Sen Gershom Bassey represents River South senatorial district in the senate of Cross River state and in this interview with RUTH CHOJI, the lawmaker said the crisis in the PDP will soon be resolved and also spoke on some other issues.
Are you worried with what is happening in the PDP?
Not really because I think, there is disagreement always in all political parties across the world. So having disagreement in a political party is nothing new. The good thing about the PDP is that, we are very far down the road towards resolving our problem. I think that at the end of the day, we will have a political solution to the crises.
But don’t you think these crises could affect our democracy?
I think it is healthy; it is encouraging that they are contending ideas. The PDP is a party of ideas and here, you have a party where contending people are talking about ideas. Everybody is talking about how to move the party forward. There are one or two fundamental principles which need to be cleared up. Even before that or beyond that, the various parties in the PDP will come together to resolve the crises.
What advice can you give them on the way forward?
We just need to keep engaging each other. These are highly intelligent people who have been in politics for years. They have encountered far more turbulent situations than what is happening in the party today and were able to solve it. So this cannot be too new to them in terms of facing problems and finding solutions. I am very confident that PDP will find a solution because of the calibre of people involved.
Are you worried with the rate senators are defecting to the APC?
No, I am not worried at all, all politics is local and every person that moves to the APC has done so for local reasons. They have local issues and they are concerned about their people, which is why they moved to the APC.
Some members have blamed the APC for being behind the PDP crises?
To what end? I have heard such suspicions but to what end? What will they achieve? Are we saying that the APC is afraid of the PDP?
Coming back to the economy, Nigerians are afraid that the country could be sliding towards depression, do you share such view?
Of course those fears are real. If any country which is on recession doesn’t do anything to tackle it in time, they slide into depression.
Is this government doing enough to get Nigeria out of recession?
We are encouraged by the steps that have been taken in the recent past especially by the CBN and other managers of the economy. I think the fiscal policy has to be worked on. I have seen that the economic recovery plan is out. We have been briefed about it in the senate. I think it is a good plan but if I will complain, it is probably that the plan is too much. I think the plan should have been limited to a few key sections but even in doing too much as I put it, it is doing the right thing. I also see that the monetary policy is coming in line with the fiscal policies. I think that the government is beginning to tackle the recession in the right way.
Going back to the petroleum industry, the FG have said it will not sell the refineries, what is your take on this?
I think I understand the emotional attachment to the national assets.it is natural when the senate was looking at a way out of recession. We did say that, Nigeria should not sell its national assets. So that has been my position since it is the position of the senate. Beyond selling, there are others way they can make the refineries work, like private sector partnership. We need to go in to partnership. The whole issue about selling is to make the refinery functional and what I am saying is that, we can make the refineries more efficient without selling. I think that there are a number of options that the government can look at without selling the refineries and still have optimum efficiency.
The last administration gave out license for private refineries and since then, none has been built, does this bother you?
No bank will give you any money if the proposal you are bringing to the bank is not a bankable proposal. If you are investing, it means there must be a return on their investments. The pricing structure that you have, probably the return on investment doesn’t make sense. Then, there is the issue of pricing, availability of crude for the refineries and the rest. Yes, you can get as many licenses as you like, but if the economics don’t make sense, then it will not work. Nobody will put their money into that business. We need to look at the economics of that sector.
What will it take to entice investors to invest in the petroleum industry?
It all boils down to the economics. You have to get the economics right. It means you have to get the pricing. I know that one of the things they have been talking about for some time now is gas pricing. But it’s one of the areas they need to look at. We need to get our economics right. If you put a refinery in Nigeria, you must need the crude oil that you will refine, and then you must be assured that when you refine it, the product that comes out has a competitive price, not a situation where the cost is higher than the market price. That is what I mean that the economics has to make sense. The cost of production has to be lower than the selling price, which is where you have a margin, but where the cost of production is higher than your selling, then you have problem.
What will it take to sustain the relative peace in the Niger delta?
