Comrade Patrick Abba Moro, a grassroots politician, one-time local government helmsman and former Minister of Interior, is a second-term senator representing the people of Benue South senatorial district in the Red Chamber. Moro, an erstwhile lecturer and former unionist, was first elected into the upper chamber of the National Assembly in 2019, taking over from former Senate President, Senator David Mark, who had spent 20 years in the Senate. A consistent member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the political scientist was believed to have been overwhelmingly re-elected by his people in the last general election due to his quality representation, as seen in his valuable contributions on the floor of the Senate and the array of meaningful projects he facilitated to his constituency. In this interview, Moro speaks vehemently against the high rate of turnover of National Assembly members in every election year, insisting that something must be done to reverse the trend, due to the serious consequence it has on the institutional memory of the parliament. Excerpts:
In the last general election, the people of Benue South senatorial district, deemed it fit to re-elect you to represent them in the 10th Senate. Now that you have assumed duty in line with the second mandate granted to you by your constituents, what would you tell them for the opportunity given you to serve them again?
I appreciate their steadfastness with me. And it is a call to greater service, to at least, reciprocate the confidence the people have reposed in me. I thank my constituents. It is not an easy task. And I am happy that I am one of the few PDP senators, re-elected to return to be part of the 10th Senate. And what that means is that I must redouble my efforts at tending to the needs and aspirations of my people. For me, it is a call to a rededication of service delivery to the people.
How has your relationship been with your people such that they easily subscribed to your decision to come to the Senate in 2019 and have now overwhelmingly re-elected you for another term?
Well, I have always been with my people. I have always stayed with them. I relate with them effectively. I came to public limelight as a teacher in a tertiary institution in my community, Gbokolo. And I moved from there to become the chairman of my local government, Okpokwu. I was a Minister of Interior. I was Chairman of the Governing Council of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. I was Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi. In all those my fora into public service, I have always tended to the needs of my people. There was no time I was far away from my people, even in the course of holding those different offices. I want to say it without sounding like a broken record that I have always insisted that I will remain in the village. That is why many people characterize me as a village boy. And I have this philosophy that if I am in the village, I will be more effective relating with my people because my people want water to drink, I also want water to drink. My people want electricity, I also want electricity. My people need good roads to ply, I also need good roads to ply. My people desire and deserve good educational system, I also desire and deserve same thing, because most of my children, if not all went through public schools. None of my children has gone to any private school. It always been public schools. Whether primary school or secondary school, it has always been public schools. Even universities it has always been public universities. And so, that is the way I relate with people. I struggle all the times to make sure that all these amenities are provide in the various communities, especially the communities that I reside, anchored on my philosophy that if it is good for them it is good for me, if it is good for me it is good for them. Thus, I relate with them very effectively in good times and bad times. If they lose any of their loved ones, I will always be there to mourn with them. If they are celebrating their loved ones, getting engaged in marriages, child dedications and thanksgivings, I have always been there with them. And that is the reason why in the National Assembly, I ensured that all my constituency projects are executed. And my constituency projects usually gravitate around those priority needs of our communities – road infrastructure, health centres, provision of water. And so, I think that all these attitudes have gone a long a way to create a bond between me and the people.
I went to a place yesterday to help solve a problem of communal crisis. And my phones have been inundated with calls and text messages, and some of them insinuating that I already have laid a foundation for my third term. I jokingly said, ‘look my friend, allow me to finish or even start the second term first.’ That is the spirit with which I approach relationship with my people. I maintain a bond between me and my constituency. And for as long as I have the energy to attend to their needs, aspirations and expectations, for that long I will continue to maintain that bond of friendship between me and my constituents. Because I don’t think it’s about me, it’s about the people whose mandate I hold in trust. And so, I have always insisted that I am in the public service to make a difference in the life of the other person. I have always wanted to make a difference in the life of the other person, because I do know that what we do for ourselves is taken for granted. It is what we do for others that is important and matters. Therefore, I will continue to gather the necessary energy and effort to ensure that people whose mandate I hold benefit from the activities of the National Assembly and the Nigerian economy.
What would therefore be your advice to Nigerian politicians and public officers who usually distant themselves from the people after they have been chosen or elected to occupy certain positions of authority?
My advice to politicians who are in public service is that they should be close to their people and attend to their needs. Public service is not private. It is the collective aspiration and expectation of the people that we represent. And you can only gain the confidence of the people by relating effectively with them, by delivering service to them, by making their problems your problems, and finding solutions to them, just the same way that you find solutions to your problems. If politicians in public office bond with the people in this manner and attend to their problems and basic needs, they will continue to enjoy the confidence of the people. If you are transparent with your people, if you are very, very, objective and attending to the problems of your people and proffering solutions, your people would bond with you. So my advice is that we politicians should be close to our people. I can tell you, I don’t sit in Abuja here most weekends. It is either I go home to be with my people every weekend or every other weekend I’m at home. I don’t stay two weeks away from my constituency. And each time I went I will always interact with sizeable section of my constituency. That way, we determine together what their requirements are and based on the limited resources available to me I attend to them. That is what I do. That is what I expect other public officers to also do, because public office is a holding in trust for our people.
