The Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Julius Ali Ucha, recently spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki on constitution review and the activities of his committee. LEO SOBECHI was there. Excerpts:
IS there not a time frame for the current review of the constitution especially as some people fault the present electoral reforms as basis for the 2011 election?
The present Electoral Act was the basis upon which the 2007 election was successfully organised. We cannot have a sufficient law otherwise the constitution would have been a sufficient document. But there are flaws; no product of human endeavour is perfect. On the review of the constitution, the mistake we made is in trying to make the amendment holistically. That will mean writing a new constitution. We could take a particular provision and alter it if we feel it is antithetical to societal norms or the process upon which democracy can grow or is militating against the democratic process. Our problem actually is not the constitution; it is social. If we quantify ourselves in terms of patriotism to Nigeria, each of us becomes a constitution. But today, every Nigerian is a suspect; patriotism is an alien word. This has created confusion in our system and I feel strongly it is not the amendment of the constitution that can solve the problem. Each of us is guilty of lack of patriotism and this is a fundamental issue. Constitution amendment when undertaken must be not be completed by a certain legislature, it is an on-going process that when it begins, the legislature can put in place an act of parliament that this process we have begun can be concluded along the line. So, when you just say that it must begin now, it must end tomorrow, I think it is only God that determines an issue of that nature. But we are making an effort to ensure that certain provisions are altered.
What has become of the bill on electoral reforms sent to the National Assembly by President Musa Yar'Adua?
The National Assembly is seriously looking at the document to ensure that justice is done.
Can you comment on how the Federal Government can successfully handle the amnesty deal?
The Federal Government is making efforts to ensure there is a peaceful negotiation to reduce hostility and the killing. The Federal Government is putting every structure in place for the militants and the people to help and develop themselves. We know that development in the Niger Delta is costly. The cost of a one-kilometer road in Niger Delta can tar the road between Enugu and Abakaliki and East West road that stretches from Delta State to Akwa-Ibom State. Federal agencies and ministries have been put in place so that the people of Niger Delta can use the agencies to help themselves. The Federal Government is providing resources and budgetary provisions for the ministry and agencies. Nobody legitimately befits from war or crisis and that is why the government is trying to ensure that there is peace in Niger Delta. The process of achieving peace is going on.
Describe the legislature in the past two years
The legislature has come of age as an institution that was limping because of military intervention. The legislature has grown and it is the fulcrum upon which every democracy revolves. What makes for stable democracy is the legislature but unfortunately, our legislature appears to be the most vilified and the most misrepresented. But in spite of the odds, the legislature has made tremendous impact in strengthening democracy in this republic. Today's legislature is focused and very stable, very fundamental. The stability of the legislature is what gives any government stability. Once the legislature is stable, government moves smoothly. No government, no matter how strong or benevolent, moves smoothly within a rancorous legislature. That is what we have achieved. That is why today, because of the leadership of the legislature we have a stable legislature, which also transcends into stable government because ordinarily, in every government you can have the executive, the judiciary; it is when you have the legislature in place that you can talk about democracy.
In other systems, the functions of the legislature are circumscribed into that of the executive. Then they don't have a full-blown democracy. It is the institution of the legislature that epitomises a full-blown democracy. The stability of our legislature is such that Nigerians are today experiencing a stable democracy. This is where we are and we strongly feel that the tempo will continue to grow.
Comment on the construction for the Abakaliki-Enugu Express way and what the Federal Government is doing
The Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway is on course. It is a long stretch from Bamenda, Enugu through Abakaliki to Ogoja, Ikom to Cameroon and Kenya; it is a trans-African highway. The African Development Bank (ADB) is handling the first and second lane of the Nigeria section from Abakaliki to Ikom. Nigeria is to provide counterpart funding, and the ADB commenced activities immediately it saw that the 2009 budget has a counterpart funding and that fund is with the Federal Ministry of Works. The World Bank will do the Enugu-Abakaliki section and the process of procurement of World Bank is always cumbersome. The bidding is expected before October 16 and the award will be done between after that and hopefully before the end of November. The process is ongoing and we are convinced that before the end of the year, it will be concluded.