I think that the key issue is legislation because the peace cannot be sustained based on policies alone. The last administration was able to maintain peace there because of certain policies but immediately another administration came in and changed the policies, the whole place erupted and we started seeing pipeline bombing and the rest. I think that the answer is not policy but legislation. We need to find a solution, within legislation, to sustainable peace, which is what we are trying to do in the national assembly with the PIB, particularly the one that affects the communities. It has gone through first reading. We are still working on it. We want a lasting, sustainable solution and that can only be done when it is enshrined in your laws. That is why the PIB in the senate, especially the section on the community part, is extremely important because it will be negotiated with the communities. That, to my mind, is what will bring lasting peace in the medium term. In the short term, what the government is doing now is going round, talking to people and assuring them that, they are doing something about their problem. That is a short term peace. But what we need is a sustainable solution.
Talking about peace, the Fulani herdsmen attacks is getting worst by the day, are you worried?
I think that government has the capability and the apparatus to bring all these things under control. I sympathise with government sometimes because there are so many things happening in the country. Boko haram is under control to a large extent and just as boko haram is coming to an end, you have the herdsmen crises increasing by the day. As the Americans will say, you need to cut the government some slack. We need to allow them some time to come to grip with these issues. I believe that they have the apparatus and capacity to bring peace and handle these entire situations.
Some are beginning to suggest that Nigerians should come to a round table because with these crises, federalism might not be working. What do you think?
Federalism is working because federalism within itself creates an avenue where it can be self-corrected. I am talking about the constitution that we operate. All we have to do is find out what is not right and correct it. The constitution is a living document; it is not a strait jacket thing. We can breathe life into it, to that extent; I think that we have everything in our hand to make it work. That is why we, in the National Assembly, are talking about constitutional amendment so that those issues we think need to be touched can be fine-tuned. Like the devolution of power, to my mind, I think it is the real issue in Nigeria. More power must be devolved to the states. There is too much concentration of the power in the centre. The center is over loaded. That is what makes it look as if our federalism is not working. But if you will just devolve a lot of that power to the state, they will be more efficient in devolving the powers. It will make for a more efficient and better federalism. We will not know whether states are viable because you have not giving them the power to be independent. People shouldn’t say states are not viable because they earn pocket money from the centre every month. If you devolve power from the centre to the states and they still come to ask for money, that is where you will know that, some states are not viable. My belief is that, every single state in this country can find something to do; they can find a way to increase their IGR and survive. But the problem is that right now, most states are hamstrung and in that situation, they cannot function properly.
The senate has insisted that the comptroller-general of customs must appear before them with his uniform. Nigerians are wondering whether that is important, seeing the state of the economy.
With all due respect, it’s not up to him, we are talking about the constitution and we are talking about the laws of Nigeria.
But other Paramilitary agency heads don’t wear uniforms like the NDLEA, why is customs important?
The NDLEA is not a rank; it’s like saying that a colonel in the Nigerian army should not wear uniform. Even if you are working in intelligence and they asked you to appear in the senate, you are expected to wear your uniform, not mufti. It is like the acting head of the EFCC who is also a chairman, not a ranking officer. An officer is expected to wear a uniform especially when he is meeting the senate.
If he still refuses to wear that uniform, what will happen?
It is not up to him, the senate is not joining issues with the man as an individual. We are asking the comptroller –general of customs to appear before the senate in his uniform. We have no business with the man in mufti.
What will make this year’s budget unique?
Well, we are working on it. In my opinion, I thought the 2017 budget should have been bigger. I feel that the #7.3trn budget in real terms is smaller than the budget we had last year. When you look at it in dollar terms, it is about $7bn (seven billion dollars) I thought that in a recession, you need to spend more money instead of spending less money. To my mind, I thought that the budget should have been much bigger, but be that as it may, I know that we are going to do our best. If the executive want to achieve their goal, then I think that the executive will reduce some of their regulations, like The CBN did so that we can see what we can do with the public procurement act. They need to spend more money in this system. If, for example, you want to build a road, and you appropriate #2bn for you for that road, we should be able to give the contractors that money as at when due so that the contractors can finish what they want to do. I hope the budget can be passed so that it will be more efficiently used to achieve its objective.