Why FOI bill passage suffered setback

Babatunde Fashola

Hon. Oluyemi Taiwo represents Ido/Ibarapa East federal constituency in the House of Representatives. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Niyi Adebimpe, he speaks on raging national issues including reasons the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill suffered setback in the House. Excerpts:

There was a report that some members of the House planned to impeach the speaker because he was too frugal with regards to monetary matter. Could this not be a signal of another crisis?
We can not wish that away, in a situation whereby the members of the House are 360, there is no how you will be a leader of such group and satisfy everybody in the House, there is abound to be dissenting voices here and there and I believe it’s part of working in the House.

Since the present House leadership came on board, it has planned to do a kind of re-organisation as regards the committee issues. Naturally, some people will feel threatened; others will feel agitated; you don’t expect less than what is happening in the House presently. This issue is an internal crisis which can be resolved amicably.

How do you see ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the past eight years of his administration, given the opportunity to score him?
The ex-president came to the saddle at the time we needed his experience most. Those that are condemning his administration are not sincere with themselves, they should be able to weigh his achievements based on what he met on ground in 1999 and where we were in 2007.

I am surprised that this condemnation is coming from the South-West where the ex-president comes from. You will not see a Northerner condemning their leaders. Those that are condemning Obasanjo are not saints, and they cannot even perform up to that of Obasanjo if given the opportunity.

I would say the former president did what he was capable of doing while in office; he laid foundation for democracy to thrive in the country. We should give him kudos, we should encourage him, we shall be enjoying his experience as long as God allows him to live.

What is really delaying the passage of Freedom of Information Bill, which is currently generating controversy in the House of Representatives?
The FOI bill presently with the House is a bill that, if facts and details are perfectly worked upon, will eradicate or reduce corruption. But the crux of the matter is that passing a bill in the House needs lobbying; a lot of education and that is where the problem lies.

The sponsor of the bill needs to do a lot of work to educate members of the House. You cannot just bring a bill through the back door just because you think the bill has to be passed. All the components of the bill must be circulated to all the members so as to be able to contribute meaningfully to the bill. We will not pass a bill that people would condemn us after we might have left office.

Could it be taken that ‘Ghana must go’ is exchanging hands as we seldom hear rancour between the executive and the legislature unlike in the past?
You know that every leadership has his own style of administering his programme. Ex-Speaker Ghali Naaba has his own style, he might be military in his approach. That does not mean that Honourable Bankole should take the same approach.

Executive-legislative relationship should be cordial, it should serve as check on excesses of the executive. But a situation whereby the executive always listens to our complaints, must you go on fighting them?

As one of the people who often see the president, why is it that he is so slow especially compared to his predecessor?
As I said earlier, every leader has his own style. If you say he is slow, it depends on that definition, the meaning you attach to it. The former president was a soldier, you don’t expect him to behave like the present president; the present president is a civilian to the core, he is an academician, you don’t expect him to rule the way President Obasanjo ruled.

Both of them come from different backgrounds. The president ponders over a matter thoroughly before embarking on anything; he makes sure that those who are capable of contributing toward that thing do their job. If that is what you call being slow, I believe he is trying to be thorough.

When ex-president was there, some were saying he was dictatorial; can you see Nigerians now? Let us give the present president time and allow him to do what he was elected to do.

The president has confessed at different fora that the elections that took him to the office was fraught with malpractices, and the tribunal judgement said he should continue, what do you foresee in the nearest future?
Yes, the president said it at different fora that the election that brought him to the office was full of irregularities, that was fine. As the president of the country, he knows that there is no perfect election in the world, even where we borrowed our own democracy from.

But we are coming gradually, we have just spent nine years of democratic rule, you can not expect us to do it as America is doing its own; it has spent many years in practising democracy.