Recently, the Appeal Court sitting in Ilorin sacked the lawmaker
representing Ilorin South constituency in the Kwara State House of
Assembly and ordered the swearing-in of Hon Abdulraheem Agboola as the
only opposition lawmaker in the 24-member legislature. In this report,
HEAD POLITICS, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM writes on what is likely to be
implication of his victory on the polity.
Penultimate Thursday in Ilorin, the Appeal Court announced the sack of
the lawmaker representing Ilorin South constituency, Hon Hassan Azeez
Oluwanilo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ordered the
swearing-in of the his opponent and opposition Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) lawmaker, Hon AbdulRaheem Agboola. According to the
appellate court, Agboola was duly elected in the March 2019 election
thus ending months of anxiety following the protracted legal tussle
over the election.
The court based its decision on the disputed APC primaries which
earlier produced Alhaji Suleiman Abdulsalam popularly known as Sule
Cement as the party’s candidate in the election but was later replaced
with 28-year-old Oluwanilo. Interpreting the action of the APC, the
Appeal Court held that the party has no valid candidate for the 2019
House of Assembly election and thereby declared the candidate with the
second-highest votes, who is the PDP candidate, Abdulraheem Agboola
winner.
The PDP candidate had challenged the eligibility of APC candidate and
his party nomination process at the tribunal following which a fresh
election was ordered. But while INEC was about to commence preparation
for the rerun, the APC approach the court claiming it was Oluwanilo
and not Abdulsalam that won its primaries.
But since the judgment, reactions from top figures in the state have
underscored the implication of the victory in the polity which was led
by no other than Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq himself, an action
which has been described by party chieftains as highly commendable.
According to the Governor in a congratulatory statement by his Chief
Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye forwarded to Pilot Politics, the
development is one of the beauties of democracy which will enrich our
democracy and constitutional development adding that Agboola should
see issues beyond a partisan lens.
“What has happened is one of the beauties of democracy. As respecters
of the rule of law and decorum, we submit to the position of their
Lordships and congratulate our brother from the opposition party.
“Lessons have been learnt on all sides. The development will no doubt
enrich our democracy and constitutional development as a country. On
behalf of the Kwara State Government and leaders of our party, the All
Progressives Congress, we call on Hon. Jimoh AbdulRaheem Agboola to
join us in the patriotic duty to rebuild Kwara State that all of us
can be proud of. We urge him to see issues beyond partisan lens.”
However, for the Kwara State chapter of the opposition PDP, the
victory of Agboola signals the imminent return of the party to power
and attacked the APC for allegedly promoting manipulations and
illegalities. The party in its own congratulatory message joined the
Governor in describing the court’s ruling as a victory for democracy
and the rule of law and further commended Agboola for his resilience
and determination to pursue justice.
According to the PDP chairman, Engr Kola Shittu, the Appeal Court
justices must be hailed for setting aside interests of manipulative
forces and ensuring that justice was duly served. In a statement,
Shittu issued in Ilorin, he lauded the new lawmaker for his belief in
the party’s leadership despite the prevailing circumstances and urged
party members in Ilorin South to continue to work for the success of
the party.
“We are optimistic the party would stage a comeback. The head of the
present administration in the state has so far shown that he is
inexperienced and largely incompetent, judging by the current slow
pace of governance in the State”, the PDP added.
For the immediate past Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly,
Hon Ali Ahmad, who represented Ilorin South in the eighth Assembly,
Agboola and the lawmaker representing Balogun/Ojomu constituency in
Offa, Hon Saheed Popoola should deploy their experience in providing a
clear path to good governance as ranking members in the legislature.
Political pundits believe that the point raised by the former speaker
is very important coming on the heels of concerns and even criticisms
about the purported lack of experience of the rest of the lawmakers
all of who are coming into mainstream governance for the first time
aside Popoola. Agboola, it was gathered, served in the House during
the tenure of former governor of Kwara State, late Muhammed Lawal.
Also, former members of the Kwara State House of Assembly, under the
banner of the PDP while reacting to the judgment, in a statement
signed by its chairman and secretary, Hon. Abraham Ashaolu and Hon.
