By Mujeeb Olagoke
In a few weeks, on 31 October, 2020, the country’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a by-election for the Lagos East Senatorial district.
This election is to fill in the vacancy created by the death of the erstwhile member, Senator Adebayo Osinowo aka Peperito, who died as a result of complications arising from the corona virus disease (COVID-19) on Monday, June 15, 2020.
When INEC released the timetable for the by-election, many politicians across the party divide began jostling for the tickets of their parties in their bid to secure the senatorial seat for themselves.
A look at the various aspirants showed many career politicians and just a couple of technocrats and it was a bit unsettling. Historically, technocrats are usually shoved aside by the career politicians who control a lot of following in the major parties and it was very likely that one of the career politicians would clinch the ticket.
The Nigerian Senate is the upper chamber of the country’s legislature, the second arm of government and, as such, a big institution. This arm of government is charged with the responsibilities of drafting laws for the whole country, considering the budget proposals that are drafted by the executive and, if satisfied, passes such into law, thus making it a legally binding document that the executive must comply with.
It also offers oversight functions to the executive and judiciary arms, and above all, has the powers to impeach the president, given certain circumstances.
The Senate, notwithstanding the aforementioned roles, is also conferred with the rights to screen ministerial nominees, supreme court designates, heads and governing boards of the various statutory extra-ministerial agencies and parastatals of the federal governments amongst other roles.
It is in the light of the above that the electorate in the Lagos-East Senatorial District should look at the upcoming senatorial by-election and regard same with all the seriousness it deserves, knowing that the eventual winner is not just going to fill in their quota or seat in the hallowed chambers but is going to be part of the deliberations that will affect, not just the zone, but the country at large.
The country, today, is besieged with a lot of issues that require urgent and informed attention, from police brutality to insurgency and militancy; from poor infrastructure to poverty; violent crimes, sexual abuse to corruption in all facets of life, the list goes on and on.
All these issues and more are what the legislature, in general and the Senate in particular could help address, either by passing laws or compelling the relevant personnel or agencies to wake up to their responsibilities.
Some of the news making rounds lately in Nigeria about some of the bills some legislators are sponsoring are laughable as they are not only unrealistic or inoperable but also not in tune with the world at present.
The reasons for this are not far from the fact that some of these legislators lack the requisite knowledge, experience and foresight to be able to decipher the chaff from the wheat but play to the gallery or go rabble rousing.
To put an end to this sort of legislative outing, we must demand and vote only people with knowledge, experience and character into the legislature. Time is gone when people are voted into the senate because they are good dancers, composers of melodious songs or for comic relief.
This is the reason I was very impressed at the emergence of Tokunbo Abiru, a renowned banker, as a candidate for the ruling APC for the by-election. Abiru was until August this year the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Bank Limited, Nigeria.
Born on 25 March 1964, he holds a B. Sc (Economics) from Lagos State University, He is an alumnus of both the Harvard Business School and the Lagos Business School. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an honorary senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
Abiru’s banking career spanned close to three decades, taking off in 1991 with the Guaranty Trust Bank where he worked for ten years before leaving for the National Bank and, later, the First Atlantic Bank. He again left the First Atlantic Bank for the First Bank Nigeria, where he rose to the rank of the Deputy General Manager.
He was then called upon by the then governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, to come and join his cabinet as the honourable Commissioner for Finance in 2011. Abiru brought his learning and experience to bear on the portfolio and it was under his watch that the state floated the legendary N80 billion bond which earned the EMEA Finance’s Best Local Currency Bond Award for 2012.
He also initiated large-scale tax reforms in the state that uncovered over 5.5 million tax evaders in 2013 and brought them into the state’s tax net. The reforms also enlarged the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state as it accrued over N6.2 billion in Land Use Charge receivals only.
Obviously not done with his banking career, Abiru left the appointment after two years and returned to the First Bank as an Executive Director, Corporate Banking Group, a post he held until 2016 when he was appointed by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to lead the team selected to reform the then troubled Skye Bank.
It is worthy to note that the apex bank had taken over the ailing financial institution after its audit exposed gross financial and regulatory lapses in its operations. Just like he did as the commissioner for finance, Abiru brought his experience and character to bear on his new assignment. He initiated wide scale reforms that revived the erstwhile troubled bank.
Through his aggressive recovery initiatives, the bank was able to recover over N200 billion outstanding bad loans and reached settlement and restructuring agreements with many chronic bad debtors, resulting in substantially improved payments and prospects of future recoveries.
He rationalized the branch network of the bank and reviewed its service contracts and cash management operations, which resulted in huge financial savings through which he was able to successfully settle many mature trade and bilateral obligations of the bank.
The foregoing eloquently speaks to the talent that Tokunbo Abiru will be bringing to the senate, if the electorate in the Lagos East Senatorial district elect him on 31 0ctober, 2020.
While almost all the candidates may be eminently qualified for the seat, given their constitutional standing, the people of Lagos-East senatorial district, nay Nigerians as a whole, would be better off having a renowned technocrat who is interested in politics and welfare of his people to fill the vacant seat at the hallowed chambers of the senate.
The electorate in the district should look beyond what pecuniary benefits the eventual winner will bring to them, as these are a given for every winner, but what value the eventual winner would additionally bring to the senate for the betterment of, not just the constituency or the state, but for the whole country.
Mujeeb Olagoke, an ICT consultant writes from Ketu, Lagos
