Bala Bawa Kaoje is a former Minister of Sports and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from Kebbi State. The former National Treasurer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) speaks on the APC crisis, local governments administration, President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption, among others.

You are an APC chieftain, and your party is having crisis in most of the states, including the president’s home state. What do you think is responsible for most of these crises and how could they be resolved?

First of all, I will say for us to correct these problems within our polity, the leadership must do things according to the rules. As long as we keep the rules aside, and continue to do things according to our own minds, our own interest, we would continue to have problems within our polity. Again, some of these struggles that you see for political positions and what have you, you shouldn’t be surprised.

The problem of corruption also plays a major role. This is because in Nigeria today, the easiest way to become rich is to take a political office; before you know it, you are a billionaire. Many things are not being done according to the rules. Recently, the governors in Nigeria said the National Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) does not have the power and the legal backing to do what they said they want to do regarding how the money that belongs to the tiers of government is spent.

You can imagine how desperate our leadership today, particularly at the state, is looking at itself. If they remember what the constitution says about the third tier of government, it’s there in the constitution. As far as I can remember, the constitution says that 10 percent of what the state gets from the federation account should be redistributed to the number of local governments in the state plus what the local governments got so that they would be able to develop the rural areas.

That is what the constitution says and I think if that had been followed to the letter and by fighting corruption, making sure that nobody takes money that doesn’t belong to him, our local governments wouldn’t be in the level that they are today. Our local governments are just graveyards, there is nothing going on, you can’t see one project, year in year out. It’s a very sad story, you can’t say that you will develop the urban centre and neglect the rural areas because majority of the people who even voted for you are from the rural areas and yet they gain nothing for voting for you and bringing you to power to lead them.

The resources coming from the federation account are for the people, it’s for the local government chairman, it’s not for the governor and it’s not for the president, it’s for the people that they are governing. So, it’s only when these issues are taken seriously and followed to the letter that we want our country to join other countries that are moving forward in the world and even in Africa.

Your party, APC, came under the mantra of change and fight against corruption, should we be discussing corruption within the ranks of the party by this time?

Like I have told you, why not? Corruption is a monster that cannot die easily, it’s like a dog, very difficult to be killed. So, Buhari’s tenure of eight years, I want to be sincere to you, that he cannot be able to go half way in terms of fighting corruption. It is going to take a long time because we have gotten used to it. I think since the regime of Murtala Mohammed, thereafter, the issue of corruption has been going on in this country.

It has been developing to the point that people are not even afraid to take public funds. We have seen where many of the banks chief executives carried money. We have seen where top government officials packed the money and so many of them. Look at the scams in pensions. At various levels people just take public money and turn it to their own. So, it’s not that easy, I think President Buhari is trying his best. But I am not even sure where the party itself is helping him. I am not sure because I haven’t seen it on ground.

Why do you say so?

I said so because if you want to correct a system, everybody must behave correctly. You must work by the rules, but here are party leaders impose candidates. Is it for free that they are imposing these candidates? I’m asking you.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-local-governments-are-now-graveyards-kaoje.html

Las Las we go dey alright in dx country