PROFILING THE ASPIRANTS

Olanrewaju AjiboyeSaturday, April 22, 2006
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London, UK

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MR. FOLARIN SANNI:
SENATORIAL ASPIRANT FOR LAGOS CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT
UNDER THE PLATFORM OF PDP (www.tunjisanni2007.com)


he Nigeria Political clime is full of frustrations, disappointments and betrayals on the part of the elected to the electors. Good and upright public office holders are few in numbers compared to sophists and opportunists parading themselves as people's representatives


Mr. Folarin Sanni

Another opportunity is coming for the renewal of the contract by these so-called elected public officials. As the saying goes, "Power belongs to the people" and that power is vested in one-man, one- vote in a democracy. It is in this context that we the electorate should look before we leap, because our collective wisdom or folly can make or mar our aspirations for peace, progress and development.

If an individual offers himself for public service, he has to a reasonable extent, surrendered his or her privacy for public scrutiny. Based on this, we shall be profiling prospective aspirants on the strength of who they say they are and their level of understanding of the problems confronting the people they aspire to lead. It is for the readers to form an opinion and make up their minds about them.

Today, we present to you a Senatorial Aspirant for Lagos …District under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Folarin Sanni. Co-incidentally, he happens to be the first aspirant to be profiled under this column.

Mr. Folarin Sanni was born in Lagos on 31st December, 1963.By Virtue of his maternal lineage, he is one of the great grand sons of that Great merchant, Alli-Balogun of Lagos Island. His father, Arch. M.A.O. Sanni was a retired civil servant who served meritoriously with LEDB for 40 years and his mother is/was Alhaja Abeni Fatimota(Nee Alli-Balogun).

According to his C.V., Mr. Folarin Sanni has a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago USA. Apart from that, he is also a Licensed Nursing Assistant of the state of Illinois and a Licensed Real Estate Agent and Estate Broker, also in the State of Illinois, Chicago USA.

By virtue of Mr. Folarin's family and educational pedigrees according to his Resume, he is a full-blooded Lagosian and he is qualified for such a political office in Nigeria. Asked for his vision as a senatorial aspirant and his response is

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"MY VISION AS A SENATOR IS TO WORK ON FEDERAL STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA,FIX THE IMBALANCE.MAKE NIGERIA A COUNTRY WHERE WE RESPECT RULE OF LAW.OBEY BOTH THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF LAW".

Other initiatives Mr. Folarin Sanni intends to achieve if elected a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are:

Political Initiatives

  1. A change in the aspects of the constitution which currently prevent the arrest or prosecution of elected public officials during their term of office. It is unfortunate that in the current dispensation, certain public officials have used their immunity from prosecution to shield themselves from public scrutiny. The present process where public officials suspected of wrongdoing have to be impeached and removed from office before they can face criminal prosecution is unwieldy and cumbersome. Proposed changes:

    • A change in the constitution to remove the blanket political immunity conferred on elected officials.

    • An amendment that protects officials from frivolous civil suits while allowing for charges to be brought against any public officer suspected of criminal activity

    • Legislators and executive officials should be allowed to step aside for brief periods of up to 6 months to allow them to defend themselves if charged with a crime.

    • Special powers should be given to members of the judiciary to allow them a free hand to investigate and bring charges against dishonest elected officials without fear of retaliation.

  2. There should be provision of a certain percentage of budget allocation for each state provided to its legislators to enable them to undertake social and infrastructure projects in their constituencies.

  3. Creation of a workshop/ job centres in conjunction with local businesses to link them with potential employees and to provide mentoring to young people.

  4. Provision of annual scholarships to local universities for public school teachers with the legislative district. Any activity that brings elected officials into positive contact with teachers is important considering their vital role in the electoral process.

  5. Primary elections to pick internal party officers should be conducted by state electoral commission representatives to promote impartiality and reduce factional conflict.

  6. The party should have a specific committee in place to receive incoming member other political parties and to provide them with proper orientation on their roles in their new political home.

  7. Chairmanship of legislative committees should be for no more than two years after which new legislators should be elected to fill the posts. This is to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of just a few legislators.

  8. Creation of a single six year term for senators and members of the House of Representatives to reduce the infighting and tension inherent in reelection campaigns.

Social Initiatives

The social initiatives serve 2 purposes

  1. To provide some services to the community

  2. To leverage those services into political capital by establishing clear long term relations with groups essential to getting elected which include road transport workers, teachers union, "boys" less employed youths and a consultative forum for local traditional leaders.

    1. Traditional leaders confer legitimacy on the candidate, introduce them to relevant elders

    2. Transport workers and "youths" help mobilize and "deliver" the vote and most importantly teachers help COUNT the vote.

A candidate who devotes his attention solely on using the party's machinery to get elected, risks being caught unawares if "party elders" decide to impose a different candidate during internal primaries.

Construction/ Structural Infrastructure

An oversight unit should be set up consisting of members of the local society of engineers. Its role should be to inspect and certify road and infrastructure projects in their local area to ensure quality work is done; that is quality assurance and quality control, and to reduce the incidence of abandoned projects or shoddy work. The members of this panel or committee should be elected once a year from the ranks of the local civil and electrical engineering society. They should serve for no more than 1 year without consecutive terms. Their activities should be funded partly thru donations and levies on member engineers and a fee assessed to companies executing infrastructure projects. Legislation should be written to empower this impartial body to make recommendations to the ministries before projects are certified and contractors paid. Limiting the terms of the unit members would reduce the possibility of the "Nigerian factor" coming into play.