Senator Ibrahim Musa, a lawyer, represents Niger North senatorial district at the Senate. In this interview with AWAAL GATA, he discusses his impacts on his constituency as a Senator, Nigerians’ perception of senators’ earnings and why lawmakers don’t visit their constituencies after elections, among others
On experiences so far at the Senate
A newcomer at the Senate has to learn processes. For the three years that I have so far spent there, I will say I have learnt and gathered a lot of experiences. What I know now I didn’t know when I arrived.
Senate making country-changing laws
There is no doubt that Nigerian Senate is and has been making life-changing laws. The people criticizing it are doing that out of ignorance, because Nigerian Senate has been making laws that are changing the country as well as further instilling democracy. Look at Pension Reform; the Senate was able to come up with a reform that takes good care of retired civil servants who, at the time they rendered services to the nation, staked their lives and all that. That reform is a big achievement, among other ones.
Security and investments prospect
The security condition of this country, as at the present, is not affecting only investments but every facet of our national life. Nowhere is secured in this country again. Any where you go, the road is blocked, any where you go, you have to be careful or something bad may happen. It was not like this before, so it is worrisome. Coming to investments, we the citizens of the country are afraid in our own country; so what do you expect from foreigners? Automatically, it will be apt to put it straight that foreign investors are afraid of coming into the country to invest.
How should the insurgency be tackled?
The issue is that when the insecurity started in the North-East, the federal government did not give it a serious attention, thinking that it was only a Northern affair not knowing that it would spread to other parts of the country, as it is happening now. Now to tackle it, we have to tackle the issue of unemployment and also restructure how our children are taught in school. You know the insurgents have a kind of warped belief, hence killing people anyhow even as no religion permits that. In terms of unemployment; someone went to school, spending a lot of time, energy and money, after graduation, there is no work. It takes the will of God for the person not to turn violent to earn a living or trying to hatch a nemesis on his leaders, whom he thought are the cause of his travails. By the time everybody is empowered, nobody would have time to be involved in violence.
Alleged fake document raised by PDP after your election
Don’t blame PDP but Nuhu Aliyu, whom I defeated to become a senator. He used his mentality as an old policeman thinking he can incriminate me and send me out of office. He commissioned one boy called Barrister Ibrahim Rege to go to INEC and conspire with some staff to get access to my file. He got to the file and removed some of my documents that my party submitted. I was not the one who submitted my documents, my party did on my behalf. The boy changed the documents and used his handwriting to write on anywhere that required writing. When the case was started, immediately the file was brought out and I saw the writing, I knew it was Ibrahim’s handwriting because he worked under me for years. Nuhu Aliyu is a retired DIG; he was making efforts to use his connections and schemes to return back to the Senate because I defeated him. He conspired with the police, judiciary and some individuals who know themselves, to embarrass me, thinking that will sway the minds of the judges who were hearing the petition. Unfortunately for him, the tribunal did not even know that this was happening. At the end of the day, the tribunal dismissed the case. He went to the Court of Appeal, and the court also dismissed the petition.
The next thing, he started filing cases in various courts; he went to the Federal High Court, State High Court, everywhere. He was a confused person; somebody who spent 12 years in the Senate without any impact on our constituency. This Ibrahim Rege was the one who was used. In fact, I am still having a complaint against him before a body of benchers. The body is still investigating the issue, but the police refused to investigate. Anytime I petitioned the police, Nuhu Aliyu will go and use his influence to prevent the investigation because the essence is that the moment Ibrahim Ahmed Rege is caught, the boy will now reveal who sponsored him, and Nuhu Aliyu doesn’t want to face that embarrassment. A lot of things that I can’t even mention here have been going on. When all those things were happening, I told my people that this is the only level he can go, I am in my third year now, and I am still here.
But you were detained at a time?
Yes. The magistrate, they arranged with her that that was what they wanted. I was with the police since morning until 5:45pm before they took me to court. If it was not an arrangement, how can a magistrate be in the court premises up till 5:45pm? So immediately we got to the court, the magistrate ordered that I should be detained, even without taking my plea. They did all that, but today, I am still at the Senate and performing. My performance has overshadowed his 12 useless years.