Isiaka Mogaji respectively, said the Appeal Court verdict was a
victory for democracy and the good people of Ilorin South
constituency. While appreciating the judiciary for rising up to its
solemn responsibility of ensuring that justice prevails, it urged the
PDP as a family to consolidate on this landmark victory to restore the
lost glory of the party in the State. The forum enjoined Hon Agboola
to ensure he brings to bear his legislative experience on the proper
workings of legislature as first arm of government when assumed for
duty.
In the submission of the Kwara State chairman of the Inter-Party
Advisory Council (IPAC) and chairman of the state chapter of Labour
Party, Comrade AbdulMumini AbdulKareem Onagun, the parties and
individuals involved should see the importance of putting the state
first in whatever they do or circumstances they find themselves.
Speaking with Pilot Politics on telephone over the issue, Onagun said
“The appeal court judgement on the Ilorin South House of Assembly
election declaring the PDP candidate winner is a good omen for our
democracy and it goes to show that the judiciary is actually at work
fulfilling its appellation as the poor man’s hope and I think that has
been justified.
“The congratulatory message from Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to
the PDP candidate further proves that Kwara is a state of harmony. I
want to strongly appeal to all politicians that whatever political
party they belong to, what should first be at the back of their mind
is that we are all Kwarans and the state comes first because we don’t
have any other state to call ours. The people have spoken and the
electorates have decided, we should allow the decision to come to play
and I want to appeal to the new House of Assembly member from Ilorin
South, Hon Abdulraheem Agboola to please let us have his own new ideas
that will contribute to the development of the state and lead to more
developmental projects being the only opposition member in the entire
legislature. People will actually want much more from him in terms of
meaningful contribution to how the state can make progress
holistically. This I will advise him. Kwara should also allow them to
do their work as legislature and independent arms of the government.
By and large, this is democracy in play and I want to welcome the new
member and commend Kwarans for maintaining the peace so far because it
is under such peaceful atmosphere we can have a lot of development.
Whatever he feels needed to be done, he should feel free and come
forward with it for the benefit of the state”, the IPAC boss noted.
A Professor of Political Science, Hassan Saliu on his part also
described the development as democracy in action adding that the
Governor has reacted positively to it by welcoming the PDP lawmaker.
“The court has ruled, you win some and you lose some, that is the
(beauty) of democracy”, he submitted.
While INEC is still making preparation to issue Agboola his
Certificate of Return as the commission chair, Mallam Attahiru Garuba
Madami confirmed during a chat in his recently that his headquarter
has be notified and waiting for response before fixing the date for
the ceremony, Agboola has been talking about the implication of his
victory.
“It’s about the task of developing the community, the constituency and
its people and that we are not going to be mouthpiece of the executive
and judiciary but perform our role as a pure legislature recognised as
an independent organ of government even though there must be mutual
relationship to move things. We should be a megaphone of the entire
people of the constituency and the state at large”, he added.
And for those who may nurse the fear that the PDP lawmaker may follow
the bandwagon and dump the party for the APC, Agboola has this to say:
“No, going to the House of Assembly is through the platform of my
party and what is supposed to be important to us and any other
representative is the development of the state and our constituencies.
I am not seeing it with the prism of a lone opposition lawmaker. We
are all colleagues and will work together under a symbiotic
relationship to develop the state. They have their own party and their
agenda likewise me and we will now see how to manage ourselves to make
sure things works. That is matured and preferred politics. At the end
of the day, will I now tell my constituency that I went into the House
to fight and therefore I was unable to bring back the dividends of
democracy to move the constituency forward and make life easy for
them? Primarily we are to move Kwara forward, that is it”.
So as things stand now, all eyes appear to be on the legislature under
the leadership of the Speaker, Hon Danladi Yakubu-Salihu on how they
will react or conduct legislative business henceforth with the coming
of the only opposition lawmaker yet and how Hon Agboola himself will
respond to the fears being raised by supporters and opponents alike.
Thus far, the Governor has expectedly demonstrated a welcome attitude.
It remains to be seen how the actions of the “three wise men”-
viz-a-viz the APC lawmakers, Hon Agboola and Governor Abdulrahman
Abdulrazaq will lead the state to a trajectory of success for the
benefit of the electorates who should be the greatest beneficiary of
the present development.
