Abayomi Ayeola represents Ibeju/Lekki
Federal Constituency in House of
Representatives. In this interview with
REMI ADEFULU, the Action Congress of
Nigeria (ACN), chieftain declares that
the Jonathan-led Federal Government
could be likened to a rudderless ship.
Ayeola, a former council chairman,
hinged this on the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration has refused to get its acts together despite being in office for over 10 years.
Excerpts: 7th National Assembly I
would rate the National Assembly
excellent, superb. When we were sworn in on June 6, 2011, we did promise we are going to make a difference and our activities so far has showed that we performed above average. In a nutshell, we have performed. Reps vs Jonathan We are not hard (on Jonathan). What do you mean? We are only performing our duty. For example,we said if by the time we resume in September, he has not been able to implement this year’s budget, he risks impeachment.
What is wrong in that? This is a
constitutional issue. He has presented
a budget, we have approved and we
have expected that by now he would
have implemented and we have not
seen 10 per cent performance. All the
projects approved have not been
awarded, not to talk of being executed.
We are not being harsh, we are
performing our duties. Opposition and
impeachment Once in the house, we
are one (all members). You can verify
this. So anybody can bring any idea. If it (impeachment) had not been a
popular idea, other members would
have objected. So, it is not the issue of opposition or not. We are talking about constitutional rights. You have a budget, you are making money and
this budget is not being implemented.
For example, I came back to my
constituency on the 24th of June, and I told them about a lot of projects that
have been approved for them what
happens, if they (projects) are not
executed. How do you want these
people to rate me? A liar? That’s what
we are talking about.
Let the budget be implemented. It has been approved, and there is money back up what is delaying it?
Impeachment option It (impeachment) is a conditional thing. Nobody is interested in impeaching our president.
Rather, we are saying he should
implement the budget that has been
approved. He should perform. And with that, he would want to do something.
Senate support Mind you, the budget
was approved by the upper and lower
chambers. That is to tell you that the
issue as moved by Gbajabiamila is not
an opposition agenda. It’s a
constitutional thing. It is the right thing and it has been said rightly. It’s also Nigerians responsibility to monitor what was approved.
The Senate and the House of Reps are
working towards the same goal. Okupe on 100 per cent implementation We are not saying they should implement 100 per cent. Why not even 100 percent if there is money? A budget is a proposal of what the government intends to do. Gbajabiamila made that assertion in July and the budget has not been implemented up to five percent and this is budget that is
supposed to run for 12 calendar
months. So, if by the seventh month,
somebody now raises the alarm, what
is the problem in that? Don’t mind
Okupe, he is saying whatever he likes.
PDP on Gbajabiamila’s credibility They
PDP have to prove that. What
disqualifies him from saying it? He’s a
member of the House. The US incident they are talking about is a rumour. I don’t have knowledge of that. So, I won’t be able to comment much on it.
Okonjo-Iweala’s Senate submission
That will tell you they don’t know what they are doing. Square peg in a round hole. That’s what they are telling us.
The PDP are telling us this time around they are not up to the task directly, not even indirectly this time around. They can’t perform.
Getting to 13 years now, they’ve
wasted our time. If Okonjo-Iweala could say what she said before the Senate,you can imagine who she is. My brother, the PDP-led federal
government has nothing in stock for
Nigerians. They don’t . Non-implementation and transformation
agenda Everything is equal to zero. A
failure. That is it. It’s a direct failure.
Budget is not being implemented and
you are talking about transformation,
what are you transforming?
It’s just a gimmick to deceive us.
Implication for constituency projects It
has implication on constituency
projects. On the 24th of June, I did a
poverty alleviation program, and I
seized the opportunity to tell my
people what we have done so far. I told them these projects were undergoing the process of being awarded. People are eager to see that these projects are implemented. So, the non-implementation is putting pressure on me from my people. We have not seen anything. That is a very serious question. It’s not minor. Advice I will tell Jonathan to implement the budget;that’s my advice.
He should perform. The President
should be advised to perform. He
cannot afford to fail Nigerians. Look at
the way Nigerians voted for him. The
present idea of dragging his foot is
unacceptable. He should perform
before he is shown the way out of
office. Cash crunch allegation I won’t
agree to that. Our main source of
revenue is petroleum. Has there been
shortfall in the supply of petroleum?
Are we no longer exporting petroleum?
I don’t believe that. It’s an excuse.
House and oversight challenges We
have performed excellently well.
We have been going round, and we’ve seen things not being done right we tell the authorities to put them right.
We have not compromised our
oversight functions. But majority of
government institutions have not done well. If they have done well, you would have heard us saying that. But we believe that with what we’ve been able to do so far, there will be a lot of
changes, next year.
FG’s planned trip for NASS If the
Federal Government decides to send
legislators for overseas functions,
there’s nothing bad in it. But
whosoever is given money should
make sure the money is judiciously
used. Regarding Hon. Hembe’s issue,
what we were told was that he actually went for the trip, but had to cut it short, because he had an assignment back home, and he quickly cut it short and came back home. Reps opposition I want to say we are the pillar of the House.
On any national issue, we make our
opinion known to the world. We have
not compromised anything at all.
Tambuwal’s romance with ACN, CPC He got the speakership on the platform of PDP. He was elected into the House by PDP. How could he be an associate member of the opposition. That is not.
He agrees with the position of the
opposition most time because they are genuine. No right thinking person will see the truth and run away from it.
What do you expect when facts and
figures are presented, and they are
presented logically, irrespective of
whether its your party or not, you have to agree, we do our home work and perfect the way they are presented.
September date for 2013 budget It’s a welcome idea. We will have time to go through it, so by the time we return to the executive, it will fall within the fiscal year. So, it’s a welcome development.
We agree on that.
LINK:
www.sunnewsonline.com/new/politics/rep-dares-jonathan-implement-budget-or/