THE Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly (DTHA),
Engr. Victor Ochei, recently fielded questions from The POINTER crew of
Monday Uwagwu, Sam Ijeh and Iteveh Ekpokpobe, in which he responded to legion
questions, including the House’s activities, especially in relation to the 2014
Appropriation Bill of the state. His responses to our questions are in
paraphrase.
Mr Speaker, recently, the Governor of Delta State Governor,
Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, as the head of the executive arm of the state government,
presented a proposal of the 2014 budget proposal to the Delta State House of
Assembly. On that occasion, you gave the assurance that it will be speedily
completed in terms of consideration. What will be the factors that will guide
your speedy action in this respect?
Well, I think that, basically, many principles guide every
budget process and its consideration. On top of them is that what is being
planned for now is to ensure that even when the House is on a short recess, the
Finance and Appropriation Committee will be at work and go through budget
defence and also assess the performance of the former budget with a view
to assessing what factors are due for review in considering this year’s
appropriation as well as to ensure that some key projects are accorded
priority, if not appropriately funded before.
In giving speedy consideration, many people have expressed
their fear that the state legislature, being what they say is an attachment to
the apron string of the executive arm of the state government, is more
often than not, incapable of objectively assessing in details, some of the
proposals, the result of which is said that, most times, the budget runs out of
scale and is hardly implemented.
If they say so, who, then, has the constitutional power to
do it? Sometimes, people know only how to criticize and never belong to part of
the solution. That criticism, without being immodest, is unfair to the
legislature; I say this because, basically, the ingredients of budgeting are
very standardized. In other words, they are not mere wishes or the result of
the rule- of- the thumb decisions. Well, whether anyone thinks we are an
appendage of the executive or not, whichever way you deal with the budget, it
is still going to be the executive that will do the implementation. That does
not take away the fact that we still have to do our work, though the public
must also understand the very clear difference between a state budget and a
Federal Government budget. A Federal Government budget is based on a fixed
benchmark price per barrel of oil and the estimate of the barrels of oil to be
sold in the fiscal year and the proceeds will be shared among the
stakeholders-the federal, state and local governments; that is why they stick
to bench mark and all of that.
As for the state level, the government picks a bench mark,
possibly the one of the year before and produces what we call a budget
estimate. It is more or less a proposal. In other words, it is near what is expected
as income. By the time they take cognizance of internally- generated revenue,
statutory allocation from the Federation Account (FA) and other receipts which
include the Value Added Tax (VAT) and some other receipts that may come in,
they have a fair idea of what should be the budget proposal. That is how you
have an estimate, based on the idea of how much that they are expecting in a
fiscal year in the state; thereafter, they tailor their expenditure along that
terrain.
As Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, from your
vantage point, as leader of the first arm of government, are you satisfied with
the level of performance of budgets held under your watch as Speaker?
Yes, if you ask me; the extent that the budget performs is
the function of the receipts from the Federation Account. Last year, we had a
proposed budget of N472 billion. Now, for 2014, we-that is Delta State
Government- have proposed N391 billion, which is short on last year’s estimates
by about N80billion. And the reason is obvious; what they received
last year fell far short of what was expected. So, the state
government, quite wisely, felt the best thing now is to budget close to what is
more realistic so that where there is deficit, it will be minimal, and
there can be public confidence restored in our budgeting system. When you
budget for N472b and, at the end of the day, your receipts, statutorily and
through Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) fall short of that by almost close
N80b, (even though the fault may not necessarily be that of the state
government), then you know that there is a problem and you cannot continue to
budget like that any anymore. You now have to tailor your coat according to
your cloth and not your size anymore; and that is what the Delta State Government
is trying to do.
But, so far, in terms of performance, in spite of the
fact that we have a big short fall, performance has been tailored along
the line of priorities. Whenever you have a short fall of the expectation, the
only thing you have to do in the strictly economic sense is to have a priority
scale or scale of preference or opportunity cost, so to speak. In following
that, I will say the state government has done well in line with the budgeting
process.
Taking consideration of the fact that the state IGR is
likely to rise on the platform of the fact that the Ground Rent, which is
expected to generate more funds for the state government, will come into
operational effect in 2014, would you not say this is a deliberate policy
of under-budgeting?
