have the Obis, the Obas, the Emirs, and so on. The local government authorities know more about their areas. Look at the security situation in the country, local government functionaries are the people that organise some private security network that is giving opportunity to our military and the police to know the nooks and crannies of the country. Without the local government, how will you get to know all this? How do you control the running of the local people, as well as the towns and villages? So, the local government is more needed than the state governments. I support fully that there must be local government and there must be autonomy for local governments across the country.
Coupled with the agitations for local government autonomy is the clamour that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be empowered to conduct elections into local governments so that governors would no longer manipulate the process to favour their surrogates. What do you have to say on the issue?
I think our situation is wanting. What I mean by that is that we have a pathetic situation. What stops INEC from being in control of everything? It is because we don’t trust INEC; so also we don’t trust the State Independent Electoral Commissions because they are being controlled by the state governments. But it should not be so. When you say INEC, we should be talking about an independent sector, an independent group of election personnel who have nothing to do with the government. They are independent. But in our situation, it is just mouthing that claim, because there is nothing independent in INEC.
How can we make it independent?
I think there must be a law that will be so strict that will regulate those who will be appointed as INEC officials. There is a need to look into the appointments of people who go to that office, but it should not be the executive that should appoint them. Their appointments must be restricted to an independent panel of prominent Nigerians like former presidents or those who have served in the judiciary or at the highest level of the society, who should be constituted, with the Council of State being the final arbiter to ensure appointments of the INEC officials. We need learned people in the commission so that the president will not have anything to do with it. The governors will not have anything to do with INEC. The Local Government chairmen will not have anything to do with INEC, whether at the federal, state or local government level. If we can have a truly independent INEC, there will be trusted people at the helm of affairs to ensure truth and justice prevail at the INEC level.
What is your view on the demand for a people’s constitution for the country as the National Assembly is in the process of amending the 1999 Constitution?
I think what we need to do is to change our system of government. In sincerity, it is because we cannot trust one another; we don’t believe in one another; we are tribalistic in everything we do in Nigeria. It is affecting us seriously, most especially politically, economically and educationally. Let us go back to regional government; let every region be independent to do whatever they want for their area. Give more powers to the regions so that we have a premier to govern each region, then we can have a central government that is not so strong. It is as simple as that.
What is your advice to the Tinubu government on the prevailing economic situation in the country?
We should look into the situation of the fuel price first because that is the source of all the crises in the land. He needs to think properly to look into the situation and bring the price down to at least N200. I pray he succeeds because that is what the Bible taught us that we should pray for our leaders. So, I pray for him to succeed because if he succeeds, it will be a joy to every Nigerian wherever we are. I will advise him to look into a way he can bring down the price of petrol to N200 per liter. That is the only situation that can change things in the country.
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