Senate presidency: Other zones will support North-Central – Suswam

The Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, bares his mind on the just concluded polls and the Peoples Democratic Party’s power sharing formula. NIYI ODEBODE was there.

How do you assess the Independent National Electoral Commission over the just concluded elections?

For INEC, we can give them a pass mark. But the problem has not always been with the body that conducts the election. The problem has been with us, who are participants in this process. If INEC does what it is supposed to do, but politicians do what they are not supposed to do, whatever INEC has put in place will come to nothing. The elections were well organised in spite of teething problems INEC encountered. Materials were available. Everything was properly done. Where we had problems, it was not INEC that caused them, but people who desperately wanted to win elections by all means. The problem has never been with the electoral body. It has always been with politicians. Those who snatched ballot boxes were not from INEC. It was not Jega (INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega) that sent them. They were people supporting politicians. If politicians did not encourage such actions, they would not have happened. We politicians should examine our actions, before, during and after elections

What was your focus when you became governor and what do you hope to achieve in the next four years?

Benue State , as we all know, is basically an agricultural state. Some of the challenges I encountered in my efforts when I became governor included how to improve the well-being of the rural populace of the state. We started with the issue of infrastructure, particularly accessibility to many of these rural communities. These communities have a lot of farms. The common problem was lack of rural accessibility. I decided to embark on a large scale construction of rural roads. Some have been completed while some are ongoing. These roads are very expensive and the constructions are across the entire state. I have completed some, while some are being constructed. These rural roads are being constructed by reputable companies. These are not mushroom companies, so they are quite expensive. If you see the quality of work they are doing, you will admire it. I have also done rural electrification in 107 villages. I have completed 80 per cent of rural electrification in these villages; 20 per cent of it is ongoing. These are all foundations for what I want to do in my second term. Once you have accessibility to rural communities and these communities have electricity, it will be easier to have cottage industries. In most of these rural communities, we have young men operating barbing salon. We will move beyond that to have cottage industries that are agro-based. We can process agricultural products and add value to them. I have gone into partnership on farm centers and an Israeli company has done a survey. These farm centers will be able to train young undergraduates .

How did you win the election?

When there are speculations and assumptions, people are bound to be biased. What I was doing was to work with the people. Benue is a state where all of us would agree that the elections were free and fair. The elections reflected the feelings of the people. The people that voted for me were the rural populace. You have a few elite in all the states who will not agree with the leadership in the Government Houses. All states have this kind of situation. I know that and I went to work with the people and they appreciated it. They appreciated the fact that for the first time there is a governor who is actually working with the rural people. The roads and rural electricity I am doing are things I never imagined. They genuinely see in me somebody who is committed to impacting positively on them. A few elite, who stay in towns, were saying that the governor would not come back. I knew that the people were with me. If you conduct elections 20 times in Benue State, I will win. Out of 28 House of Assembly members, the PDP had 20, out of 11 House of Representatives members, we had eight, out of three senators, we had two and out of one governor, we had one. If out of 28 House of Assembly members, we had 20, what is the basis for saying the governor will not come back? I am not somebody who makes noise.

What efforts are you making to reconcile with the opposition?

In my acceptance speech, I invited people to come and work with me. Elections have come and gone. There are no losers and no winners. The ability for us to work for the interest of the people is what matters to me.

Why do you think your zone, North-Central, deserves the Senate presidency?

A lot of reasons. If you do not give us the Senate Presidency in the North-Central, what do you give us? The North-Central gave the PDP overwhelming support. So we deserve a position that is that high. We have the Vice-President in the North-West; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the North East. The only position we have is the Senate Presidency. We intend to keep that. I believe our brothers across the country will support the North-Central in keeping the position of the Senate presidency.

But the North-East is also eyeing the seat.

The North-East will not agitate for it. These are just speculations. Under no circumstance should the aspire for the position of the Senate Presidency. We voted overwhelmingly for the PDP

You all voted overwhelmingly for the PDP, all zones.

What of the votes for the president? That is what we are talking about. If the President did not win his election, nobody would be here talking about the Senate presidency. In our various states, we voted for individuals we all wanted to represent us. These positions are shared because the President won that election. If the President did not win the election, nobody would be talking about the North-East, the North-West or the North-Central. Another party would be talking about it

If the North Central retains the office of the Senate President, would you support the retention of the power sharing formula of the PDP?

As it stands now, of course Yes, absolutely Yes. Let me touch on this. The issue of the Senate Presidency, I believe, is settled. I believe the North- Central should retain the senate presidency based on the reasons I have given to you. First, we voted overwhelmingly for the President. Second, the present occupant did very well in the last four years. Third, if you look at the positions as shared, the North-Central does not have anything except Senate President and we intend to retain it. Whether I agree with the present statu quo. Of course yes. First, the president himself has no issues with that. If you look at the religious configuration of our country, we should expect that the South-West, as it were, should also have a position. The complaint I have heard is that the Senate President is a Christian and so the speaker should be a Muslim. I agree totally with that and the South-West is the only place we have Muslims in the South (among representatives), so the speakership should remain in the South-West. If you take the Speaker outside the South, you cannot in good conscience say the vice-president, Senate President and speaker should come from the North. You can’t argue that. The only argument that will be acceptable to Nigerians is that the fact that we have the Vice-President and the Senate President in the North and the Speaker should go to the South. If we are reflecting on the religious balancing in this country, it should go to the South-West.

South-East voted for the PDP more than any zone?

It is not for me to share the positions. I am just making an argument. The South-East occupies the position of the Deputy Senate President. If anything will be added to it, it is not in my position as the governor of a state, to say that. The party has hierarchy. The party will sit down and say ‘let us balance these things well.” In balancing it, they will take a position. You asked me about power sharing. I said I heard people saying that if the Senate President is a Christian, the speaker should be a Muslim. It was not an issue when Bunmi Etteh, who is a Christian, was the Speaker. David Mark is a Christian. It was not an issue because; at the time Etteh became a speaker, it was Yar’Adua who was the President. The President was a Muslim. It is now an issue because the President is a Christian. The Senate President is a Christian. I agree with those who say the Speaker should be a Muslim. South-West have more than enough Muslims .

The South-East voted overwhelmingly than any geo-political zone for the president. So, they deserve something. But we are talking about balancing now. If Nigerians say let us give South-East this position because they voted overwhelming for the president, it is a strong reason. If they voted, they deserve something. I sympathise with that position as well. But People talking about balancing. At least we have five House of Representatives member from the South-West and if we are going to balance and if that is acceptable to Nigerians we go with it. The South-East, like you rightly said, voted overwhelmingly for the President, they deserve something to justify that support. These are two strong positions. When leaders of the party sit down, these issues will be canvassed and passionately discussed; and a decision will be taken. These are the arguments, it is not something I can sit down here as a governor and pontificate upon.