No, because it is better to under- estimate and later
resolve the positive difference with a supplementary budget, than to over
-estimate and not meet your expectations. In budgeting, it is better to shoot
to aim at the roof top so that when you hit the sky, you would have recorded
some appreciable progress in terms of surplus, rather than do otherwise and
suffer the loss of the differential. What happens in relation to deficit
budgeting arising from poor receipts is that, after having a lot of expectations
and aspirations but cannot meet them, hopes are dashed, you are going to have
problems with prioritization and then political interests start coming in; that
is where you begin to see failures.
Assessing the legislature on how strategic it is to the growth
and nurture of our democratic sector, would you say it is strictly relevant?
To ask that question will be to undermine democracy
because the legislature is the symbol of democracy since the constitution is
supreme. The legislature is the only place on account of which the constitution
comes into play and we are guided by the law as enshrined in it as every other
law is derived from it. Without the legislature, it is like having a lawless
democracy.
If democracy is all about the rule of law and democracy is
of the people, by the people and for the people, then the very imperative of
the legislature becomes expedient. So, if you take out this all- important arm
of government, will you still be running government, since government is
anchored on the law? Will you be implementing policies that are not bound by
law? At the end, if you want to raise IGR when there is no law, it will be at
my discretion to pay or not and if it comes by use of force, we are going to
resort to a chaotic and crazy society. So, I don’t imagine anyone talking about
democracy and removing the legislature which is the back steam. The place of
the legislature cannot be over -emphasized. It is one very more than essential
ingredient in the process of democracy.
You have, by the grace of God and support of the people,
especially your co-legislators, become the longest serving Speaker under Dr.
Uduaghan administration and even the youngest Speaker so far. What is
responsible for this, in the light of the fact that the legislature is at its
most complex stage (multi-party)? Or, is it the silence of a grave yard?
I am sure you know that no one can make himself or herself
Speaker in any state, not talk of a complex state as Delta. So, anyone who is
Speaker has some measure of support from other legislators. That I was
elected Speaker was by the goodwill and support of people, because , in a very
vibrant legislature as DTHA, every member is equal to the other, and there is
equal opportunity for all to become Speaker, depending on the level of support
among the members/stakeholders. Having said that, I hasten to tell you that
there is no grave yard peace situation in the DTHA. If it was the silence of a
grave yard, it would not have lasted long. First, it is by the grace of God and
the understanding and cooperation of my colleagues that I have been sustained
as the longest-serving Speaker in the Uduaghan administration, especially in a
multi- party House as we have in DTHA. It has been a situation where your
traits and qualities as a leader are constantly being put to test in the sense
of your ability to relate with your colleagues.
First, you are only a first among equals. There is hardly
anything that I have done that has not come to the knowledge of the house. If
you want to get greedy, you are going to make a lot of mistakes, so, you should
run an open door policy for them to see and understand whatever you do. When
you let them know that, “look, these things cannot be like this”, they will
appreciate it than when you shroud facts in secrecy. So, if anything has kept
me on as Speaker, it is probably the fact that I keep my colleagues adequately
informed of goings-on, and without sounding immodest, I strive to be
transparent and even-handed, at least, to the best of my ability as a human.
Some persons talk of my age; age, for me, is but a number.
Of course, people credit me with wisdom and,if that be true, it has nothing to
do with age because it comes from God. So, if I have applied wisdom at my age
to be able to manage a house were about 50 percent of persons are older than I
am, it is by the grace of God and the support of my colleagues.
It may also be that my colleagues see something in me which
they appreciate and believe in. Besides-and I must say this categorically and I
must give it to them- that in them, I have seen the most understanding set of
colleagues. By just looking at your face, they know when you are sad and they
bear with you because they know that if the reverse was the case, you would
always be there for them. Mutual trust has been established and it has been
working well for us.
As a speaker and an inner caucus member of the PDP in Delta
state, to what would you attribute the simultaneous numerical growth of the PDP
and the dwindle of opposition parties in the state?
