Hon. Esosa Iyawe Calls for Valuation of Public Assets in Nigeria, Urge Nigerians to be Patient with the Present Administration.

Hon. Esosa Iyawe, a member representing the good people of Oredo Federal Constituency in Edo state has called for Valuation of Public Assets in Nigeria and to Ensure Accountability in the Management of Government Assets. In a motion he presented at the floor of the green chamber, the house, acknowledged that the valuation of public assets may be undertaken for a range of purposes including financial reporting, privatization planning, disposal, acquisition, rental, and compensation amongst others, and to determine whether a public asset is being used and managed efficiently. While the public assets valuation is important because it helps to assess the level of growth of a country, hence embarking on such exercise will help the government to seek the most suitable avenues to enhance economic development. Aware that the Federal Government owns a potential goldmine of assets, mostly in the form of real estate and government-owned companies, and with better administration, many of those assets could generate value and a revenue stream to fund government budgets and that public sector accounting is essential for achieving optimum return on investments and reducing the cost of liabilities, the Federal Government needs to regularly take accurate stock of its assets 
to ensure economic sustainability. Moreso, concerned about reports which show that there is uncertainty about actual assets owned by the Federal Government as some are claimed to be unknown while some are, according to a report, “dead and gone’ and that asset valuation has not been given much attention by the Federal Government, and improper documentation has caused avoidable huge economic losses to the country, which is also an indictment to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The House unanimously resolved to urge the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) to embark on comprehensive enumeration and valuation of all public assets and publish a detailed inventory of the assets in a register that would be available to the public; and mandate the Committees on Finance and Public Assets to ensure compliance, and investigate the management of assets by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government to ensure accountability and eliminate uncertainties regarding assets owned by the Federal Government, and curbing economic loss to the country. Honourable, Esosa Iyawe after the presentation of the motion on the floor of the green chamber, had a chat with the correspondent of Nassnews, the number one parliament newspaper in Nigeria.

Nassnews: What were you doing initially before you came into politics? Kindly, compare where you are coming from and where you are right now, can we say you are disappointed?
Hon. Iyawe: I am Honourable, Esosa Iyawe, I am a member of Engineer Society of Nigeria. I represent the good people of Oredo Federal Constituency in Edo state, I am a Labour party man. I can say I came in at the right time, I was a consultant, an engineer and a businessman and I chose to put my hat in the ring because I knew that good governance is not rocket science and good governance is something that we need to emulate in Nigeria. And we need to get good lawmakers that would make laws and create bills and motions that would ease the lives of the average Nigerian. A lot of members came in with the same ideology to change the narrative. This is the first assembly where you have more new members than returning members. We are working together and we will be moving motions and I believe in record. This is the first assembly that has good amount of motions and bills moved within six months, this shows that we are really out to effect the change that Nigeria really need in years past. I can say I appreciate being here. I am not disappointed I am encouraged that things would definitely change
Nassnews: Let us talk about your motion this week, What instigated you?
Hon. Iyawe: The title of my motion was ‘The Need to evaluate public assets in Nigeria and ensure accountability in the management of government assets. The reason why I moved that motion is because there are a lot of assets sitting idle in Nigeria that belongs to the federal government. And currently we need to generate revenues for the country so that we can ease our debt margin and ease the lives of Nigerians.
So valuating these assets will let us know how much Nigeria is worth and how we could even get most of the MDAs or agencies to manage these assets as most of them are sitting idle in Nigeria.
Nassnews: What are the expectations from this motion?
Hon. Iyawe: The House had carried the motion that should be implemented, that the Committee House Committee on Public Assets should actually evaluate these assets, monitor the management of the valuation and at the same time the House had urged the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on the majority of states, to handle this comprehensive evaluation and enumeration
Nassnews: So with this resolution, how is this going to affect your constituents?
Hon. Iyawe: We actually have some properties in Benin that have corroded, that is one of the major reasons why I moved this motion, the national assets are idle and the structures are there but it is not being used. It evaluates with this motion and we will move into getting the inventory of all these properties and know how to utilize them instead of paying rent in most of these agencies that we have. So it should definitely ease the lives of Nigerians by curbing the excesses from the federal government and using those funds to make things happen in other agencies.
Nassnews: Is there going to be any income from these assets?
Hon. Iyawe: No, there won’t be income from the assets because it is for the
federal government. The federal government should be able to utilize these properties and do
away with renting properties for agencies. I know some of them are actually on rent and we can
save money from the coffers of the federal government and utilize it channel to somewhere more
productive.
Nassnews: What excites you about this budget 2024 projects?
Hon. Iyawe: The exciting part of the budget is the part of security that this administration has decided to take as a priority. So security is very important in Nigeria currently and this administration has decided to handle this and the budget for security is very good. I believe beginning from the supplementary budget from 2023, the palliatives that this administration had already given out to let Nigerians ease off from the subsidy removal is another good thing about the budget.
Nassnews: Has the budget taken care of the plight of your people?
Hon. Iyawe: This administration just kicked off, especially regarding the swearing in of lawmakers and the executives, not all MDAs or agencies have been occupied. I believe so far we have not really kicked off activities in this administration and gradually it would pick up. I would really urge Nigerians to be to be patient, let us see how 2024 goes, i believe things will get better and for now, let us carry each other along and hope for the best come 2024.
Nassnews: Are you a member of any committee?
Hon. Iyawe: I am a member of committee on Finance. We in the Finance Committee have been talking about the Nigeria Airport Authority and trying to check with their excesses, I could tell you categorically that the reason why Mr. President did a full overhaul of the aviation ministry is because of the committee in Finance recommendation because we had discovered a lot of mishaps and I believe the executive took it upon themselves to act. It was a good move by the executive because we really don’t need people in the system that handle ministries and do not give returns to the federal government. As I said, excess is what we should be after because we need to generate revenue so that we will be able to keep the economy going. And without revenue we can’t reduce our debt margin and the economy cannot move. So that is a very good proactive move by Mr. President and I think there are more searchlights on other agencies and there will be a lot of changes to be made very soon that is good.
Nassnews: Now talking about your constituents, what can you point as your achievement?
Hon. Iyawe: My constituency is a metropolitan constituency, despite the palliative programs, there is a football tournament that I set up, it started in November 11th and ended December 9th. About 40 football clubs in my constituency registered for that tournament and each team were given stipends for participating and three winners emerge. The first, second and third were handsomely rewarded with prizes and the major aim of that my sports empowerment program was to empower one of two youths in sports, I believe we can empower a whole community. So my major goal is to build on their talents in the football and get them to play internationally in any good clubs for them to earn a living. It is good to go to school but if you are talented you can still make ends meet with your talent. We have lost a lot of talents in Nigeria and just have to build on our youths and their talents before they come of age.
Nassnews: Looking at you as an opposition party member, can you say majority do not need a checkmate?
Hon. Iyawe: Nigeria before, had leaders that were not really out to effect the change, they were just out for their own selfish interest. Now we have had a whole numbers of leaders that are actually wanting to make the real change happen. Now with the emergence of my party, for instance, my party has put a lot of other politicians on check that you must do the work for people to feel you as a lawmaker and as a leader of the community. So with this happening now, I believe in future and nearest future. As I said 2024, you did change the actual impact of the new leaders and this new polity will definitely be felt by everybody in Nigeria. Thank you.

BY:LUCKY KENEDY