Senator Victor Lar, a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the agitation for restructuring of the country, the recent Supreme Court judgment in favour of the Makarfi led PDP, the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues. Excerpt.



HOW did you receive the Supreme Court judgment on the leadership crisis rocking your party?
I am excited. It is a victory for the judiciary and victory for democracy, also a victory for PDP. Every family dispute that ended in a consensus enhances unity and love. In this case, there is no victor and no vanquished; we are all winners and losers. I am happy because the victory is coming at a time the PDP can still rediscover and position itself to take over power in 2019. With this, the leadership will have to organise a convention for another set of leaders to emerge.

What lessons have your party members learned from the crisis?
I strongly believe that it is when all the processes are exhausted that any dispute should go to court. In the last case, it was not as if all the processes were exhausted. Sheriff, for instant, filed about 10 different cases. Remember the Supreme Court said he was desperate. We should try to explore internal mechanism for crisis resolution, no matter what. Even if it is just three people, there is bound to be disagreement, but it should not be allowed to escalate to the level of destroying the entire system. We lost a lot of members because of the protracted crisis, which was avoidable. Next time, people should imbibe the spirit of give and take to foster unity in the party.

What is your party doing to ensure that those who left the party return to the fold?
First, nobody is coerced to follow PDP. Everybody joined on his free volition. The reason they left was because they were scared that the party could no longer be what it used to be, but with the present development, I am sure people will definitely come back. Some may not come back but I strongly believe that the majority would come back.

From the altercations from various angles within the party after the Supreme Court judgment, especially from Sheriff and Makarfi camps, what is the party doing to bring about genuine reconciliation?
Genuine reconciliation is something that is very necessary; the lawyers say he who comes to equity must come with clean hand. The best thing is to listen to those who are aggrieved and see how we can address the situation and also to see things that we can concede and things that we can amend.

One of the critical issues before many Nigerians today is restructuring and people tend to look at it from various dimensions. What is your perception of restructuring and how can the issue be handled?
Restructuring as it relates to administrative forces that are autonomous for the confederating units will only take us to the parliamentary system. Our constitution, which is in operation now, is presidential system. You cannot say all the states and the regions should be autonomous as it was in the First Republic. Some people that are talking about restructuring are simply saying grant us autonomy so that we can control our resources. But I can tell you that even with the 30 per cent derivation provided for in the constitution, all the other states that are not producing oil can hardly get enough to pay salaries and undertake developmental projects. If you raise it to 50 per cent, then all the non-oil producing states can as well forget any revenue. But those who understand restructuring within the context of access to control of natural resources may have a point. I am tempted to say let us go for it. For example, from Plateau State, we have vast land; we can do agriculture; we can go into minerals exploration. The truth is that some of us are tired of this blackmail particularly coming from the Niger Delta and oil producing states. Every month you hear that there might be no money from the federation account and the agitations are becoming more loudly every day. We are tempted to say let us give it a trial, particularly from those who want to control their minerals resources. There are some who view restructuring in term of devolution of powers. Some people say so many things in the exclusive legislative list, like railways, communication, police, which the constitution empowers the federal government to do should be transferred to the concurrent list, that the federal government should hands off those things. The question is that, are we satisfied with the level of policing in the country? Are the federal police not being manipulated by the Inspector General of Police to the detriment of states? If you look at it from that context, you will discover that there is a merit in devolution of power. I don’t share the idea that restructuring is synonymous with breaking up the country or secession in any form.

Recently some group in the North gave an ultimatum to the Igbo to leave the North on or before October this year, what danger does this portend for the country?
That order was as a result for clamour for secession. These are young people that did not see the horror of the civil war. Things got to the point that people were allowed to have emotional outburst. If we are very honest and sincere with ourselves, after the ultimatum by the Northern youths, the Ohanaeze and one other group came out to denounce the statement by the IPOB, which they should have done long time ago. With this, I think both the clamour for secession and vacation order would not be carried out and it would be properly checkmated.

