Hon Segun Williams represents Abeokuta South Federal Constituency of Ogun state in the House of Representatives. In this encounter with Ruth Choji, the lawmaker discusses the problems occassioned by non implementation of the 2012 national budget, the performance of the banking sector, the administration of Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun and the chances of his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) defeating the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the forthcoming 2015 general elections.
Nigerians are eager to know the outcome of the week long oversight functions embarked by legislators to assess the implementation of the budget.
We were still carrying out the oversight functions when the president expressed willingness to present the 2013 budget and since we are all supposed to receive him so we were all called back. By and large, the level of implementation, falls far short of expectations. In many of the places we visited, releases as by implementation is still in the region of 25% in most of the MDAs. I must applaud most of the MDAS because their level of performance is below 20%. They were able to utilize the meager amount they had been given judiciously by implication, they have performed well but by our assessment, the government has not performed. One thing that is very impressive is that the president, in the budget presentation recently, stated that implementation is still ongoing and we do hope that with the speaker’s address, he will hasten up before December.
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What is the House going to do if the budget is not fully implemented?
The constitution has given us enormous powers to check the excesses of the executive. I do not want people to misconstrue the powers given to the legislature. There are various ways we check the excesses. What people think is the last resort might not really be the last option for us. The president has shown that he is a listening president from the way he rescinded the issue of the N5,000 note. Now, we do hope that with this ‘born again’ attitude, the president will fully implement the budget. We don’t want to think of other options. We want to be optimistic that he will do it fully. A committee of the House has visited the ministry of finance and the budget office and they were told the technicalities that are involved in the release and implementation of the budget. One of the reasons they tendered was that this year’s budget was passed in April as against actions that it was to be released in January. But I don’t think this is enough excuse for the government to fail in the implementation of? the budget.
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As a member of the committee on works, how would you grade the level of work on Nigerian roads considering the huge amount pumped into the sector?
I want to address this issue vis-a-vis the type of money appropriated to the sector. If huge sums have been applied for roads, it means that we can ask questions. It still boils down to the issue of the budget not being released for contractors to finish their jobs or start new ones. Given the pace at which the money is released, one cannot help but hope for a miracle because releases have been in piece meal. What we see on ground is nothing to write home about and the burden is on us, because they asked us questions and most times, they expect us to do the jobs of government. We are equally at risk for the non implementation of the budget from the electorate.
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The banking sector has gone through lots of reforms and as a member of the committee, are you satisfied with the way it is being implemented
Yes, I can say we are on track. My opinion is personal to me. In the recent past, they gave awards to some banks as best banks of the year, but no sooner than that executive left that scene and a new one came in that we saw the rot that was in the system. We now know that most of the CEOs of these banks were highly indebted, most of them had assets in foreign countries. So, for that, I see it as a welcome development for this administration and the industry. But I still blame these things on their lapses because as a regulatory body, they failed to do a proper oversight. But by and large, we have seen some of the steps the banks have taken that have helped the economy. They have helped the aviation sector, industrial sector and lots more. So, being a member of the committee, I will give them a score mark there but there are still avenues for improvement.
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Should the CBN be allowed to continue as an autonomous body or it should be monitored like other parastatals?
I believe that the CBN should be allowed to be autonomous in order to allow them perform their statutory functions, but what level of autonomy is the question? Is it autonomy to the extent that you can spend anyhow? Is it autonomy that will make you enact policies that will go against the public which you govern? The level of autonomy has to be spelt out clearly. No one individual should be given autonomy to do anything he wants to do no matter his position, whether a minister, judge or governor.
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How would you assess the performance of Governor Amosun in Ogun state?
My state governor has been doing very well. Our party (ACN) is known for good governance, so I don’t expect my government to do anything less. The government is fixing the decadence that the PDP left in the state. Security has improved tremendously.
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There were reports recently by a party stalwart that your party sold its presidential ambition to the PDP, How true were these reports and the ACN is regarded as a regional party. What efforts are being made to nationalise it?
The ACN did not sell its ticket to the PDP. So many factors culminated to the emergence of the president. If you look at it critically as an analyst, you will understand that the president is a Christian and Christians in every party of Nigeria will definitely vote for him. Those from the South-West will automatically vote for him too. The ACN on the other hand, is not a regional party; we have senators, legislators from other states like Adamawa, Benue and the rest.
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What are the party’s chances in 2015?
With the way the ANC won many seats, our chances are very bright. What makes PDP more regional than ACN? We are also a national party. We helped install the current House leadership. We have also conceded the leadership of the minority leader of the senate to somebody who is not from the South-West in the person of George Akume.
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Has being in the House afforded you the opportunity to really impact on your? constituency?
Our main duties as legislators is to sponsor bills, make laws and the rest but our people expect us to do the work like providing basic amenities for? them.? Whatever we do is intervention on personal levels. In that sense, I have constructed bore holes, public toilets in markets and I have paid registration fees for indigenous children sitting for WAEC and NECO. I have also been sponsoring under- 13 football teams for 3 years before I came to the House.
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