Abubakar in an interview with some news men
Can you give a little of your background before your foray
into politics?
I have been a very lucky person. From age 24 I became a big
man, if you like, because I was heading a department in the then Bauchi State
House of Assembly. I was the head of legal drafting, the chief legal adviser to
the House of Assembly. From that point on, I have not looked back. And God, in
His infinite mercy, has been kind to me.
I am not a rich man. I wasn’t before I became a governor, but
I was a very comfortable man, and there was nothing I wanted to do that I could
not do. That is the point at which I decided to take the plunge because I have
actually grown up with this state. The state was two years old when I
graduated. Bauchi was created in 1976
while I graduated in 1978. Even before I graduated, my state bonded me because
it needed lawyers, doctors and pharmacists. I became attorney-general twice
under two different governments: the military government first, and when they
handed over to a civilian government, I was reappointed.
What was the situation on ground when you took over as
governor?
The first thing I was confronted with even before I was sworn
in was that labour was on strike because they were being owed four months salaries. I called labour and we
sat down. I asked my deputy governor to sit with me, and we convinced them to
return to work because the strike would have affected even the handing over
process, the transition process. I told them to please return to work and
promised them that the moment I was sworn in, we would sit down and look for
the best way we would be able to salvage the situation. They agreed and went
back to work and we took over government. So it was incumbent on me to find
ways and means of settling these outstanding salaries, and for that reason I
had to take a loan because there was no single kobo in the treasury.
We told the Head of Service to write formally to the House of
Assembly and request for a resolution, and he did. Three or four days later,
the Clerk of the House wrote to us conveying the resolution that enabled us to
borrow N4billion.
Anybody who understands the constitution of Nigeria will
appreciate the fact that I do not have a hand in the procedure of the House of
Assembly. If the House of Assembly had sat in plenary to give me that
resolution, so be it. If they had sat in an executive session to produce that
resolution, it is not for me to question how that resolution was procured.
But the bone of contention was that you obtained the loan
without an executive resolution?
The provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria is that executive power resides with the governor. Another section of
the constitution states that the governor shall appoint commissioners and sit
with them periodically to determine the direction and policies of government.
The constitution does not envisage a vacuum. Since the law abhors a vacuum and
I gave anticipatory approval for that loan to be taken. I wrote it clearly that
“anticipatory approval is hereby given; please initiate a memo for ratification
when the executive is constituted.’’ So, ultimately, the executive ratified it.
But before I did this, not only did I read the constitution, I also read the
fiscal responsibility law, which we have domesticated in Bauchi State. So there
was nowhere I was prevented from exercising my powers as governor. So these
were taken care of.
What did you do with the bailout funds and the money from Paris
Club?
The Bauchi State Government got N8.6billion to pay outstanding
salaries. Before we did that, the Federal Ministry of Finance requested from us
the level of our outstanding liabilities and we wrote. They then asked the SSS
to confirm to them what the outstanding liabilities of the state were. The SSS
confirmed N8.6billion and we were given. We used that N8.6billioon, less
N88million at the initial stage and we offset the outstanding salaries
completely. For this labour, both Bauchi and national wrote us letters of
commendation. When we did this we had N88million naira remaining. The vice
chancellor of the state university came to me to say that they too had
outstanding and I asked him what he needed. He said N70m and I ordered for N70m
to be given to him, which left N18m. After a few months, the same vice
chancellor came back to me and claimed that his visiting lecturers needed to be
paid more and I ordered for the outstanding amount to be paid to him. I had a
dedicated account for bailout, it is in Zenith Bank. If anybody wishes to have
details we are ready to produce the statement of account. Concerning the Paris
Club, we received N12.7bn. I was in a bus travelling from the Port Harcourt
airport to the stadium for a campaign before the last elections in Rivers when
the accountant-general of my state confirmed to me that we had got value for
the Paris Club. My immediate instruction was, at that time we owed one month
salary for the state government and two months salary for the local government;
so I immediately told him to pay outstanding salaries. He now said, “Sir, if we
pay outstanding salaries, the local governments will receive more than their
share of the Paris Club because before the Federal Ministry of Finance released
the money to us, they gave us the table containing the percentage that each
tier of government should have.’’ Our own in Bauchi State is 42 for the local
governments, 58 for the state. We gave the local government their share plus
N600m, so as I am talking to you today the local governments of Bauchi State
are owing the state government N600m for the offsetting of the two months
salary that they had using the Paris Club.
People alleged that we are not doing anything in Bauchi State.
Everybody knows the situation, what Nigerians do not know is that Kano is the
most populous state in Nigeria and it has 44 local government area, but it has
a total manpower of 92,000. Bauchi
State, on the other hand, with 20 local government areas, has 105,000; that is
the number of people on my payroll. The outstanding salaries I said we used
Paris Club to pay arose from my attempt to verify these civil servants to know
the true civil servants in Bauchi State. I met a very strong concrete wall, the
entrenched interest that takes away about N1bn from the earnings of Bauchi
State every month in the name of ghost of workers, joined together with
detractors of Bauchi State that had been denigrating the state and made it
virtually impossible for us to get to the bottom of the problem of this
manpower.
In addition to this, Bauchi is one of the states that pay
above the national minimum wage. Our minimum wage is N18, 500. So my wage bill
every month is N5.1bn. And if you go back and take a look at the release, you
will discover that from the time I took over till date, there wouldn’t have
been more than three months in which I collected over N5bn. All other months I
was collecting less than that. Today, I am proud to say that Bauchi State does
not owe salaries. You can verify this.
So why do you think anyone would be leading an opposition
against you?
The answer to your
question is simple: ambition to become governor of Bauchi State. But my
argument is that now is not the time for that. Now is the time to work for the
people of the state. By the time we are ready to begin politics, everybody is
free to come and aspire for any office. Now is the time for us to put our heads
together and work for this state, and when the time of politics starts,
everybody can aspire.
Are you saying each one of those attacking you wants your seat
or they are ganging up to support a particular person to replace you?
I don’t know whether
they are ganging up to supporting a particular candidate, but each one of them
is harbouring an ambition.
What is your relationship with the party hierarchy in the
state, the national level and the bigwigs in Bauchi politics, including the
Abuja-based politicians?
The party in the state is behind its government; there is no
problem. As far as relationship with the party at the national level is
concerned. I think there is a measure of confidence between the national arm of
the party and me. And this politics is a game of numbers. By the time these
people finish their entire hullabaloo in Abuja, when the time comes for
politics, it is here that this politics is going to be practised. At that time
there wouldn’t be any gang up because everybody will go to his constituency and
answer his father’s name. That is how politics is played. So what they are
doing is merely grand-standing. They have some money to spend, so they are
using that money for campaign of calumny against their state because that is
what they are doing, essentially. So I assure you that the party is intact, our
relationship with Abuja is fantastic.
Do you have any window of reconciliation?
Let me tell you a secret, at 2pm today I had a meeting with
some heavyweights in the state who took it upon themselves to intervene. In
fact I went to them, I didn’t ask them to come, and it is all in the hope of
reconciliation. Before then, there was nothing I did not do. I have set up
committee to ask them what is their problem, what is their grudge. All these
attempts failed. We have done a lot and we are still doing. My reason is
simple: I am the leader, if there is peace in the polity it is me that will
enjoy the most. I am interested in peace and development in Bauchi State.
Do you think the national leadership of the APC has done
enough to resolve this issue?
Essentially, there is
no problem with the party.
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