Nigeria: EFCC is Persecuting Bankole Because of Tambuwal

Turaki A. Hassan
21 June 2011

Interview

Rep Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP, Kano State) in this interview with out National Assembly correspondent, speaks on reasons the PDP members of the House defied the party and voted Tambuwal as Speaker. He also speaks on the fight against corruption in Nigeria and other issues. Excerpts:

As a newly elected member, what is your vision for the House and your constituency in the next four years?

My main vision for joining politics even before I became a member of the House is to be able to impact on the life of Nigerians and to see that we put competence ahead of any other consideration. This country has been lagging behind for long and my own belief is that our major problem is leadership. If we are able to put the right people in the right places I believe Nigeria will move forward. I joined politics because I have this zeal and desire to see that Nigeria progresses in such a way that a Nigerian will go to any other part of the world and be respected as a Nigerian. We have the resources; we have the manpower and the capability. Nigerians go to other countries and do excel so will they excel here at home.

Do you have specific bills you intend to sponsor in the House within the next four years?

Before I joined politics I sat down and did what I call introspection about myself and what I think I can do for my people if I get elected. I discovered we are lagging behind in education in so many areas in states like Kano which is the most populous state in Nigeria. If you go around, you will see young people roaming around and don't go to school so we have to change the mindset of their parents that these children should go to school so that those who are not employed will be engaged. There was this issue of export processing zone which was to be established in Kano but for one reason or the other it never came to be. So I intend to bring a motion in the House and with the support of my colleagues I believe it will pass through so that our people in Kano will be able to produce their goods and export them. It will generate employment for the people.

There is also the issue of Inland Container Depot which was proposed by the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo but for political reasons it did not see the light of the day. So I will bring a bill that will establish it in Kano. It was conceived in such a way that when you bring goods from other countries to the Lagos port because of the congestion there these goods will be transported to Kano by train in the containers and the people from neighbouring states will come to Kano to clear their goods. This will also generate employment and boost economic activities of the state. The reason why we don't have peace in this country is because the people who are supposed to be employed are jobless. If we do these things I think it will help.

You were one of the members who played prominent role in the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Speaker. Why did you defy the PDP and voted for him?

As you are aware our party, the PDP, had zoned it to the South West and adopted Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande. I came to National Assembly in order to promote competence and the same thing applies to most of us. So we were looking for somebody with ability and who can change the image of the House. The National Assembly has integrity problem with the Nigerian people. There is this belief by most people that we are self-centred; that we are only concerned with our allowances. So when we came in we wanted to change this mind set and the best way to do it was to elect a competent person as our Speaker and it is our strong belief that Tambuwal embodies these qualities. We thank God that we have him as our Speaker and it is our prayer that he will not disappoint us.

And everybody saw his humility when he went to the party and apologised to them. It may sound absurd but it was the right thing to do. He said he didn't do it to disrespect them but to answer the call by his colleagues who asked him to come out and contest.

Are you satisfied with the fight against corruption by the various anti-graft agencies we have in Nigeria?

To be very honest I must admit corruption is very endemic and the problem we have with fighting corruption is that we are doing it the wrong way. When you want to fight corruption you should fight corruption. There is a case going on which I wouldn't want to talk about. The agencies don't fight you simply because you are corrupt but they go after you when you have gone against certain interests of the government in power and unfortunately that is what is happening and that is why the anti-corruption agencies we have, especially the EFCC, is not respected by the vast majority of Nigerians.

Until that is done we cannot fight corruption. You should fight every corrupt person; not just those who are not in good terms with the government. You should do it in accordance with what the law says not just trying to be clever by half. The best way to address this is to make the anti-corruption agencies truly independent. For as long as the heads of these agencies are appointed or selected by one single individual and fired by one single individual he/she cannot be an unbiased umpire. The method of appointment should be in such a way that he will not be partisan. The way it is now from my understanding the heads of these agencies are partisan.

Will you consider amendment to the EFCC Act?

When we met with EFCC chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, I asked her this but she declined to answer so that is something we definitely have to look into.

There is belief among some Nigerians that former Speaker Dimeji Bankole is being persecuted for his alleged support for Tambuwal. Do you subscribe to this school of thought?

Unfortunately the answer is yes. Most of us in the National Assembly and most Nigerians believe that former Speaker Bankole is being treated the way he is being treated simply because he assisted Aminu Tambuwal in becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives and that is why I earlier said you do not fight corruption that way. When you fight corruption, you should fight corruption in such a way that every discerning Nigerian will agree that you are fighting corruption.

