Acclaimed strongman of Kwara politics, whose daughter, Gbemisola, lost the Governorship seat of the State in the last election, Chief Olusola Saraki, has been described as remaining indispensable in  Kwara politics. In a chat with national accord,  HON AIYEDUM AKEEM OLAYINKA,  member representing Ekiti/Irepodun/Oke Ero Federal Constituency of Kwara State in the House of Representatives,  asserts that Saraki remains the godfather of Kwara politics. He spoke  with OGBU NGENE

Why is the House not thinking about a legislation to ensure refining of petroleum products in Nigeria, since importation has been the reason for most of the problems associated with the sector?

If we have to look at the matter holistically, legislation of that nature may not be the solution. This is because we are all aware that the problem of Nigeria goes beyond mere legislation. The major problem of this country is corruption. Corruption is every where. I understand that huge amounts have been spent on Turn Around  Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries, but what do we have at the end of the day?  There is nothing to show for it.

The question is why? If you have to answer it, it is corruption.

So, if you look at it, why do we have to be importing the products from outside? It is because few people are benefitting from it immensely. They are benefitting seriously.

Those at the helm of affairs are benefitting seriously from the mess. And you know the Nigerian factor, if you are benefitting from a system, whether legal or illegal, you will not  like the system to be stopped.

For no, nobody has been able to actually say the volume that Nigerian people consume on daily basis. And we cannot say that because we cannot control those ones that get out illegally. So those ones that come in and go out illegally are part of the calculations they give to us. For instance, if they say now that they import 100, litres on daily basis for that,  a few people are benefitting, because, it is the same people in Government and   it would mean exposing themselves, that’s why the Government will never do anything drastic about it?

We are all saying the same thing. As far as I am concerned, the Government is responsible for it. The followers share part of the blame. A security man at a gate that does some shoddy deals is part of the problem.

Part of the problem has been the fact that even at full capacity, the 4 Nigerian refineries do not have the capacity to refine the quantity of fuel needed in Nigeria. Why are you not thinking about building more refineries by Government to meet up?

As far as I am concerned, that position is not correct. I know that the professionals in that field are saying that even if we fix the 4 refineries, they cannot satisfy our daily consumption. I don’t believe that. Before you can say that, let the 4 refineries be put at full working capacity. It is only at that point that we can sincerely determine the truth. If it is determined that at last we need to make up our consumption, we would know the exact quantity to add.

Why I basically disagree with them is that we don’t even believe in the quantity they claim to be importing into Nigeria. There are so many question marks. I don’t believe any quantity they quote because that is one of the channels through which they perpetrate their corruption. They simply quote a figure and import.

Another problem is the fact that they don’t have enough storage facilities. They go to privately owned tanks for storage. And anything can happen to those ones they go to store at private tanks and record as Nigeria’s consumption, I am telling you that half of that finds its way outside the country again. In that case, would you now say that it is 100 litres that Nigerians consume on daily basis? No.

Against this backdrop of lack of security of the products, what would you propose for the legislature to do as  interventionist measure?

I am a new member, but what I  understand is that we can intervene by way of our over-sight functions.

But at that, there is very little that we can do. As you are aware, even to call on Ministers  to appear to make certain clarifications are difficult.

And the question is, what can we do? Even from the enabling law, what can the legislature do? That is the big question. Of course, we can say this or that is not right, but can the legislature really get to the root of that problem? If they say they are importing a particular quantity, how can the legislature determine the truth? We don’t deal with them at all times. We can only go to them at appointed times. You say, “I am coming to over-sight you, you will give me information”. If they say anything, how can we confirm, or otherwise the information? So many things are just wrong.

Some people feel that we have the attributes of a failed state; where in spite of all the laws and institutions in existence, nothing is happening properly. What about that?
In my personal opinion, Nigeria is not yet a failed State. To some extent, we have some credits. It is just that unfortunately, we are not looking at those credits. But in a situation where you  have some yam for your household consumption, and you also have a rat some where in the house feeding on the yam on daily basis too, you find out one day, the yam wont be there again for the household to consume. That is what is happening to Nigeria; that if some thing urgently is not done now, we may be heading towards that failed State.

In Kwara State, Dr. Olusola Saraki, had a hegemony that used to determine who became what in the State. But in the last elections, his house-hold got divided to the extent that his candidate for the Governor failed, while his son’s candidate won.  Has it not marked the end of the dynasty?

May be this time around, Baba was in a wrong party. PDP is always the winning party in Kwara. But whether you like it or not, the fact that Baba produced some body who lost, he is still our father. And in fact, it was the ACPN that produced the candidate. Baba is our father, as far as Kwara is concerned.

There is no doubt about that. And there is nothing any body can do about that. This is because when he started nurturing Kwara from the beginning, who else suffered with him? But now that he is reaping the benefit, people are now making noise, “Why should it be Saraki, why should it be Saraki? But you know, this is not just done in a day. If you work today, that you start enjoying the support of your people tomorrow, no body should bring criticism inside. He did not hypnotize them. Is it possible to hypnotize millions of people? It is not possible. You cant hypnotize millions of people over the years. It is what he did for them that the people are appreciating. That is just the simple truth.

Though some people may be looking at it from another perspective, warranting the criticism, but the fact is that the people still love, him. The people still love what he does. You cannot take that away. And they will continue to appreciate him.

Well, what happened in Kwara was not to be mis-represented. The people still love Baba. It is like where you have two children, can any body do anything about it? If your people support Mr. A, that is one of the two children, it doesn’t mean that they are against you. So, there was actually no division at all there. There is nothing like saying that for the first time Baba’s choice was not accepted. Baba was always succeeding. And he succeeded in the last election. That is the simple interpretation. Baba still has control of Kwara. He is our father. There is nothing any body can do about that both Mr. A. and Mr. B are all his own. He merely gave the people opportunity to make choice.