What impacts have you made on your people?
First of all, in terms of electricity, I was able to electrify a town called Wawu in Magama local government. They are now connected to the national grid. Right now, an electrification project is going on in Anaba town; the town would also be connected to the national grid. The same thing is going on in Shagunu, in Borgu local government. In Agwara local government, about eight towns will soon be electrified because work is ongoing presently. There are a number of villages in Kontagora local government where the same project is going on, too. I was able to produce transformers; in all my eight local governments, transformers were supplied across towns and villages. In 2014 budget, I was able to inject the completion of the abandoned Bangi electrification. In the same budget, they are going to connect Libale, Tashan-Alura, and some other communities along Yawuri road.
When we come to water, I was able to construct more than 60 boreholes within the last three years. And I was able to attract ten solar boreholes; constructions are presently ongoing. In Borgu local government, there was water problem; all they needed was high-lift pump machine, and the state government could not provide it for them. I did. It is there now.
Going to healthcare, if you go to General Hospital, Kontagora now, you will see that I am constructing an emergency obstetrics theatre. In Biri and Kaboji I have built accommodation for doctors. There are more that I can’t even remember offhand, but I have the records.
How do you get funds to execute these projects?
Like the transformers, some of them were bought with my own money while some came through Constituency Project or MDGs.
It is being said that after elections, legislators don’t go back to their constituencies to interact with their people. How often do you go to your constituency?
I go often. But sometimes, I don’t blame the legislators who don’t go. Could you believe that all the projects I told you were executed under three years, but then if you go home, people will not allow you to rest. If you go home, it is money, money and money that thousands of people will be asking you to bring. If you go for a wedding ceremony, burial or any other thing, they will ask you for money; that is what is discouraging most legislators from going back home. Not that they don’t want to go home; they are from there, why wouldn’t they want to go? If I go home now, let’s say I get home by 5:38pm, that very moment you will see somebody and that person is coming to ask for money. So, considering that I am going to spend 2-3 days there; if you open the gate for people, maybe they will not even allow you to sleep.
How much do you think that is dragging the country aground?
It is quite unfortunate, and it wouldn’t let representatives perform the way they are supposed to. It started before we came in. Most of our predecessors didn’t perform the way we are doing; the only thing they did was to share money. The little money they shared, they think they performed. The point is that, not that we don’t want to go home, but it all owes to what I just told you. Reaching home, would you tell them that you don’t have money? Some people think that senators collect N1 million per sitting; it is not so. Nobody gets sitting allowance at the Senate. On constituency allowance, they say a senator is given N500millon. No . For me, what I wrote for this year’s constituency project was N298 million, but we will be given N500 million for our zone – myself and three members of House of Representatives. People don’t even know that we don’t see this money; it is on paper. What happens is, you will highlight the projects you want to execute to the tune of the amount of your share. Sometimes, we don’t even know who the contractor is going to be. So, nobody gives you money but somebody will sit somewhere that as a senator we are given a lot of money.
So, senators don’t get sitting allowance?
We don’t. Had it been we are given sitting allowance; we normally sit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, we would have been begging that we should be allowed to sit every day of the week so that we will earn more allowance.
How much is a senator’s monthly salary?
It is not up to N1 million.
But you are all believed to earn money monthly and quarterly??
It is a rumour. As far as I am concerned, it is a lie. My monthly salary is nine hundred and thirty something thousand Naira. I can show you the alert on my phone.
So, the monies senators lavish, how do they get them?
See, some people leave the Senate poorer than when they got there. That is because they have to struggle to live up to their people’s expectation. Like now, we are in Ramadan, some people think that senators are given items to share for them for the month, not knowing that there is nothing like that. Some of us even go and buy the commodities on credit just to satisfy the people. To tell you the truth, personally, before I got here, my thought in terms of money was different.
How successful do you think APC will be in Niger next year’s election?
APC is the party to beat in Niger. By the grace of God, from next year, we will be in governance in Niger. We will win the governorship election, all the senators, reps, state members, chairmen and counicillors will be clinched by APC
