A lawyer and senatorial aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Enugu State, Ogochukwu Onyema, in this interview with LAWRENCE NJOKU, carpets the National Assembly’s performance vis-à-vis yearning for good governance. He recommends five-year, single-term elective positions as an antidote to the laid-back Assembly. He also spoke on developments around the ADC, the ruling party, and the prospects for the state police policy.

As someone aspiring for a seat in the Senate, how would you assess the performance of the 10th National Assembly, and what would you do differently if elected?

THIS 10th National Assembly has not been impressive. I am highly disappointed. Several compromises have robbed it of the shine expected of lawmakers. I am not saying the National Assembly should start fighting the Executive. I am referring to its oversight functions, which give it the power to review and make recommendations. You can recall the number of times the President has approached the National Assembly with loan requests that were approved without question, despite the level of debt the country has accumulated in three years.

Has there been any time the National Assembly raised questions over certain issues of governance? But this is what you get when one party is in control and when people are not satisfied with what God has given them; when those in authority are insatiable and always expecting more from the positions they occupy.

So, they become available and ready to make compromises. The organs of government should work in tandem with their constitutional responsibilities. We know the legislature’s position and its oversight functions; we know the executive’s position. But for the legislature to subjugate itself to the executive is most unfortunate. This is what has befallen the 10th National Assembly. If God helps people like us to win and assume the responsibility of lawmaking, I will distinguish myself in a manner that those who voted for me would be proud of.

The way the 10th National Assembly has worked is creating more problems for the country. Instead of engaging the executive objectively and critically, evaluating issues and creating the necessary resistance that should bring about progress, they are compromising unnecessarily. Indeed, they have not done well. I am disappointed, and that is why I want to contest the senatorial election and become part of the 11th Senate. We are going to infuse ideas on how things should be done without unnecessarily compromising the system.

You said compromises have ruined the output of the current National Assembly. How would you want this solved going forward?

I think introducing a single term for elective positions would solve the problem. A five-year single term for elective offices would reduce compromises in the system.

I have participated in the politics of this nation for a long time. I have personally observed that the country’s problem is the aspiration of those elected to move to the next level. If anything is done to puncture those aspirations, Nigeria would get it right.

You elect somebody today to the National Assembly and, instead of focusing on legislative and oversight functions, all that guides his conduct is how to move to the next level or retain his office. But when we have policies that can puncture that aspiration, you will see greater concentration on the duties of office.

If we put measures in place to check second-term aspirations, we could control excesses and compromises in the National Assembly. That is why I will always encourage politicians to work for the people when elected. If you are elected into any position, use it well to serve the people and avoid unnecessary compromises that can wreck the system.

We need fresh ideas; we need fresh actions that can make our institutions work. That is what I will pursue if elected. The National Assembly plays a supporting role in ensuring that the government works. It is not about sitting and giving express approval to whatever comes its way. We should be able to inject new ideas into issues to improve governance.

How comfortable are you with the back-and-forth in the ADC?

The ADC is intact. We have lined up our candidates for the 2027 general elections. I want to tell you that those throwing stones at the party are doing so because they know the party has fielded the best candidates to win the elections. All they are doing is trying to distract us, but that cannot work. Here in Enugu State, we are working together. We have been able to endear the party to the electorate, and it remains the party to beat.

The ADC is moving towards occupying the Lion Building as well as other elective positions in Enugu State. I have served three governors in Enugu State, and the way we worked to help them become governors is the same way we will work to help Obodoeze Ocho, our governorship candidate, become governor on the platform of the ADC in Enugu State. We will do what we know best to ensure victory.

No one will rig our election. We are getting ready for it. Our people are happy that there is a credible alternative platform through which they can exercise their civic rights in the state. They are tired of those who make promises but fail to fulfil them. What you saw when you entered here was a gathering of all the ADC candidates in the state. They are meeting and planning strategies on how to strengthen the party and win next year’s elections. So, we are not perturbed at all by those trying to distract the party, especially at the national level. The ADC will participate in this election and achieve victory.

There are complaints that certain policies and regulations of the ruling party and administration in the South-East may prevent opposition political parties from participating fully in the elections…

As far as I am concerned, some of these things are merely distractions aimed at scoring cheap political points. These are actions designed to frighten us. It is the law that we respect, and no other. They are asking us to pay certain fees to mount campaign billboards and posters; they are stopping us from gathering in public places, among several other forms of intimidation.

When I mount my billboard, you can only tamper with it at night, not during the day. If you do it in the daytime and we catch you, we will pursue the matter legally until justice is served. I have genuinely come to contest the Senate, and I am not begging the system. I am interested in the rule of law and will follow it. You cannot wake up overnight and issue unconstitutional orders. We do not even need to go to court to set them aside. We will wait for you to enforce them.

But let me say that this is what you get when people fail to use the opportunity of being elected to serve well. When you use your office to serve the masses, you do not need to manipulate the system to retain power. When you have done well, you do not resort to unnecessary machinations to subvert the system. If you try to do that, we will resist you.

So, it is important for those governing the country or state to perform well, and they will earn the people’s votes. You do not secure votes through intimidation. As I said, we will wait for campaigns to begin and see if anyone demolishes our billboards under the guise of enforcing a state government policy on permit payments.

I was a chieftain of the PDP. I left the PDP for the Labour Party. From there, I moved to the ADC and the NDC before returning to the ADC. I refused to serve any government after 2023 because I wanted to develop my law firm. Today, I have 43 lawyers in my firm, one of the biggest in Nigeria.

What we are saying is that people should perform well while in office. Poor performance creates the tendency to suppress the people in order to remain in power. We are contesting this election in the interest of the masses. We are going to ensure policies that will benefit our people, and we are not frightened.

How do you see the proposed state police policy amid rising security challenges?

One of the things I would like to pursue in the Senate is how to end insecurity and corruption. One solution is the legalisation of concealable firearms. When you legalise concealable weapons and create room for volunteer policing, the problems of insecurity and corruption will reduce. Nigeria’s budget runs into trillions. It is an indication that we have grown. That means the Police are no longer enough to handle our security. If we can recruit people who graduated from secondary school, train them and give them AK-47 rifles, why can’t we train and license professors, intellectuals and other responsible citizens to carry weapons as volunteer police officers to protect their environment? You are driving on a road and somebody brazenly stops you because he knows no one in the vehicle can challenge him. But when they know the other person also has the capacity to defend himself, all these things will stop.

That is why I have said that the idea of state police is miniature. It is a fantastic concept to those who want to be excited, but it does not excite me because it will not provide a solution to our insecurity. It is subject to abuse, especially by those who fund it. What Nigeria needs is not just state policing but volunteer policing and the legalisation of concealable weapons for responsible citizens to protect their immediate environment, whether the state or federal police are around or not.

Once we can identify which state or federal police officers are involved, there is room for circumvention. But once volunteer police cannot be easily identified, corruption will reduce. Nobody will brazenly steal another person’s property.

People invade streets and estates to steal because they believe the occupants are helpless. But when there is volunteer policing, such actions will become difficult. So, I am convinced that volunteer policing is what Nigeria needs to solve its security challenges. It is available, it is not subject to abuse, and it will integrate more people into the security architecture. The beauty of it is that people will offer the service voluntarily and at no extra cost to the government. It is something everyone should support to complement our regular security agencies and make our environment safer.