Usman Bello Kumo is the current chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs. He held the same position in the Seventh Assembly. In this interview he spoke on issues bedeviling the Nigeria Police Force and proffered solutions to the spate of insecurity in the country. He also spoke on the need to revive the defunct tomato factory in his state, as well as other interesting issues.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenged your election victory in court, but you won; how do you feel?
We give glory to the Almighty God who created all things. Victory or loss comes from him, so you have to take whatever comes to you. I was sued at the Federal High Court over a pre-election matter. I lost and went to the Federal Court of Appeal, Jos and won. They appealed the decision in the Supreme Court; and as God may have it, I won. I started again in the tribunal, and as God may have it, I also won. The issues raised on the pre-election matter were the same issues raised by the PDP, so the tribunal unanimously ruled that it’s purely an internal party matter and they were wrong to challenge it. So they missed it.
You represented Akko in the Seventh Assembly, but some people are of the opinion that there’s almost nothing to show for it, as you did not execute any constituency project; what plan do you have for your constituency in the Ninth Assembly?
This is a very bad perception. If you go to Bula you would see a very big medical facility, which is part of our constituency projects. If you go to Taliyawa and Kembu you can also see a huge medical facility. We have one uncompleted medical facility in Gujba; and God’s willing, we are going to complete it. We also have many solar-powered boreholes. We have a lot of skills acquisition centres. Furthermore, we have some primary school structures. We had so many things in the Seventh Assembly. Glory be to the Almighty God. Now that we are better informed, the experience we had over time will guide us. God willing, we are going to give the people exactly what they need.
We appreciate the fact that what we did played a role in bringing us back because people judged our capacity. We are very impressed and encouraged that doing good things to people would help you to be rated positively.
Look at the issue of human development, as well as a lot of recruitments in the Army, Customs, Immigration, and most importantly, the Police. And as God may have it, we now have the privilege to chair the House Committee on Police Affairs. We’ll be just to all, but I know it will equally impact positively on the growth and development of my constituency, Akko, Gombe State and Nigeria in general.
Kumo had a tomato factory known as Manto, but it has been grounded. Do you have any plan to revive it?
Mine is to advise the appropriate quarters, particularly my state governor, who is equally passionate about diversifying the economy, Gombe being an agrarian state. We’ll take advantage of the Manto situated in Akko, then help to resolve the issues between Gombe and Bauchi states because Bauchi gave birth to Gombe. The issues should be sorted out. Manto has a vast land. And you have a university very close to the factory. We think it is going to be a very viable project for both the state government and the community.
As a member of the opposition in Gombe State then, how did you wrest power from the ruling party?
I think it was more of teamwork; and I am a team player. Coincidentally, we happened to have a lot of team players and like-minds, so we put heads together and took power from the PDP-led government in Gombe State. We equally took advantage of the inept and laisser-faire attitude of the then governor towards human feelings and misapplication of priorities and public resources.
Do you think there would be a cordial relationship between the Executive and Judiciary, especially considering what happened in the Eight National Assembly?
In an intelligent and developed society, there should be synergy; it is not war. The doctrine of separation of power should not give birth to battle lines; rather, you cross-fertilise ideas and come together to look at issues. You agree and disagree, and at the same time you do checks and balances.
Members of the Executive are to execute and do the expenditure while legislators do the appropriation. So there’s no reason you should raise voices and muzzles as if you were going to a battleground. What is most important is to understand yourselves. Collectively, we are holding public funds and offices on behalf of the public, so we should be seen to work together for the good of the people. That’s the key thing.
In view of a recent report that over N2trn has been spent on constituency projects since 2000, with nearly nothing to show for it, many Nigerians are saying it should be scrapped. What is your take?
Everybody is entitled to his opinion. They don’t know about constituency projects and programmes. You see, we are representatives of the people, and there’s no constituency in this country that’s not represented in both chambers of the National Assembly. We are not taking anything to our parents’ houses or ourselves; we take it to the constituencies. What Nigerians should understand is that putting constituency projects in the budget is only one thing, but implementation is not the responsibility of the legislators. It is the Executive arm of government that implements the budget, based on the available revenue. I think that if they are well informed about constituencies and zonal intervention, they will equally agitate for such projects to continue.
It is said in some quarters that the leadership of the National Assembly in both chambers are incompetent and are stooges of the Executive because they rode on their back to emerge; how would you react to this?
No reasonable man can say that leaders of the present House of Representatives are inept or incapable. Look at their pedigree; they have many years of experience. Femi has over 20 years of legislative experience. Wase has an experience of over 16 years, and you are calling them inept and inexperienced. I think no right thinking and responsible adult can be a stooge to anybody, particularly if the person went through the university. How can somebody win elections about six times, accumulate a lot of experience and still be a stooge to someone else? Politicians, especially the opposition, can give names to anything. The two principal officers of the House of Representatives can stand shoulders high as legislators anywhere in the world.
You are the chairman, House Committee on Police Affairs, a position you held in the Seventh Assembly; looking at the security challenges in the country, how do you think the Police would be strengthened to ensure adequate security?
Government should massively recruit policemen. Also, the police are underfunded, so government should look at their budget. You see, the global practice is one policeman to five people, and in Nigeria, we have about 200million people being policed by about 372,000 officers. They are grossly understaffed. Look at the teeming unemployed youths in the country. Most of them are graduates; and it is said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. So government should quickly swing into action.
Happily, government has responded to this call, as recruitment exercise for 10,000 policemen is ongoing. But that is inadequate. I think they should recruit up to 50,000 every year. I think that will largely help. In line with community policing, as you recruit them you send them back to their respective states because they know the terrain and the people. They will easily identify strangers and communicate to appropriate authorities. In so doing, there will be more information. And you can’t fight insecurity without proper information.
So you think that state policing is the solution to insecurity in the country?
Yes, of course, that’s what is obtainable globally. State policing is very good.
What’s your take on the plan by the Federal Government and state governors to use Npower beneficiaries for community policing?
It is equally very good. Whatever the nomenclature you call it, once it will enhance productivity and services and you get rid of crimes, we are on the same page. We need a peaceful country.
Do you think you can deliver your party’s campaign promises to the electorate?
I think we are working on hope. From the body language of the president, we are optimistic that we are going to the next level.
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