What do you think should be done to douse the tension occasioned by the frosty relationship between the Senate and Presidency over the non-confirmation of the Executive Chairman of EFCC?
There is nothing spectacular about the relationship between the executive and the National Assembly. Why must the relationship be cordial? This is what is called institutional conflict. The National Assembly exists to check the executive; the executive also exists to check the National Assembly. If they hold different opinions about a particular issue, why must they be cordial? They have no business being cordial. This is very healthy for democracy. The acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo believes that he is the president, National Assembly and the judiciary. This is dangerous for democracy. He has no business even volunteering his personal opinion and view and I think they are much uninformed. The constitution says the legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are vested in the National Assembly and it further says the assembly has the power to make laws for the good governance, meaning, it is a continuous process. When we started democracy in 1999, there was no EFCC. The fight against corruption came as a result of the policy of the Obasanjo administration which has not been captured by the constitution. In exercising the power, Obasanjo brought a bill before the National Assembly and said I need an agency that would fight corruption, which means as governance was going on corruption became a challenge and it needed to be tackled. A law was brought before the National Assembly, why did the president not just write the draft and then go ahead to start EFCC? He believed that he needed a law to start an agency to fight corruption, where would he get the appropriation fund to run the agency, if they were not captured in the Act establishing EFCC? The same law that established EFCC also spelt out that there shall be a chairman and a board, the chairman must be appointed by the president and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The EFCC Establishment Act is an extension of the constitution, because it was enacted in relation to the legislative power of the National Assembly which is constitutional. So if a law says appointment of a chairman, that chairman must be confirmed, it is wrong to say because that agency is not in the constitution, therefore, it doesn’t need the National Assembly for confirmation. People have said the US Congress has refused to confirm some people. All those people that were rejected were never returned and it is illegal for Magu to continue to occupy that office because he is not occupying the office as a director; he is occupying the office as a chairman, which by the EFCC Establishment Act must be appointed by the president subject to the confirmation of the Senate. He has not been confirmed. So, Magu is holding that office in illegality and I believe that the acting president has missed it. So, what the National Assembly is insisting on is correct.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been out of the country now for more than 70 days without any concrete information about his state of health; don’t you think some people are re-enacting the same drama that played out during the time of the late President Umaru Yar›Adua?
Some people are being mischievous; anybody can take ill. There is a process. The constitution anticipated that the president might fall ill, anybody who is a president can take ill and if he does let him transmit power to his deputy. We have an acting president and the system is going on. So what are the pranks the people are playing about the president’s health? Is there any law that has not been signed because the president is not around? I believe that people are just being mischievous. That he is away is a natural thing.

How would you assess the two years of Governor Simon Lalong’s administration in Plateau State?
We have not gone far in Plateau State because we now celebrate the payment of salaries as if it is an achievement. The governor has not initiated any new project since he came to power, at best he is trying to complete the projects initiated by Senator Jonah Jang. It is like we have not had a change of baton in the state. We ought to have new ideas, focus, which are not forthcoming.



http://tribuneonlineng.com/nothing-wrong-buharis-absence-lar/

There are so many things wrong.

Nothing wrong, if he was around, dollar will be 700 now

Wow, did I really heard him?
I weep for Nigeria

Everything is wrong

Nah PDP talk am

sarrki:
Senator Victor Lar, a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the agitation for restructuring of the country, the recent Supreme Court judgment in favour of the Makarfi led PDP, the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues. Excerpt.



HOW did you receive the Supreme Court judgment on the leadership crisis rocking your party?
I am excited. It is a victory for the judiciary and victory for democracy, also a victory for PDP. Every family dispute that ended in a consensus enhances unity and love. In this case, there is no victor and no vanquished; we are all winners and losers. I am happy because the victory is coming at a time the PDP can still rediscover and position itself to take over power in 2019. With this, the leadership will have to organise a convention for another set of leaders to emerge.

