Member representing Moba/Ido-Osi/Ilejemeje Federal Constituency of Ekiti State, Hon. Kolawole Akinlayo (APC-Ekiti) in this interview with KEHINDE AKINTOLA speaks on the purported impeachment plan against the leadership of the 10th House of Representatives, food insecurity, impactful representation among others. Excerpts:
AS one of the first timer in the House of Representatives, are you aware of the splinter group called ‘Novelty Group’ and what will be your immediate reaction to the trending report on the impeachment of the Speaker and other members of the Body of Principal Officers?
To the best of my knowledge and as far as I know I don’t think any of such exist.
There is no member or group of members that intend to change the leadership or try to work against the leadership structure as far as I know. But what I’m aware is that I am a member of the Novelty Group, it’s a conglomeration of First Timers. There was nothing like a gang up against the leadership of the House or a threat to them. What I know is I’m a member of the Novelty Group, which is a first timer group which is normal in every Assembly. They had in the 9th Assembly, they had in the 8th Assembly, so it’s just normal. But what the Novelty Group is for, is the welfare of members regardless of either first time or second time or ranking officer. It’s just general welfare of members. That was what the group was set out to achieve, not to witch-hunt or to effect changes in the leadership, there was nothing of such to my knowledge.
Can you give insight into the numerical strength of the Novelty Group?
They are many, we are new members and some old members are also part of it, some returning also are there. Not strictly for new members alone, some returning members are also joining the group. So, it’s just like a pressure group in the House to press for their entitlement, not a group that will work against the leadership structure, nothing of such is in anybody’s mind as of now.
We have heard a lot of the issue of employment racketeering in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), how do you think this has impacted you and your Constituents?
I have a motion that I want to raise on the floor of the House because it’s disservice to me as Legislator. I’m from Ekiti State, the most educated state in Nigeria, 97 percent of Ekiti people are educated but people are jobless, people went to school, they have 2.1, First Class but they didn’t get employment. So, it’s a disservice to me that I will represent three Local Governments and Agencies of government will be doing secret employment and Parliamentarians will not be aware. It’s a serious disservice to me. So, I have a motion that I want to bring to the floor that there is no Agency of government that must employ without the input of National Assembly members, because we are the representatives of the people, so if you employ and people are not aware, and we have people, is it until they stone me before I know that employment is going on? People call us every day and say they employed in this place and everywhere, various agencies are doing secret employment everywhere, it’s not normal and that should stop. So, I’m an advocate that any moment going on must be advertised, Nigerians must apply, whoever that qualifies must be employed not doing secret employment because I know your parents, it shouldn’t be.
One other issue raised by a cross section of the Novelty Group, specifically on the suppression of First Timers, how true is this allegation?
Like I said to my knowledge I’m not aware of that. No suppression, no oppression, nothing of such. The Speaker has been fair to all Members, that’s what I know. The Speaker has been open, transparent and accommodating and he’s very liberal, so the Speaker is a Speaker for all. That’s all I know.
Larger percentage of Nigerians have been groaning over the food insecurity, even the Senators have cautioned that this development might lead to uprising if not addressed soonest. What do you think should be done in the immediate to address the growing concerns?
I think what the government has done to reduce price of food is to help the farmers. Like now, the government gave each House of Reps’ member 600 bags of fertilizers to distribute to their Constituents while the Senators are getting 1,200 so that we can aid farmers to go back to the farm and have good inputs. They’ve done that. Again, there are so many other things that the governments are planning also to give to farmers. Although that is not enough because what is actually causing food insecurity is because of insecurity in the farm. It’s not as if you give them fertilizer they can’t go to farm and farm peacefully. So, Government should first of all tackle insecurity before giving the farmers, farm inputs or whatever. For me, to give them fertilizer cannot solve food insecurity in the country because the insecurity in every area in this country you can’t quantify it.
How will you describe the 10th Assembly over the past one year and what has been the experience?
Awesome, awesome, this far awesome, although it’s a learning process we are learning the process and going forward we are going to be putting in our best to serve our people better.
So, what should your Constituents expect from you as the House starts the second Legislative year?
I will do what I’ve promised to do because I promised that when I’m elected I will serve them well, I will improve on their welfare, I will renovate health centres, schools, I will influence some roads, as a Legislator we are to make laws but I can influence some projects into my Constituency and we are doing that, we are on top of that and by God’s grace that will be achieved.
You just described your one term as awesome, in concrete terms what are some of the dividends of democracy you’ve done for them especially in the areas of health, education, and so on and so forth?
I have sponsored an establishment bill for Federal School of Nursing and Midwifery in my community Ikosu Ekiti in Moba Local Government Area and that has gone through First, Second and Committee levels, it’s just left for the report to be laid before the Committee of the Whole.
Also, the Federal College of Agricultural Technology, Otun Ekiti bill has passed through Third Reading on the floor of the House. So, if that is done the bills would require Senate concurrence, which I believe Mr. President will assent to them. That means my Federal Constituency has a Federal School of Nursing and Midwifery, that’s one. Number two is I plan to do medical outreach very soon for my people as well. So, we’ve procured the drugs, we’ve talked to the experts that will carry out that medical outreach, so by the time we are on yearly break (recess), we will do that. There is also the Medical Centre in Otun (Ekiti), I equipped the hospital with drugs and a lot things and we’ve done some renovations to so many schools. We have ICT Centre in Ilogbo that was newly equipped by us, and we’ve sunk some boreholes. In 2023 was an inherited budget so when we came in we shared it with my predecessor, he executed 50 percent and I also executed 50 percent. That was actually his budget but by the leave of the leadership they said every budget must be splitted into two because I resumed on the 13th of June and he left on that same day, so we splitted it into two. So, the project he had is what have executed together so far. Because in 2024, they’ve not made any release for any projects, so by the time they make the release we will start executing our own projects which influenced in the 2024 budget.
There is this insinuation and Public outcry that the National Assembly is a rubber stamp and not proactive. It’s still a topical issue on the lips of majority of Nigerians. Can you speak to this?
As regards the rubber stamp issue, we are not rubber stamp, but I think what Nigerians want is to be confrontational, which is not normal in democracy. If you rob my back, I’ll rob your back, so we work together as Legislature and Executive and of government, so things will be better for this country. It’s not about rubber stamp, but about doing the right thing and have a synergy that okay, we’ve agreed to work together. From the onset we were sworn in, we held a meeting with the Executive to say going forward any programme that the Executive has, they will brief the Legislature and say bring your inputs. When you bring your inputs in it, there’s no need to be confrontational. I think Nigerians want people to be confrontational, no you can’t achieve anything if you’re confrontational, so it’s better you know what you’re doing and you set a goal for yourself and how to achieve that set goal. I think that is what the Legislature has done, we are not a rubber stamp Legislature. We have people who are very versatile and upright and they know what they are doing. But we are not just confrontational and we are not ready to have any issues with the Executive.
Do you have any message for Nigerians during this trying time?
My message to Nigerians is to be patient. Nigerians should be patient with Mr. President, they should also be patient with the National Assembly because whatever we do here, is in consonance with the rules and ensure good coexistence. We can’t work against the Nigerian people, so they should be patient and they should pray for the government because things are tight and the country is hard, we must just face it. So, they should be patient with the President, things will be better by God’s grace. But the time they start executing the 2024 budget things will be better and Nigerians will feel the impacts of it.
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