Equality for geopolitical zones, impossible – El-Rufai

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee of True Federalism and Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said on Wednesday that demanding equal states for all the geopolitical zones in the country is a form of injustice to others as it will amount to trying to make “the unequal equal”.

The governor also said that it will be difficult for states agitating for resource control to achieve 100 percent control resources in their states since states in the country without oil are more in the National Assembly than those with oil and therefore are likely to vote against such agitation.

Speaking at an interactive session with Nigerian Youth in Abuja, EL-Rufai said he was prepared to open the books for those willing to audit his security votes, pointing out that he has never touched his security votes as the money was being controlled by the Secretary to the state government, while everyone who benefits from the votes signs for what they collect.

Gov El-Rufai, who was responding to questions and suggestions raised by some of the youths present at the event, said rather that than make suggestions that will not stand the test of time, the youths should find a way of engaging the process after learning from history.

He said: “there is absolutely no way in the Nigeria of today that a state that has oil will have 100 percent of the revenue. That is not possible because to get that document through, you have to pass it through the National Assembly and in the National Assembly, there are more states that have no oil than those that have oil and so, they will vote it down.

“So, you better start proposing something that works for the entire country and not just you. Otherwise, it will not help. The greatest injustice you can do is to try to make the unequal equal or the equal unequal.

“You cannot come here and say we should create nine states in each zone. Nigeria is not equal in terms of land mass, population, resources etc. so, you can’t do that. It is injustice trying to make the unequal equal because there is nowhere in the world.”

He said further that those agitating for the scrapping of the Senate should be realized that no member of the Senate will vote to scrap the chamber, saying”Whatever you learn with some knowledge of history is incomplete.

“Unfortunately, in this country, history is no a subject in our schools. We started with a parliamentary system of government with the Queen as our leader, then we became Republic in 1963. You should not trace history without learning from the mistakes of the past or make recommendations without some sense of history.

“When you make a recommendation that you want to abolish the Senate, you should know that the Senate cannot be abolished unless the Senate vote to abolish the Senate. Who is going to vote to make himself unemployed?

“We have a political process and so, we are not overthrowing the government and starting afresh. So, we have to work with what we have in a sensible and pragmatic manner and reform what needs to be reformed.

“When you say create states on the one hand and on the other hand you say the cost of governance is too high, are you jot contradicting yourself? For every state you create, you are adding the budget of the country. So, you cannot be saying that the cost of governance is too high and yet ask for more states.

“Let us put some political reality in what we do. What we are doing now may end up being amendments to the constitution. You amend the constitution by getting a bill passed by two-thirds of the National Assembly. After they have passed it, you must get 24 states houses of assembly to say they agree. So, when you make a recommendation, think of how to get it pass through the National Assembly and 24 states.

“The President, the Senate, the House of Representatives exist and there are 36 state governors and you cannot wish them away. We may be too old to run, but we are here and you must learn to deal with us. Some of us are good and some are bad.

“One thing about this debate on restructuring is that everyone tends to think in isolation from the rest of us. Every interest group, every ethnic group, every state is thinking about themselves. I have oil and so, I must have resource control or I don’t have oil and I must get Some of it.

“We must think for once what will be of interest to the country. We must think of what will be of interest to Nigeria because what will work in one part of the country may not work in another. If we don’t think first of what is of interest to all of us before the individuals, we will only have series of conflicting argument without consensus.

“The Not too young to run bill has been passed by the National Assembly and is not before the state Assemblies. It is likely to face bigger opposition in the state assemblies because that is where the age is lowered and so, they are likely to see you as competitors.

“The independent candidate bill has also been passed and probably it will sail through. Many of us in the system know that one of the biggest problems is not the constitution or legislature, but the way candidates emerge. The process leading to the emergence of a candidate for election is the biggest problem we have in Nigeria.”

Speaking on security vote and its legality, the governor said there was a lot of misconception about security votes, saying security votes was not unconstitutional.

Gov El-Rufai said “Go and read your constitution. The state House of Assembly has the power to appropriate anything and security vote is a line charge in the budget and so. It is not illegal. But it is how it is used that has issues.

“I know of a former governor who used to collect N1.5 billion in cash as security votes and come to Abuja. It has been a subject of abuse and that is not how it should be. The idea of security vote is for the governor to have discretionary funds to deal with emergency situations because you don’t know when you will have security challenges and you need money to able to respond to these challenges.

“Sometimes, you need money to pay for information and sometimes, you can’t imagine the type of people you pay as an informant because armed robbers patronize a lot of places and you need to know what they are planning next. Another use of security vote is to support security agents in the states.

“The Federal government has the police and pay their salaries. But apart from the salaries that the federal government pY to the police. They do nothing else. If you see policemen with vehicles and other equipment today, they are probably bought by the state government.

“In Kaduna state, we have bought 107 vehicles for the police within my first year in office because we realized that if they move around, they cannot get the job done. Every month, we pay the police and other security agents certain amount of money for fuel, otherwise, you won’t be able to drive on the Abuja/Kaduna road.

“That is what security votes is used for and not money meant for the governor’s pocket. I have never taken one kobo from the security votes of Kaduna state, I have never seen it because the Secretary to the State Government controls that money and signs for it.

“we insist that whoever is a beneficiary of security vote in Kaduna state signs for it. So, today if you want to audit my security votes, I will open my books for you because everyone that collects from it signs for it.

“However, I can tell you whether that is how security votes are used by other states. I don’t want touch to go with the impression that security vote is a slush fund for government. That is not true, but it can be abused. That does not mean that is the original intention.”