What lessons have your party members learned from the crisis?
I strongly believe that it is when all the processes are exhausted that any dispute should go to court. In the last case, it was not as if all the processes were exhausted. Sheriff, for instant, filed about 10 different cases. Remember the Supreme Court said he was desperate. We should try to explore internal mechanism for crisis resolution, no matter what. Even if it is just three people, there is bound to be disagreement, but it should not be allowed to escalate to the level of destroying the entire system. We lost a lot of members because of the protracted crisis, which was avoidable. Next time, people should imbibe the spirit of give and take to foster unity in the party.

What is your party doing to ensure that those who left the party return to the fold?
First, nobody is coerced to follow PDP. Everybody joined on his free volition. The reason they left was because they were scared that the party could no longer be what it used to be, but with the present development, I am sure people will definitely come back. Some may not come back but I strongly believe that the majority would come back.

From the altercations from various angles within the party after the Supreme Court judgment, especially from Sheriff and Makarfi camps, what is the party doing to bring about genuine reconciliation?
Genuine reconciliation is something that is very necessary; the lawyers say he who comes to equity must come with clean hand. The best thing is to listen to those who are aggrieved and see how we can address the situation and also to see things that we can concede and things that we can amend.

One of the critical issues before many Nigerians today is restructuring and people tend to look at it from various dimensions. What is your perception of restructuring and how can the issue be handled?
Restructuring as it relates to administrative forces that are autonomous for the confederating units will only take us to the parliamentary system. Our constitution, which is in operation now, is presidential system. You cannot say all the states and the regions should be autonomous as it was in the First Republic. Some people that are talking about restructuring are simply saying grant us autonomy so that we can control our resources. But I can tell you that even with the 30 per cent derivation provided for in the constitution, all the other states that are not producing oil can hardly get enough to pay salaries and undertake developmental projects. If you raise it to 50 per cent, then all the non-oil producing states can as well forget any revenue. But those who understand restructuring within the context of access to control of natural resources may have a point. I am tempted to say let us go for it. For example, from Plateau State, we have vast land; we can do agriculture; we can go into minerals exploration. The truth is that some of us are tired of this blackmail particularly coming from the Niger Delta and oil producing states. Every month you hear that there might be no money from the federation account and the agitations are becoming more loudly every day. We are tempted to say let us give it a trial, particularly from those who want to control their minerals resources. There are some who view restructuring in term of devolution of powers. Some people say so many things in the exclusive legislative list, like railways, communication, police, which the constitution empowers the federal government to do should be transferred to the concurrent list, that the federal government should hands off those things. The question is that, are we satisfied with the level of policing in the country? Are the federal police not being manipulated by the Inspector General of Police to the detriment of states? If you look at it from that context, you will discover that there is a merit in devolution of power. I don’t share the idea that restructuring is synonymous with breaking up the country or secession in any form.

Recently some group in the North gave an ultimatum to the Igbo to leave the North on or before October this year, what danger does this portend for the country?
That order was as a result for clamour for secession. These are young people that did not see the horror of the civil war. Things got to the point that people were allowed to have emotional outburst. If we are very honest and sincere with ourselves, after the ultimatum by the Northern youths, the Ohanaeze and one other group came out to denounce the statement by the IPOB, which they should have done long time ago. With this, I think both the clamour for secession and vacation order would not be carried out and it would be properly checkmated.