There are different styles to market a product. The style
with which you market your product determines the returns you are going to
enjoy. In the state generally, the performance of the state administration
under the watch of Gov. Uduaghan is a key factor, as is the role of the party
leadership. In specific respect to the DTHA, we have complimented what the
party leaders and the state governor are doing. The style we have used in
wooing our colleagues who are in the minority party is simple: We run an open
door policy and we do not segregate on the platform of political parties. We
work and take decisions together like one family. The result is that the
question they now ask is, “why were they opposing the PDP if, by the end of the
day, what they (PDP) was doing was nothing wrong?”
On the other hand, at the state level, like I said, the
performance of the state government, the role of the party leadership and the
resolve of PDP stakeholders to set aside their differences and work together,
has also been instrumental to the resurgence of the party and , by the same
token, the dwindle of opposition parties, especially the DPP, especially in the
Delta Central Senatorial District, where we won the recent bye-election.
How long will the budget consideration take the house before
they remit to the executive for endorsement?
Well, we have given the Finance and Appropriation Committee
the time up until the 28th of January to report to the House. And from then,
the House will consider it in a committee of supply and when we find it okay,
it will be ready for execution. I am sure that, by February, the Bill will be
ready for assent (by the governor).
As 2015 draws near, do you subscribe to the power rotation
principle, particularly as it affects Delta State?
Yes, I do, as it affects Delta State; Delta State
stands on a tripod-the north, south and central- as its fulcrum. Since the
central and the south have taken a shot at it, I believe, as a person, the
north should have a go at it, to give a sense of belonging to every part of the
state, because what makes one to say he is a citizen of this state, is the fact
that he can aspire to the highest seat in the land, on the strength of his
individual worth and merit.
So, Delta North is not excluded: as far as they can aspire
to it, I think it should be encouraged and they should be given. Though people
may say I am speaking sentimentally because I am from Delta North, I feel this
is a positive sentiment that is becoming increasingly popular and common place
among all Deltans.
The very idea of zoning, by virtue of it favouring Delta
North this time around, has triggered a plethora of aspirants from the zone.
Does it not bother you?
That is the beauty of democracy. It is everybody’s
inevitable right to contest for any of these positions contained in the
constitution, if they are competent and meet the requirements. At the end of
the day, it is our right, as Deltans, to choose. It is about like different
industries making the same product. It is the product that appeals to you most,
in terms of value, that you purchase; you can’t expect equal sales from the
market for the same product range.
Anyhow, the issue of legion aspirants is just not peculiar
to Delta North. When Delta Central was to have their senatorial bye-election
election in October, 47 aspirants came out. That is just the beauty of
democracy; everybody has the right to aspire and you cannot disenfranchise
anyone. At the end of the day, the choice will be made and I do not think that
the plethora of aspirants has anything to do with the choice of the people.
If you were asked to give the criteria as to who will govern
Delta State come 2015, what will you say it is?
I am just an individual, as you know, and I am not in
a position to do so, on behalf of Deltans. But, as an individual, I think that,
for me, the next governor should be that person who keeps Delta state as one
indivisible entity,where ,at the end of the day, ethnicity will not be the
basis of our everyday relationship or judgment, and our differences and
diversities will not count. He or she should be someone will push this
economy from what it is now to an economy that is running along the Delta Beyond
Oil as the current Governor plans, and, at the same time, with the oil .There
are going to be too many virtues in the person that will be best suited for the
job and I can’t tell you it is not a mean task.
You have always been a strong advocate of state police; are
you still holding onto that?
Yes, very strongly; and for the same reason that I
have always been an advocate of state police. If you keep saying Nigeria is not
ripe for state police, why not go back to the military because, as some people
say, we are too young for democracy?
So, let us start walking by having the state police in
place. At a point in time, the state police will develop to the extent were
they will become independent and all the fears expressed will wither
away.
If you sum up the total support of state governments in the
country to the Nigeria police, it is over and above what the Federal Government
budgets for the force. So, why not leave it for the state to handle? However, I
am optimistic that, as the agreement is heating up, we shall get there someday.
2015: let us know. Are you eyeing the government house?
It cannot be ruled out, and, at best I am still consulting.
At the appropriate time, my decision will be in the public domain.
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