Lawrence Babatunde Ayeni is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Chairman Ad-hoc Committee on Youth, Sports and Social Development. In this interview with a gentle man of the press he says that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will lose more states to the opposition during the 2011 elections. He also speaks on how legislators lobby the executive arm to attract projects to their constituencies among other issues.
WITH recent developments in the political cycle, do you think it is right for politicians to see elections as a do-or-die affair?
Politics should not be a do-or-die affair and politicians should not be aggressive or violent in achieving their political goals, because we are meant to serve our people, and if people say they have lost confidence in their representatives, then they should find something else to do, that is why politicians need to have another job, besides their political offices. If politicians or public officers serve once and people say they don’t want him or her anymore, such person should easily fall back to his or her business.
What have been your challenges as a lawmaker?
My first tenure is about to round off and I have learnt some lessons, and this has given me confidence to aspire to come back for a second term, especially to work for the interest of my people. It has not been easy as a first timer in the House, because legislative business involves lobbying. The business of a lawmaker is to legislate on matters of public importance as well as to do oversight functions on the executive arm of government.
I have many things that I want for my constituents, but right now the on-going project in my constituency is yet to be completed not to talk of others. So, I decided that if I have another chance I will lobby the executive to get something done. The challenges before me as a member of the Lagos Assembly are so enormous, because I was once a councilor and the job was less compared to that of a state legislator. The people I met here educate us on the challenges ahead and by now I am up to the task.
The constituents gave me the support, when I came in and this has contributed to my success as a lawmaker and that is why I have decided to come back and work for my people.
You said lobby is the means through which you receive from the executive, what do you mean by this?
Do not misconstrue my statement, what I meant by lobby is that one needs to romance the executive for one to get some projects done, especially when they are constituency projects, and you know that we are 40 lawmakers and others would also fight for their constituencies. It is not possible for us to get all our demands, so we have to lobby as I said to get some projects done. When I came in as a lawmaker, my constituents had the problem of flooding which had claimed several lives. I met with the Commissioner of Environment to assist us and he did, now the problem of flooding has become a thing of the past. My experience in the House has made me to overcome challenges and I know after this, I am going to higher level.
Has the recent demise of your colleague caused any fear for you, especially now that you are preparing for re-election?
This life is full of misery and I pray to learn from another person’s mistakes not people learning form my own mistakes. The demise of Hon. Sotomiwa has made other lawmakers in the House to be scared, especially this time that we are preparing for election, because only God knows what the opposition is planning against us. Politicians should expect anything and when one is preparing for that then one must prepare his or her mind for the evils ahead.
The House organised prayers for other lawmakers, because we don’t know who might be the next victim. That is why it is important for us to pray. I believe that no leaf can fall without the will of God. We must also be careful, because the man that died was a gentle person and we were amased that the man died without knowing what his ailment was.
Election was shifted to April after earlier announcing January, how would it affect your electioneering campaign?
The time is not the problem, but what my party (ACN) and I are more particular about is free and fair election that the whole world would see and congratulate us. The constitution amendment gave room for the election to be shifted and for us to avoid rigging and manipulation, it is better for us to do the election when it would be convenient for INEC and the electorates. Recently, two governors from Osun and Ekiti were sacked by Appeal Courts sitting in Ibadan and Ilorin respectively, just because of the votes that were manipulated during the 2007 general elections. In order to avoid this, time should be given to the INEC chairman to adequately prepare for credible polls. The disadvantages of the extension of the election for us is that we will record more expenses during our electioneering campaigns, because initially we thought election would come up by January, but now we need to prepare towards April. Immediately we announced that we are going for second term the burden fell on us. But we should not use our selfish interest to distort things. What we need is free and fair election, but it is alright we are going to manage ourselves.
What do you think should be done to stop electoral malpractice in Nigeria?
This has caused headache for Nigerians and it can be attributed to the love of money. For example, the Ekiti and Osun saga are obvious to everybody that Dr. Fayemi and Engineer Rauf Aregbesola won the elections before they were fraudulently given to Segun Oni and Oyinlola. Also, everybody knows that Madam Ayoka Adebayo manipulated the election for Oni at the expense of justice. It is very important for us to do things as it is supposed to be done in order to avoid such atrocities and for the judges to follow the due process. Sincerity should be our watchword and the National Assembly is also complicating the issue with the Uwais report that was not totally accepted.
What is your impression of the remuneration for lawmakers?
Very soon the people will get to know, because we don’t have any contract that brings us money. Most of them believe that it is our duty to construct roads and provide electricity and some would come for school fees, but they don’t know that we all depend on our salary and imprest. Our democracy is still young, may be by the time it is matured, people will get to know better. I take it as a point of duty to empower my people, because no amount of money you give to your constituents would be enough.
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