What do you think should be done to douse the tension occasioned by the frosty relationship between the Senate and Presidency over the non-confirmation of the Executive Chairman of EFCC?
There is nothing spectacular about the relationship between the executive and the National Assembly. Why must the relationship be cordial? This is what is called institutional conflict. The National Assembly exists to check the executive; the executive also exists to check the National Assembly. If they hold different opinions about a particular issue, why must they be cordial? They have no business being cordial. This is very healthy for democracy. The acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo believes that he is the president, National Assembly and the judiciary. This is dangerous for democracy. He has no business even volunteering his personal opinion and view and I think they are much uninformed. The constitution says the legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are vested in the National Assembly and it further says the assembly has the power to make laws for the good governance, meaning, it is a continuous process. When we started democracy in 1999, there was no EFCC. The fight against corruption came as a result of the policy of the Obasanjo administration which has not been captured by the constitution. In exercising the power, Obasanjo brought a bill before the National Assembly and said I need an agency that would fight corruption, which means as governance was going on corruption became a challenge and it needed to be tackled. A law was brought before the National Assembly, why did the president not just write the draft and then go ahead to start EFCC? He believed that he needed a law to start an agency to fight corruption, where would he get the appropriation fund to run the agency, if they were not captured in the Act establishing EFCC? The same law that established EFCC also spelt out that there shall be a chairman and a board, the chairman must be appointed by the president and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The EFCC Establishment Act is an extension of the constitution, because it was enacted in relation to the legislative power of the National Assembly which is constitutional. So if a law says appointment of a chairman, that chairman must be confirmed, it is wrong to say because that agency is not in the constitution, therefore, it doesn’t need the National Assembly for confirmation. People have said the US Congress has refused to confirm some people. All those people that were rejected were never returned and it is illegal for Magu to continue to occupy that office because he is not occupying the office as a director; he is occupying the office as a chairman, which by the EFCC Establishment Act must be appointed by the president subject to the confirmation of the Senate. He has not been confirmed. So, Magu is holding that office in illegality and I believe that the acting president has missed it. So, what the National Assembly is insisting on is correct.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been out of the country now for more than 70 days without any concrete information about his state of health; don’t you think some people are re-enacting the same drama that played out during the time of the late President Umaru Yar›Adua?
Some people are being mischievous; anybody can take ill. There is a process. The constitution anticipated that the president might fall ill, anybody who is a president can take ill and if he does let him transmit power to his deputy. We have an acting president and the system is going on. So what are the pranks the people are playing about the president’s health? Is there any law that has not been signed because the president is not around? I believe that people are just being mischievous. That he is away is a natural thing.

How would you assess the two years of Governor Simon Lalong’s administration in Plateau State?
We have not gone far in Plateau State because we now celebrate the payment of salaries as if it is an achievement. The governor has not initiated any new project since he came to power, at best he is trying to complete the projects initiated by Senator Jonah Jang. It is like we have not had a change of baton in the state. We ought to have new ideas, focus, which are not forthcoming.



http://tribuneonlineng.com/nothing-wrong-buharis-absence-lar/

which buhari the dead one ?

Disoriented miscreants will soon come and mob their most revered gang of looters called pdp.

Brooklynsouth:
which buhari the dead one ?

The one that dealt with your Lord Mazi

sarrki:



The one that dealt with your Lord Mazi

The one in London hospital looks dealt with,with stringent appearance conditions....something tells me he is serving NK's bail conditions,don't you think so?

This country is in shambles. We are just patching up. Hypocritical leaders everywhere.

Please what is the Name of that Senator Self,iyam seeing Victor Lie sowie Lar

Evablizin:
Please what is the Name of that Senator Self,iyam seeing Victor Lie sowie Lar

You are pained and will be pained for as long as you are pro APC. The mistake of march 28th 2015. An error of a nation. Come 2019, nigerians will reclaim nigeria from the set of polarizing figures in Aso Rock!

Nigeria sai PDP!

The senator must be APC

Thewrath:

The one in London hospital looks dealt with,with stringent appearance conditions....something tells me he is serving NK's bail conditions,don't you think so?

the children of shimei
Your Lord KANU allowed children of shimei to worship him,
Robbing shoulder and to be equal with my Lord and saviour Jesus .
I pity the young guy.
And that will be the beginning of the end of KANU