How worried are you about the high turnover rate of National Assembly members. For instance, in the Senate, only about 25 out of 109 senators in the 9th Senate made it back to the 10th Senate. Aren’t you bothered about this, considering the serious negative impact it has on the institutional memory of the Senate?
It is a very worrisome development. Though it’s a development that didn’t start yesterday. And like you have rightly pointed out, it deprives the institution of institutional memory and that way, you don’t have the foundation to build on. So, for whatever reason, that has been the bane of Nigerian politics, except that this year’s outcome looks more dangerous and terrible. If every election cycle produces new set of legislators, then definitely it won’t meet the learning curve of expectations of the people. It won’t add up, because as they say, the more experienced a legislator is, the more effective he is as a legislator. The more he can churn out new laws. For instance, I sponsored 13 bills in the last Senate, that is, the 9th Senate. Only three passed through the entire process. The bill on the establishment of Federal University of Health Sciences in Otukpo passed through, the President assented to it. The bill on independent candidature scaled through and the President assented to it. The bill on Local Government autonomy scaled through, but it couldn’t get the required 2/3 of the states Houses of Assembly to endorse it. The bill on the establishment of Federal College of Agriculture and Technology, Opialu-Ojapo, scaled through and it is awaiting the assent of the President. It was transmitted to the President for assent. The rest of the bills have not scaled through the processes. And by the tradition of the Senate, a bill that has even passed through all the processes, but has not been assented to by the President does not roll over. It has to start all over. And so the remaining nine or ten bills, for instance, that I sponsored that have not gone full cycle will have to start all over again. If I hadn’t returned, who is going to start them all over? That is the question. That is the power of institutional memory that re-elected senators will bring to bear in the legislative system. So, I think it is something that we have to talk about because in most cases some of these legislators that are not coming back didn’t even scale the hurdle of nomination. The system is so skewed against incumbency. They get easily defeated in the process of nominations or skewed out of nomination. I think that there is something that Nigeria has to do about it. In most climes, senators remain in the office for upward of over 50 years. I think the oldest senator in the American system, who recently retired spent 58 years as a senator. But in Nigeria they will tell you is he the only person because Nigerians see politics as a way of chop. They begin to quarrel if somebody returns for several times. I think that it is something we have to find a legal arrangement or legal intervention to preserve our democracy.
How would you describe the leadership of Senator Ahmed Lawan as the Senate President in the 9th Senate and the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President of the 10th Senate?
Yes, Senator Ahmed Lawan was the Senate President of the 9th Senate and his tenure has ended with the end of the 9th Senate. And a new Senate President has emerged for the 10th Senate in the person of Senator Godswill Akpabio. And so it’s all a test of democratic resilience. And somehow, the election was seamless. Majority of senators have spoken. And that is why Senator Akpabio today is the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lawan was there as Senate President and like they say, the rest is now history. He has come, he has tried his hands in leadership and proffered solutions where he can. By my estimation he has done his best. Whether his best is best enough for Nigeria and Nigeria’s democracy is a story for another day. Now, we have a new Senate President, His Excellency, Senator Akpabio. We all will give him our support to succeed, because if he succeeds Nigeria succeeds, Nigerian Senate succeeds and we are all part and parcel of the Nigerian project. Like I always say, irrespective of political party affiliations, it is only instructive that we support whoever emerges as government and head of government. So, I will support him (Akpabio). We will support him so that the system will work for everybody. It is very important. And we look up with high expectations on the leadership of Akpabio as the Senate President of the Federal Republic Nigeria.
What agenda will you set for him as a ranking senator, who knows and understands fully how the legislature, the Senate in particular, operates?
I expect him to be transparent and be very objective. Elections have come and gone, now is time for governance. And governance does not wear the toga or colour of political party. Governance is all about service delivery to the people. I will advise him to work out a system that works for all, irrespective of party, religious or ethnic affiliations. That way, Nigeria will benefit from his wealth of experience – two-term governor, Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, second term senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, former Minority Leader of the Senate. It’s a test of his leadership and of the use of his experience. And I hope very sincerely that he will use these qualifications to the best of his ability to serve the Nigerian people.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn-in on May 29, 2023 to begin a new administration at the end of the tenure of immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari. For the short time President Tinubu has spent in office, do you see hope for a better Nigeria, considering some of the steps, actions and decisions he has taken so far?
I see hope quite frankly, no doubt about it. Hope is the driver of life. And believing sincerely that things can only get better. A few steps that have been taken so far point to the direction of the revival and resuscitation of the system. What remains to be seen is the result. But, perhaps I will urge Nigerians to be patient, because given where we are coming from, I am not expecting magic. Nigerians shouldn’t expect magic. But Nigerians should hope that given his wealth of experience, that the President will do everything that he can to ensure the revival and survival of Nigeria to the benefit of Nigerians, because as I always say, Nigeria has no business with poverty and the level of infrastructural decay that we have today. Nigeria has all that it takes in material and human resources to be the champion of Africa and a leading economy in the world. And so we can only give President Tinubu support and time to revive our system for the benefit of all Nigerians.
