Professor John Ebhomien, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is a former Consultant to the United Nations Office on Project Services. The former World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist and financial management expert, in this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, speaks on the corruption in the oil and gas sector, the coming Ondo governorship election, among other issues of national concern. Excerpt:
How do you see the outcome of the just-concluded American presidential election?
The American presidential election has come and gone with a lot of razzmatazz and propaganda. Though a lot of people expected the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harris to win, as God would have it, Donald Trump of the Republican Party was declared the winner. But, one must commend the doggedness of Trump to pursue his vision inspite of the infrastructures and misdemeanors committed by him which he is still undergoing trial, he was not shaken. His victory clearly demonstrated that inspite of adversities one may be facing while pursuing one’s ambition, one must go ahead and pursue it and overcome. Trump has clearly proved to the world that he is a leader of inestimable value. So, I have no doubt that the choice of Trump as the 47th American President will usher in a new era of prosperity, peace and good international relations in the USA and the world as a whole.
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What lessons do you think Nigerians could learn from the USA election?
The Nigerian politician should borrow a leaf from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for the way and manner they went about his campaigns, raising funds and for pursuing their legitimate rights of the elections. Kamala Harris must be commended for congratulating Donald Trump. The politicians in Nigeria should learn to be magnanimous in victory and also accept defeat when they lose elections and congratulate the winners. That is the way to go. The Nigerian women should borrow a leaf from Kamala Harris in pursuing their ambitions of becoming the US president. The Nigerian women should know that the political space is large enough to accommodate them, no matter what position they want to contest, from legislative to the presidential seat. The Nigerian men should learn to support their wives who have political ambitions just like Doug supported Kamalas Harris. Her husband also allowed Kamala Harris to bear her father’s name. The INEC should learn from the USA election umpire for announcing the election on time, without any encumbrances. There were no cases of ballot box snatching, killings and rigging. INEC should put its house in order and go back to the drawing board to ensure that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner as done in South Africa, USA, United Kingdom and other European countries.
What is your take on the frequent collapse of the national grid?
The frequent collapse of the national grid is very shameful. It goesS a long way to show that the transmission and generating companies have failed woefully to ensure that this frequent breakdown of the national grid is avoided. They should endeavour to put in place a mechanism for preventive maintenance. They should imbibe the culture of scientific approaches of preventive maintenance, instead of baseless conjectures of breakdown maintenance. If they imbibe the culture of scientific approaches, they should be able to know in advance when things are getting wrong and immediately effect a repair, instead of waiting for the system to collapse, thereby putting the whole nation in darkness, which is a threat to national security. This constant breakdown of the national grid is unacceptable. The Federal Government should set up a high-powered committee of technocrats of integrity to look into the remote and immediate causes of the national grid collapse without further delay.
What is your view on the treason and mutiny trial of #EndBadGovernance peaceful protesters?
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The continued trial of the #EndBadGovernance protesters in the various courts has ignited significant concerns by well-meaning Nigerians on the rationale for arraigning those young people for prosecution. Though the charges levelled against them bothers on treason, mutiny among others, which I think are frivolous, the trials should be discontinued by the Federal Government on compassionate ground. This is based on the recent arraignment of minors before the court of justice which generated fury and criticisms across Nigeria and the world as a whole. The Attorney General Of the Federation and the Federal Government should take the bull by the horn and do the needful to resettle those minors in productive ventures. Those interested in education should be given scholarships to the university level. This will not be much for the government to do.
How do you see the controversies in the oil and gas sector as well as the continued hike in cost of petroleum products? What should President Bola Tinubu do to end it?
The Federal Government should beam its searchlight on the oil and gas sector with a view to sanitising the sector which has made Nigeria to become a laughingstock among the OPEC countries. The problem of corruption in the sector has assumed a dangerous dimension. The cabals in the sector must be dislodged with aggressive solutions. The NNPCL management must be re-jigged. The Group Managing Director and other top officers must be shown the way out and men and women of integrity and accountability should be appointed to head the oil and gas sector. The Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries must be re-engineered to make them viable again. The private refineries must be allowed to emerge. If possible, there should be adequate tax incentives and free duties on imported chemicals used in refineries. The government should take the following actions: reduce the pump price of petrol, gas, kerosene as well as reduce electricity tariffs to a level that is affordable. Taking these actions will enhance productivity and the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
What do you think the government should do to end hunger and suffering in the land?
The government at all levels should come out with policies that will help to alleviate hunger in the land. Nigerians are looking unto government to do the needful urgently to reduce prices of essential food items like rice, gari, beans, beef, fish, cooking oil, salt, etc. the easy was to see that the prices are reduced is to encourage farmers with incentives and ensure there is adequate security in the land and that people are free to go to their farms and return safely without fear of intimidation and harassment. The government should ensure that security agencies are given adequate remuneration as at when due for them to live up to expectation and discharge their duties efficiently. The government should provide sophisticated weapons to enable security agents to discharge their duties effectively.
How do you see the coming Ondo governorship election?
I think the coming Ondo governorship election should be seen as another challenge for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its management team to put their house in order to ensure a free and fair election. The INEC must avoid those baseless ideas that are likely to truncate the election. They should avoid those pitfalls that characterize past elections it conducted. INEC should also know that Nigerians are anxious to see that the coming Ondo election is conducted in a manner acceptable to all parties. The INEC should ensure that the materials such as electronic devices function properly. Adequate provisions should be made to ensure that materials are sent to the polling stations on time. They should also collate the figures in a transparent manner and announce the result of the election in a timely fashion. Those results that need to be transmitted through electronic devices should be done in a transparent manner acceptable to all parties participating in the elections.
What is your view on how the local government elections are prosecuted in the country whereby the ruling parties in the states will win all the seats?
The manner local government elections are conducted in the country is worrisome. The state electoral umpires have taken rascality too far. A situation where the ruling parties in the states win all the chairmanship and councillorship elections cast doubt on the credibility of the elections. Does it mean that the other parties do not have the base and what it takes to win local government chairmanship or councillorship seats? What is going on at the state electoral commissions should be looked into. I strongly suggest that INEC should be given the powers to conduct local government elections in Nigeria. The National Assembly should enact the enabling Act to give INEC power to conduct local government elections in the country. Now that the local governments have been given financial autonomy, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) should work with the National Assembly to ensure that the enabling Act is put in place without further delay.
