Senator Gershom Bassey is the lawmaker representing Cross River South senatorial district at the Senate. He also chairs the Cross River Caucus at the National Assembly. In this interview, he speaks about the ongoing jostle for the leadership of the 10th Senate, the crises in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the amendment to the NEMA Act to capture #EndSARs Fund, among other sundry national issues. NSAN NDOMA-NEJI brings the excerpts:
What’s your view on the tussle for leadership of the 10th Assembly?
My view is that Godswill Akpabio is a sound candidate and it is only fair that a guy like us should be given an opportunity, especially since he is from the South-South zone and he is also from our micro zone, which is Akwa Ibom/Cross River. First of all, I believe that the South-South deserves it, so I am in agreement with the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, for zoning it to the South-South. In the South-South, Akpabio is the most qualified, because he is the only ranking Senator that APC has in the South-South and when you look at his antecedents, he has the experience and capacity to be a senator and so I am fully in support of him.
How would you assess Nyesom Wike’s role in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River?
I do not want to personalise, because even in the Bible, Jesus Christ was tempted and He rejected that temptation. People will always be tempted, but it is up to us as individuals to decide right and wrong. If you decide to go the wrong way, you cannot start blaming the person that tempted you and unfortunately for us, the PDP in Cross River, it was our conscious decision to go the wrong way and now we have seen the result of that, so we should learn from it.
What do you think should be done in the PDP to make it a strong opposition?
It is beyond Wike and Atiku Abubakar now, it is about the parliament, which includes the senators and House of Representatives members. Any issues in the parliament are about the parliamentary party and I think in the Senate now, the PDP has enough strong leaders to guide the parliamentary party very well. We have leaders like Senator Aliero, Governor Aminu Tambuwal and co, coming in, and a number of very solid leaders who are strong enough to lead the party in the parliament. So, I have no problems with the PDP in the parliament because we are going to have a very strong and cohesive PDP in the parliament. How we use our political strategy in the parliament is a different issue, but I am sure that we will achieve whatever it is we want.
Recently you raised a bill in the Senate to amend the NEMA Act What does the bill intend to solve?
We have the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, and the bill is supposed to amend the normal act, to include the provision for creating an #EndSARS Fund, is one that the government has as of law that would be created and be part of the act. The idea is that the #EndSARS fund, which would be funded partly from the sovereign wealth fund, the budget and donations, will be a substantial fund for victims of the #EndSARS, mostly private citizens, but I am sure government can equally tap into it, especially like in the case of Cross River State and Calabar. Places like Tinapa and three conference centre were affected by the #EndSARS. It is a fund where all those types of situations can approach the fund, provided the claims have been verified. As in the case of Cross River State, the governor has already done a verification of the claims and has sent a letter to the President. The only issue is the value of the money, because as at the time those claims were verified two years ago, the naira was stronger than it is today, but if you put that beside the value of the naira, you will find that all the claims have been verified. In the event of the fund being settled, we will simply approach the fund and it will hopefully pay. It will be funded annually from the budget at the President’s discretion, it will also be funded from a statutory percentage of the sovereign wealth fund and so we expect that there would be sufficient money over time to address some of these issues.
Does it have a time frame?
It has no timeframe because it is now a law, part of the law that sets up NEMA will include a fund that is statutory, so it will go on until that law is repealed, if it will ever be repealed. The law is saying that it is specifically for #EndSARS, but we recognise that in the event of all #EndSARS debts have been paid, the funds will still continue and address others issues. But the primary focus is the victims of #EndSARS.
Does it also include those that lost their lives during that period?
The governor had set up judicial panel of enquiry and the panel made recommendations. It is those recommendations we are talking about, because a lot of issues by the panel of enquiry talked about injuries as part of the claims and those claims have been sent to the government or police. All those issues have been included in the reports of the judicial panel and we are talking about the implementation of all those recommendations.
What would you say on the issue of independent candidate in our electoral process as enshrined in the Electoral Law?
Only the electoral law talks about and provides for independent candidates, but it sets a high threshold for independent candidates and I do not know if that was adjusted, but when the reports came in, the threshold for independent candidates was high and it simply stated that an independent candidate would have to meet the same threshold as a political party. For instance, if you are an independent candidate, and you want to contest for governorship in Cross River State, you must meet the same threshold as every other political party, in terms of offices, presence in every local government and wards. You cannot just say you want to be an independent candidate and you do not meet the threshold, but the political parties do, that would not be a level playing field.
What is you advice for the incoming governor?
I think Prince Basset Otu is an excellent choice for governor and I have already congratulated him as you know, because the first hurdle, which is winning the election, secondly being the poster boy for the Back to South movement, which the entire Cross River State agreed with, are major achievements for which he should be congratulated. Going into governance is serious business and I would advise him to surround himself with quality people, who will not be sycophants but would give him quality advice and help him in governance and deliver on various sub-mandates. He is coming in at a time when Cross River State does not have a lot of money, so I want to encourage him to ensure that he finds a way to increase revenues in Cross River State and if he can do that, then he would have solved a lot of problems. I think he is going to do well, because he had the temperament and capacity to do well and I wish him all the best.
