Probes will ensure justice for Nigerians - Mark

Senator David Mark, Senate
PresidentThe President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has in the last one year presided over a largely peaceful Senate. He has somehow evaded the proverbial banana peel in the Upper Chamber. He took time out to reflect on the running of the Senate, the National Assembly and the political affairs of Nigeria during an interactive session with a select team of newsmen. He spoke on the probes embarked upon by the National Assembly, the planned constitution review exercise and other national issues. TAIWO ADISA was there. Excerpts:

Sir, what has your experience been in the last one year that you have been in the saddle as the President of the Senate?
Since I have the experience of being in the Senate before I became the Senate President, it does not appear strange to me, and it’s not as if I’m just going there starting from the beginning to learn. I believe in the last one year, the greatest thing that we have achieved in the Senate is stability. We had disagreements in some areas, we had some difficulties, but at the end of the day, we have been able to come up with a consensus and found ourselves in the same frequency. We have achieved a lot. Of course, those who came in new have also become a little more conversant now with the process of law making.

We have seen less of controversies and attempts at stepping on the proverbial banana peel, does it mean that you now know where the peel is kept in the Senate, or what is the magic?
I run a very open administration, transparent and honest in dealing with my colleagues. It is not that I always concede to what they want but they know that my stand is the one that I can defend publicly. And I had a lot of cooperation from the leadership and by extension all the Senators because, we have been very open in the administration.

How would you describe the relationship between the legislature and the executive so far?
We had some friction again, but we have been able to resolve them, we had some frictions during the budget session, we were able to resolve it, we had some frictions in some nominations and we have been able to resolve them. More recently, when we had the confirmation of the EFCC Chairman and members, not between us and the executive, not with the EFCC but a lot of people who were acting on behalf of the legislators, or those outside who wanted to get themselves involved, either to prove that they are local champions or they are fighting for their own people. You see, the problem is since we came to the Senate, our decision cannot be parochial, it cannot be based on one tribal sentiment or wanting to give the impression that the Senate President likes them or does not like them, that is not the issue. Our decision must be national, our view must be national.

But, what has been your major challenge or frustration so far?
Well, everyday in the Senate it is a challenging day and more so, to a presiding officer. It is difficult to say specifically what’s the most challenging in three hundred and sixty five days, but the fact of the matter is that every day you must go and sit down there, there is always a challenge, because you do not know what would happen on the floor, you do not know the man who is raising his hand what he is going to say, even if he discussed some issues with you before, it could be the other way round. So every day is a challenge
And what would you regard as the high point of your tenure this far?

My high point is also difficult to say, but you know the budget session we had a lot of long sitting hours, going through various figures. I would say that the budget session was one of them, the day-to-day sitting is also challenging, so far because that is where we spend more hours, many Senators, naturally would want projects put it in the budget, honourable members want their projects that would favour their constituencies in the budget and so with that level of constraint, it is actually tougher than the ordinary day.

You are often quoted as saying that your leadership of the Senate and the National Assembly was out to create an enabling environment to improve the lives of the ordinary citizens of Nigeria, how much of this has been achieved in the last one year?
We have so many bills, they are in various stages at the committees and when those bills come, it will become so clear, but every bill that we have considered so far, we have always looked at it from the perspective of the effect or impact on Nigerians who are on the street. That has been our focal point. So to what extent have we achieved this, because the bills are at various stages, you can’t see it now, but once it pass through the third reading, I think it would become more clearer.

Sir, a lot of probes are going on at the National Assembly, what do we hope to achieve through these investigations?
There are no probes as such, but there are public hearings to expose the way things were done in the past, improve the system if anything has gone wrong, we would be able to see the areas you can make amend. This is basically to find out, why things have not worked out make amendments. Eventually, there will be improvement, I know that there are all these speculations by some people who feel they are the target, others feel groups are engineering us, but as I have always said, this Senate is not going to be propelled from outside. We would do precisely justice that we can justify before Nigerians.

What legacy would you like to be remembered for as President of the Senate?
Transparency, honesty and adherence to the rule of law. More than a few Nigerians believed that most of the projects initiated by successive administrations were not executed because the legislature which is expected to carry out over sight functions is often compromised.

How would you ensure that the Senate under you would carry out its constitutional mandate in this regard?
I have stated over and over again that it is not going to be business as usual. We shall not compromise our oversight functions; we are going to ensure that money appropriated is used judiciously for the purpose for which it is meant. I am happy that the executive arm under President Yar’Adua shares this vision and with the kind of rapport between the executive and the legislature now, I am sure that Nigeria will soon come out of the woods. It gladdens my heart that the National Assembly and the Presidency are working together, one cannot rule out disagreements sometimes, but we largely worked together and co-operate for the betterment of the country. In the Senate, we have resolved to make a positive difference on the lives of the ordinary Nigerian. That is our covenant and we shall keep our own part of the bargain.

Are you satisfied with the performance of the Senate standing committees?
Yes, to a large extent, there could be one or two lapses, but I can say without fear of contradiction that every committee, every Senator now feels challenged and are living up to their responsibilities.

When will the constitution review committee begin work and what would be the modus operandi you are setting for it this time, in view of the failed exercise of 2006?
I think they should expect a very robust debate, they should expect that some areas in the constitution definitely have to be amended and my strategy will be that they start with the less controversial issue, once we get the process right then subsequently the process will be smooth and it will become a mere routine exercise, but if you just go into a verycontroversial issue, suddenly you will run the constitution amendment aground.

Maybe you will let us into some of the likely focal points the review will be targeting this time?
We need an Independent of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that could guarantee the funding of the process. Obviously, there are a lot of areas that needs to be reformed and amended. In terms of local government for instance, because the local government are the government at the grassroots and at the moment, the 1999 constitution did not provide enough, very scanty on the issue of the local government administration.

Of course, you know the expectation of the people of Benue South Senatorial District which you represent, what should they expect from you as Senate President?
I know what the position of Benue South Senatorial district is. They expect that they will get a state of their own, but that depend entirely on the membership of the constitution amendment. I strongly believe of course we need many more states in Nigeria, and it would be interesting because if they are able to succeed this will be the first time any democratic administration would be creating state in the history of this country, it was only in the military that states were created. Although, Mid-West in those days was created by civilian administration but in the history of the present democratic administration, no state or local government has been created for now. Their feelings and expectations are mine. I will do all I can to represent them by addressing their needs within the ambits of the law.

You have been in national limelight for some time now, what sort of society would you want to see Nigeria in the nearest future?
For Nigeria the expectation from the society is very high, making it sometimes responsible for the level of criticism which we get; I expect that, of course over the years we should have developed much more than the level we have done. But that notwithstanding, the Nigerian expectation from the legislature, unfortunately majority of the people didn’t understand our role.

See, the system we run is presidential system, while as a Senator you cannot begin to build hospital or roads, I cannot go and award contract. Our primary purpose as a legislator is to make law for the good governance of this country and we are doing that, but if you go to your constituencies and say we have legislated in making law through good and robust debates, they will just say you are not ready for politics, that is never going to earn you a return ticket. I want people to understand our role.