…says if need be NASS will make necessary amendments to strengthen it
Rep Kingsley Chinda is a lawyer, a one time Commissioner for Environment in Rivers State, a fourth timer in the House of Representatives, former chairman Reps Committee on Public Accounts in this interview with journalists after receiving his Certificate of Return spoke extensively on the presidential elections, use of BVAS, his dreams for the tenth Assembly, excerpts.
Hear him:
Let us feel your pulse on this whole certificate of return, how do you feel about today?
My name is Kingsley Chinda, I am a serving member of the House of Reps and I am also a returning member for Obio Akpor Federal Constituency in Rivers state.
Well I will say that I am receiving this certificate of return with high sense of responsibility. I know what it means to be asked to come to the National Assembly for the 4th time.
I know that my people expect much more than they would expect from a new member for me and I pray that by the grace of God that I will not disappoint them.
Not just the people of Obio Akpor Federal Constituency, the entire country expects much more from me than they would expect from those who are just coming into the National Assembly.
And my position is that I will put in my best to ensure that I bring something new on board, that my wealth of experience will be of benefit to the entire country.
How would you describe the just concluded general elections?
I will say that with the amended Electoral Act, the just concluded elections are better than what we had experienced in the past. In as much as it might not be perfect, we have not gotten to where we expect to be but it is a departure from the past.
Let me give you a glaring example, in Rivers state we had no case of violence all through the elections. In the past, perhaps we may have heard one or two cases of violence and I think this is an improvement.
I believe that it is better for Nigerians to be safe and gradually we perfect the system when it comes to the issues of BVAS and all that, perhaps the uploads that were not on time as expected.
Those are things that could be corrected over time.
Let me also appeal to Nigerians that this is our first experience with BVAS, for us lawmakers we will go back, look at what we have seen, if there is need to amend the laws.
For INEC, those who are the practitioners in the field, they will also see the lapses and they will keep correcting until we perfect but Nigerians must be patient with the system.
What are your plans for people with disabilities?
Well, not just for people with disabilities, we will talk about special cases, people with disability, children and women who are seen to be vulnerable in the society.
Of course we have started with the not too young to run bill which has passed, we also expect that the bill for people with physical deformities or disabilities will not only sail through but we will look into it further.
For me as a ranking member, I think that this time around I might have to sit down personally, interface with this group of persons, know their needs in parliament, their legislative needs and see how I can champion it.