I am talking about total reconstruction and after reconstruction, it will not be maintained by Federal Roads Maintenance (FERMA), but the World Bank for seven years. It will not be a dual carriageway. Our enquiry is that the volume of traffic on that road as determined by the World Bank is not enough for the road to be dualised for now but to be total reconstruction with shoulder.
How serious is the dredging of River Niger?
The contract for the dredging of River Niger by the Federal Government has being awarded the contract; it cannot be a smoke screen. No responsible government can award a contract to deceive the people.
There are other critical roads like Nsukka-Obolo Afor-Nkalagu Road, Abakaliki-Afikpo Road and others, which were provided for in last budget?
What the present Federal Government is set to achieve in road sector is what has not been achieved in the recent past. I have said that in the 2009 budget, a technical committee identified 25 arterial roads all over the federation and they were selected between three and five per zone. There are roads that connect states and we also have zonal connections. We have the Ibaji-Otuocha road, Lafia-Makurdi-Otukpo-Otukpa-Ninth Mile, and the Owerri-Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road. These are roads the technical committee identified; they are in the zonal intervention roads within the budget. There are other roads across the six geo-political zones. That is why we also have roads like Shagamu-Ajibandela, Benin -Okpotu within the zonal intervention projects and the Federal Government has awarded over 95 per cent of such projects. There is a deliberate government policy that those zonal intervention projects must be awarded first. That is where Abakaliki-Afikpo road falls within. In these roads, to increase the speed of work on them, we divided the roads into sections, that is why Abakaliki-Afikpo has two sections so that two contractors can be on the road to finish it within the record time. Nnewi-Oba-Okigwe road also has two sections; Onitsha-Enugu has two sections to ensure speedy performance. So where we have little problem, which will be resolved is Nsukka-Oboloafor-Ikem-Nkalagu road. It is a road with a checkered history. In 2006 that road was passed through due process but it was not presented before the Federal Executive Council for award. In 2007 and 2008, it suffered the same fate. In 2009, though it was included in the zonal intervention project something happened again. There was bidding in 2006 and the contractor passed through due process certification and the contract was to be awarded to him. There was some other person that they said was bidding for it. When eventually the matter came up, there was a petition and what the ministry did was to withdraw it from the zonal intervention to address the petition and they quickly put in a committee with a Director Federal highway. The petitioner was invited but he didn't appear, so it was resolved in favour of the contractor. Then, it also required also due process certification and for the man who bid for it in 2006, the ministry is required to ask him if he was willing to do the same project at the same price of the bidding of 2006. The man accepted that he will do it at the same price, so they took the matter to the Federal Executive Council (FEC). But it suffered a set back when there was an argument of specification of how the contract will be funded. To my mind, that was not enough to return it because, there is no other project that has specification of how it will be funded. That road has a contract of N6.4 billion and it has N1 billion in 2009 budget and 15 per cent of which is mobilisation for such contract that is not up to N1 billion. That is 15 per cent of N6.4 billion is about N900 million. Therefore there is sufficient fund for it to be awarded. It is now within the authority of the ministry to specify within 2010 and 2011 budget what should be provided for the road. So now they were asked to provide a report on how the project will be funded, that they have done and we believe that it will be presented before Federal Executive Council in the next council meeting and our prayer is that by the special grace of God, it will go through. The road has a checkered history, the ministry knows it, everybody knows and we are working very hard to ensure that the road contract is awarded.
Comment on the presence of two contractors on the Abakaliki-Afikpo road
To the best of my knowledge, our business in the legislature is to make efforts to get all stakeholders to ensure that certain projects are listed in the budget and that funds are provided. It is the entire responsibility of the executive to award contract. We have a responsibility to ensure that when contracts are awarded, that through oversight function, we ginger the executive up to ensure that implementation of the budget is done within record time. It is through oversight function that we get to know whether a contractor that has been awarded a contract is performing or not. It is then that we can present our reports to the Senate for proper action.
QUOTE
Our problem actually is not the constitution; it is social. If we quantify ourselves in terms of patriotism to Nigeria, each of us becomes a constitution. But today, every Nigerian is a suspect; patriotism is an alien word. This has created confusion in our system and I feel strongly it is not the amendment of the constitution that can solve the problem. Each of us is guilty of lack of patriotism and this is a fundamental issue
