With Uwais report, credible election is possible in Nigeria -Husain
By: REMI ADEFULU
Monday, May 18, 2009

Honourable Mudashiru Oyetunde Husain, a two term member of the House of Representatives (1999-2007) was also the Action Congress (AC) Senatorial Candidate in Osun state during the 2007 general election. He contested the Osun West Senatorial Seat against the former governor of the state, Otunba Isiaka Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the latter was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The matter is still before the Appeal Court as Hussein challenged the result legally.
In a brief chat with Daily Sun in Lagos recently, the American trained French Language graduate spoke on the challenged mandate and also spoke on the electoral reform enthusing that, with Uwais report implementation undoctored, Nigeria stands the chance of having credible elections in the nearest future.

Excerpts:
Appeal against Senator Isiaka Adeleke
It’s been very tough, but we are hoping that there’s going to be light at the end of the tunnel. Why I said that, is because we have good evidence to show or prove our case that, election was full of malpractices brought about by non-compliance with the electoral act. So, that is why we pray that justice will prevail at the end of the day.
By the grace of God, I know that, if a re-run is going to be conducted today, under free and fair election, I am going to beat Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke hands down.

Can you say same for Aregbesola?
Oh yes. His chances of being the governor of Osun state based on 2007 election is very bright indeed, because if you look at the antecedent of Aregbesola in Lagos State, under our able governor emeritus, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, you will discover that Aregbesola is well equipped to govern Osun State more than Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
And again, I have no doubt in my mind that Oyinlola himself knows that Aregbesola won that election. Therefore, there is no doubt that, by the grace of Almighty God, Aregbesola will soon become the governor of Osun State. Since the Court of Appeal has already decided to compel the new panel to look into and review all the evidences tendered by Aregbesola which were rejected by the first lower Tribunal, we are hopeful that, the end result would be in our favour. And if you read the final judgment read by the Honourable Justice Victor Omaghe, he said, the verdict was partial victory for Aregbesola. So we don’t have anything to fear.

If Aregbesola had been in power for the past one year, of course, by now Osun State people would have been in jubilation. They would have been in full praise of the Almighty God that the struggle which we have been activating all these years could become true. This is because, if you check the antecedent of Bola Tinubu or the performance of Fashola in Lagos State, you will know definitely that, if Aregbesola had been declared winner for that election almost two years now, the people of Osun State would have been in festive mood.

Right now, not only the AC supporters that are regretting, the people of Osun State are in a hurry to see Aregbesola coming as a governor of Osun State. Look, for almost two years now, what has he done to better the lot of Osun State. Anyway, for us in Lagos State, we are not surprised because Olagunsoye Oyinlola had been a governor of Lagos State during the military era, he did nothing. So if Olagunsoye was a governor of Lagos State in the military era, and did not do anything with all the resources and all the commercial activities, he was not expected to do anything in Osun state. So, it is not going to be a surprise to us if he is not performing in Osun State.

Are you foreseeing credible election in the nearest future?
If the committee which the Federal Government has set up to review the Uwais’ report has recommended that the report be implemented, it means we will have a brighter future, via political activities in this country. I see no reason why the Uwais report should be doctored, because with that report, we would have a semblance of true democracy. It is a semblance of the will of the people of Nigeria. They travelled worldwide, memoranda were collected and for that reason, the Uwais report appeared to be the will of Nigerian people. Federal Government spent our tax payers money on this committee, they spent their time and energy and I see no reason why this time around, Federal Government would just sit down somewhere and constitute another Kangaroo panel to review their work. The will of the people should be paramount in our mind in handling the recommendation. We have problem.

Nigerian Constitution
I don’t think we have a controversial constitution. It is because since the Obasanjo era, nobody is ready to implement this constitution. And moreover, if you want to amend the constitution, you cannot amend it in entirety. We can amend the constitution according to what we believe will help the Nigerian nation as it happens in America and Britain. You can never see any developed country that wants to review the entire constitution of the country. I don’t believe in that. The amendment should be made piece meal so that we can move forward.

Economic meltdown
I think Mr. President, Yar’Adua has taken a bold step by cutting down salaries of political office holders. Not only that, he has also taken a bold step by cutting unnecessary spending and that rare courage can assist our economy because during the era of excess, our leaders did not think about the future of this nation. So they spent money anyhow.
So, it is only a conservative party, which is PDP that can do that. And that’s why we are praying that a progressive party should take over the affairs of this country. By the time we have a progressive party at the helms of affairs in this country. The country would be better for it. I think Nigerians will realize the difference between the conservative and progressive parties.

National conference
I prefer a conference that has legal backing. They should send a bill to the National Assembly, it could be either a private or government bill to back up that kind of conference. After the conference they can even send the outcome or the communiqué or the bill to the National Assembly where we will have the final approval. Because mind you the first responsibility of the National Assembly, is to make law for good governance of this country. The conference is necessary because the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be hinged on the collective idea of all ethnic groups in Nigeria. We must all be represented, so as to be able to say, this is our own constitution as Nigerians.