But if you start fighting corruption because this man is an enemy of my friend, I do not believe Tambuwal is the enemy of anybody. The way I see Tambuwal, he is somebody who can work very well for the interest of the nation. He is very humble. He is not coming to rock the boat.

I believe we should fight corruption by fighting corruption. Not fight corruption by being corrupt ourselves because when you fight somebody just because he assisted somebody and you take him to court, you are not fighting corruption. Believe me, you are helping to strengthen corruption and that is the issue.

Source:allAfrica.com/Daily Trust - EFCC is Persecuting Bankole Because of Tambuwal

bioye:

Nigeria: EFCC is Persecuting Bankole Because of Tambuwal

Turaki A. Hassan
21 June 2011

Interview

Rep Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP, Kano State) in this interview with out National Assembly correspondent, speaks on reasons the PDP members of the House defied the party and voted Tambuwal as Speaker. He also speaks on the fight against corruption in Nigeria and other issues. Excerpts:


[b]You were one of the members who played prominent role in the emergence of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Speaker. Why did you defy the PDP and voted for him?

As you are aware our party, the PDP, had zoned it to the South West and adopted Hon. Mulikat Adeola-Akande. I came to National Assembly in order to promote competence and the same thing applies to most of us. So we were looking for somebody with ability and who can change the image of the House. The National Assembly has integrity problem with the Nigerian people. There is this belief by most people that we are self-centred; that we are only concerned with our allowances. So when we came in we wanted to change this mind set and the best way to do it was to elect a competent person as our Speaker and it is our strong belief that Tambuwal embodies these qualities. We thank God that we have him as our Speaker and it is our prayer that he will not disappoint us.

And everybody saw his humility when he went to the party and apologised to them. It may sound absurd but it was the right thing to do. He said he didn't do it to disrespect them but to answer the call by his colleagues who asked him to come out and contest.[/b]





There is belief among some Nigerians that former Speaker Dimeji Bankole is being persecuted for his alleged support for Tambuwal. Do you subscribe to this school of thought?

Unfortunately the answer is yes. Most of us in the National Assembly and most Nigerians believe that former Speaker Bankole is being treated the way he is being treated simply because he assisted Aminu Tambuwal in becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives and that is why I earlier said you do not fight corruption that way. When you fight corruption, you should fight corruption in such a way that every discerning Nigerian will agree that you are fighting corruption.

But if you start fighting corruption because this man is an enemy of my friend, I do not believe Tambuwal is the enemy of anybody. The way I see Tambuwal, he is somebody who can work very well for the interest of the nation. He is very humble. He is not coming to rock the boat.

I believe we should fight corruption by fighting corruption. Not fight corruption by being corrupt ourselves because when you fight somebody just because he assisted somebody and you take him to court, you are not fighting corruption. Believe me, you are helping to strengthen corruption and that is the issue.

Source:allAfrica.com/Daily Trust - EFCC is Persecuting Bankole Because of Tambuwal

Our brothers from the North are full of dishonesty and fraud.

When it suits them they argue for Zoning, when they seems to have  majority of votes they argue for 'competency'.  If it is the North west that PDP has zoned the speaker position to , hell will let loose if it wasn't given to them. Did we forget that the whole of the North was about to explode because an Hausa/Fulani man did not win the Presidency.

The North has an hidden agenda and they will never stop. come 2015 they will have power back and will never let it go again.


Bankole was being persecuted to rubbish the SW to give the Speaker position to the NW. He was not in a positio to support or not support Tambuwal. he is o longer in the House or has such influence. He is a one time speaker of the House.

The North are always crafty and pretend and swear in the name of allah deceitfully.

^^The north was about to explode because some people cooked up figures and claimed to be elected.
When Abiola won the elections in 1993, there was NO single violence in the north even when Tofa lost in his home state(Kano). Infact, he 'WON' majority of his votes in the northern states.
So get your facts rightly and drop this your antinorth sentiment. Google is your freind incase you need help.

Does it matter where the speaker comes from PDP and this zoning nonsense hurts the nation. And for Rep Aliyu Sani Madaki to come out publicly to proclaim that Bankole is being persecuted to uphold the zoning idea is means that is closest to the truth and and ultimately catastrophic! The Nigerian nation hasnt started. #sad