Alhaji Ibrahim Isyaku O. Mukhtar is the chairman of Toto Local Government of Nasarawa State. Recently, he emerged as the best chairman in the Nasarawa State and one of the best in the country. In this interview conducted in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, he says more than anything, the influence of godfathers has been responsible for the poor performances of political office holders, and lots more.

Excerpts:

When you got the award as the best local chairman in your state, how exactly did you feel?

Actually, I felt very happy and at the same time, it was encouraging because some of my colleagues even asked how I got the award. I remember that a few organizations called me for some awards but I told them I was not interested. You can only give me award when I know that you have assessed me thoroughly. But if you just want give me award so that you collect money from me, I will tell you that I am not interested. Therefore I am encouraging not only the Senate and the House of Representatives but even the Nigeria Union of Journalists to establish the reality on ground because to be sincere politics is dynamic. It is not like before that you lie to people that you have done this and that.

Did you have to pay money to get this award?

No, no. They came to my local government and I directed them to the works department to see my director of works so that they could go around. Actually I was thinking of fuelling their cars and providing their meals but they said no. They told me that when they finish their assignment and come back, they will eat the food if they come to meet it. They went to every unit in my ward. The team was made up of about five to six people.

Before the announcement, did you know that you were actually the best chairman?

No, no. I didn't know. When they came to my local government, they did not even tell me that an award was going to be given. They simply said they were sent from the National Assembly to come and inspect our projects.

Did the award come with money?

No, no, there is no money.

Is there any area you feel the federal government should intervene in assisting Nigerian local governments to solve some of the problems they are facing?

Yes. I suggest that funds should be given to the local government directly and the tenure of the local government should be spelt out correctly in the constitution so that it will be uniform throughout the country.

As chairman, what have been your achievements?

Actually I had a plan. I wrote a book titled Action Plan, which I decided to use as a guide when I came on board. The action plan is about the problems of my area and how to tackle them. I highlighted in the book five cardinal points- road, health care, education, water and agriculture. I started with township and by-pass road construction. Coming to agriculture, we purchased two tractors, some agricultural implements and chemicals for distribution to farmers at subsidized rate. We were also able construct about 10 boreholes and rehabilitated about five. In the health sector, we renovated about seven clinics and constructed about five new ones and purchased drugs worth about N2.3 million. We will commence distribution immediately I return home. We also renovated the local government secretariat which was in bad condition. We also have about three bridges under construction now.

Most local government chairman complain that they don't have money to carry out projects. How do you cope with this and the payment of primary school teachers' salary?

Actually, teachers' salaries are deducted directly from source by the state and since we assumed office, we never had problem with teachers. When we came in, the first thing that came to our mind is how do we administer people and how do we utilise the scarce resources at our disposal. So what we did first was to flush out ghost workers. We also discovered that some people were working in Lafia and at the same time working in my local government. We therefore introduced another I.D card which is computerised and we were able to flush those ones out. Another problem which persisted in the local government is the "bring make I chop" syndrome, which I decided to stop. We were able to curtail colossal waste of resources by blocking any loopholes where money will be stolen. We have also boost our local revenue and appointed a controlling that controls it.

So is there any justification for council chairmen to link none performance to scarce resources?

There is no justification because Governor Akwe Doma is giving us our money. The moment the money comes from the federation account, it is shared and you know whatever you have as your allocation.

What is your relationship with the party (PDP) as regards your duties and party expectation?

In Nasarawa State, we have no conflict with the party. The party has never interfered in our work. And thank God throughout my campaign, I did not take a dime from anybody. Currently, I don't have any godfather. If you have godfather, it will be difficult for you to operate freely. What normally brings the godfather influence is a situation whereby you leave your job prematurely and someone sponsors you to win a position I won't advice anybody to leave his work and join politics. You should wait until you retire.

How did you get involved in politics and what are the things that attracted you into it?

It started right from the primary school where I was a Head boy. In secondary school, I was House Captain and in the Polytechnic, I was the Financial Secretary of the Students' Union Government. So, I started politics right from school. I was worked with a private organization after leaving school before I left to establish my own business. In 2003, I decided to go into politics during which I contested for House of Representatives and I lost. Then, my people decided to call me again in 2007 to contest for local government chairman. I first looked at it as an insult. This is somebody who wanted to go to the House of Representatives and they were asking me to contest the chairmanship position. But at the end of the day, they convinced me and I vied for the chairmanship in November 2008 and won.

When you lost the bid to represent your federal constituency in the House of Representatives in 2003, did you feel like quitting politics?

No, no, no. Many people then told me to leave PDP and join another party. I refused because I did not want to be a prostitute in politics. I decided to stick to the party. Right from 1990, I have been in the PDP and I feel I cannot move from one party to another. It is not healthy.

There are speculations that you are eyeing the governorship position in Nasarawa State. How true is this?

That is not true. For now, I don't have any such ambition.

What is your ambition then?

My ambition lies in anything that my people want me to do. Somebody had called to ask if I will be interested in continuing after the expiration of my tenure as local government chairman and I told him it is left for the people to decide. If you notice very well, any politicians desperate hardly offers anything to his people.