A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, in this encounter speaks on the calls for review of the constitution, new electoral law, move to create more states in the country and its challenges, and why the current system is too expensive, among others. Excerpts:

How would you react to the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate?

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is already in court, let’s see what the court would say. I won’t like to comment on the issue.

But how do you think an issue like this should be handled in the future, because such an incident has happened in both the Senate and the House of Representatives several times?

Yes, about eight senators have been suspended so far over the years and what they usually do is to go to court and for the court to take a decision in such matters. So, the woman has gone to court to challenge the decision of the Senate. Let’s see what the court would say about it.

There have been suggestions that a representative of the people shouldn’t even be suspended and that even if he or she would be suspended it should be for a short period, how would you react to this?

That would be determined by the court, it’s too late now, and the damage has been done already. What remains now is the outcome of the court. There have been so many cases like that, which were later determined by the court. So, let’s leave this one for the court so that it would be clearer.

The current National Assembly has been accused of being a rubber stamp to the executive. The Senate President was even quoted to have said that they would approve anything that comes from the Presidency. Is this the way to go in our democracy?

It depends on them. If they want to work in unity with the government in power, I don’t see anything bad in it. It is for the benefits of the country and for the smooth running of the government. Even if they have any reservation, they can sit down as a party and resolve it. Since the APC has the majority in the National Assembly, how can they now quarrel with the government they belong to? What they should just do is to go to Mr. President and iron it out if there’s any issue. So, there’s no need for them to be at loggerheads with the government at the centre. They can iron a lot of things out together.

It’s believed that bicameral legislature that we are operating in Nigeria is too expensive, and some people say that what we need is unicameral legislature, do you think it’s the way to go?

Bicameral legislature gives room for more representations. You know Nigeria is a diverse country and so many people would be left out if they don’t spread it like that. I think we should continue with what we have now and see how it goes.

There have been calls for constitutional review, do you think this should be handled by the National Assembly or we should have another constitutional conference?

The Nigerian constitution is very rigid. To change some parts of the constitution would be very difficult, we have been changing it bit by bit, let us just wait and allow them to change it like that. If you want to overhaul the constitution, it would be very difficult because this is not provided for in the constitution. What is provided for is amendment and not to change the whole constitution. Let’s adhere to what is in the constitution now and do some amendments not having a new constitution, which is not in our constitution for now. One of the issues is that there is need for devolution of power to states.

There is an insinuation that the Federal Government is too powerful as they control virtually everything, resource control is still there, which should be sorted out quickly…?

Due to the rigid state of our constitution, it’s so difficult to amend it completely. We can only do piecemeal amendments, not comprehensive change. It would be so difficult due to the rigidity of the constitution.

Do you support the call for electoral reform as money politics appears to have taken over our system and it has eaten deep into our fabric?

This can be addressed with a new electoral law and by changing the form of our representation. Apart from electing people directly into the National Assembly, every other office should be by collegiate system. This would make it cheaper. So, if you want to be the president, go and contest as a member of the House of Representatives or Senate. Also, if you want to be a state governor, go and contest to the National Assembly, they would now form a collegiate system to elect whoever is going to be there. It would be cheaper. The system we are operating now is far too expensive. The cost of any election in Nigeria is unimaginable. It is only when you are into it that you would appreciate what we are saying, it is just too difficult.

Are you saying we should go back to parliamentary system of government?

No, it doesn’t have to be, it can still be presidential system of government, but the mode of election should be different. For instance, if you want to be the president, once they vote for you as a member of the House of Representatives, or a Senator, then there would be a collegiate system for you to be elected as the president. This would be cheaper, but for one person to go round the entire country and campaign, it’s very expensive and time consuming.

Nigerian politicians seem to lack ideology as they move from one party to another anyhow, what kind of politicians do you think we need in the country?

Our democracy is very young, it has to mature, and it takes time for that to happen. All those countries we compare with Nigeria have been practising democracy for long, we will get there gradually. Things would still get better, but let us make do with what we have now and grow gradually. It cannot happen overnight, it would be gradual.

There have been agitations for the creation of more states in Nigeria, do you think we need more states or we should go back to the regional government?

We have regional administrations now with the creation of the Southwest Commission, South East Commission and others. Let us see how far this can carry us. The creation of more states would be difficult because our constitution is very rigid. For you to create states, the steps are cumbersome and it would not be achievable. They are just wasting money and time, it would not materialise.

What advice do you have for the Nigerian government on security and the economy?

Nigeria is blessed with youths, close to 60 or 70 per cent of the population are youths. Look at the registration for UTME, it is over two million. If we can make sure that all of them get into tertiary institutions, and produce two million qualified personnel every year, they would be useful for us. That is when we can boast of a very good economy. Our human resource should be our priority. Can you imagine 300,000 students applying to study medicine and the government now say, we will pay for all of you, but you will sign agreements that you will pay back when you start working and we produce 300,000 doctors every year, people will listen to us everywhere we go. We can also produce 500,000 engineers every year and things like that. That is when the whole world will know that we are a serious country. Our human resources should be our priority. It is the easiest thing to develop so that we can compete with anybody in the world. The government is trying with student loans, but that can be improved upon. Let them admit more people into our medical schools and more people into our schools of engineering so that we can produce more doctors and engineers. Our country can now compete with India, the United States of America, China and Russia due to the quantity of people we produce and we need them. Let’s train all these children, they will pay back.

Will that also help our security?

Yes, it is because those people are not enlightened. Knowledge is not just that about knowing certain things, production is part of it, people would have something to do. Once you create a knowledge-based economy, people will get busy. Yes, a few of them would still do it, but it would not be as it is now. It is because of poverty that most people go into crime.

What is your message to those who feel they want to go their separate ways that Nigeria is not one?

We’re not thinking about that, we’re launching a programme; Lagos for Tinubu 2027. We are going to dazzle a lot of Nigerians with the number of votes we will get for him. We are Mandate Movements. We will spread it to every state. We are starting immediately after Ramadan. (Sunday Sun)