Proponents Of Interim Govt Suffering From Military Rule Hangover-Isa Aremu

 Those proposing the idea of having an Interim Government in place of a democratically elected president on May 29, had simply  shown signs of suffering from military hangover, the Director General of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Comrade Isa Obalowu Aremu, has said.

Describing ‘Interim Government’  as one of the ‘dubious’  legacies  of the military rule in the country  that had already gotten  discredited,  outdated,  and out of fashion,  Comrade Isa Aremu also cited the court ruling that had  subsequently declared  it illegal.

 It will be recalled that late Chief MKO Abiola was though believed to have won the presidential election held on  June 12 1993, the then Military President , retired General Ibrahim Babangida  had however not only annulled the election but had also come up with the idea of an interim  National Government and handed over power to late Chief Earnest Shonekan on August 26, 1993.

 Justice Dolapo Akinsanya of Lagos state High Court had also on  November 10 1993  declared Interim National Government illegal  , a development that made the late Chief MKO Abiola say ‘it takes us one step closer to establishment of government that is based on the consent of the people’.

 Late General Sani Abacha however struck on November 17, 1993, and he became the Head of State.

Comrade Isa Aremu while talking to journalists including Team@orientactualmags.com during the iftar dinner he  hosted at his Ilorin residence on Sunday commended the nation’s electoral umpire; Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC  for ensuring that elections were held as scheduled  while also  commending   voters  for coming  out to exercise their democratic right.

Muslims are ordered to fast from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan and Iftar is the evening meal they take after the sun has gone down.

 ‘It’s quite clear that Nigerians are now committed to democratic rules despite the economic challenges in the country’ Aremu submitted.

He also added that Nigerian democracy has continued to grow steadily.

‘ Largely, the local and international observers agreed that Nigeria has come off age in terms of democratic process. So I commend all Nigerians for this . To complete the process, we must have  the inauguration of  the president-elect as well as the state governors on May 29. Nigerians should keep the date because it is a whole value chain, you can’t pick February 25th , March 18th  and isolate May 29 that is the logical conclusion,  we should  all work towards getting elected leaders inaugurated.

 For those who are aggrieved, we have the processes for seeking redress through the tribunals. And I want to commend all the key actors who have taken advantage of the election petition  tribunals. That’s the way to go in a democracy. You know we count on the judiciary to do justice to all the cases.

For those who are calling for an interim government I think they should perish the thought because it’s illegal and it’s undemocratic. It’s unacceptable. It was the respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Mr. Afe Babalola (SAN) who first of all mooted the idea of interim government sometimes in June last year. It was randomly condemned because it is an undemocratic contraption. I think with the outcomes of the elections now, because  he made the remark in question out of the phobia that possibly elections would not take place and that the elections will produce what he called recycle leaders but  we know very well that this year’s general election has turned out leaders  as favoured  by the voters. For the first time we are having a robust  parliament  that is not dominated by one or two political parties I don’t think Chief Babalola wound want to propose such an idea again’ he added.

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Comrade Isa Aremu , who served as Director of Labour Directorate of Ashiwaju/Shetima Presidential Campaign Council ( PCC),  also asserted that notwithstanding possible shortcomings, there is no alternative to having a democratically elected person in charge of the affairs of the country while noting that Nigerians must also play a role in ensuring good governance even after elections have produced winners.

‘I’m quite excited that Nigeria is marking 24 years of uninterrupted democracy. I think deficiency of democracy can only be strengthened by more democracy and nothing else. For whatever you may wish to say , this democracy has produced six presidents of  the federal republic of Nigeria. At a point,  a sitting president, Alhaji Umaru Yaradua  died, may his soul rest in peace  but inspite of the challenges, nobody suggested the idea  of having an  interim government.

Rather, we used the same constitution to  produce a  successor  in person of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who also lost re-election bid later. So, I don’t think we should be talking of interim government because it has been decaled illegal. It’s also alien to this current constitution and it’s an aberration to the entire democracy. Those who are mooting such an idea  should perish the thought, they should organize  and not agonize if you’re aggrieved you seek redress at the tribunal. And if you’re happy with the outcome, then we should all work towards inauguration.

 Even  after May 29,  we should work towards  good governance. An election is just  the means , the end is good governance. It is not over until we combine political democracy with economic democracy and this  can only come when we uplift our people out of poverty, millions are still living in poverty meaning that votes had not translated into prosperity for majority of our people so there is a lot for us to organize for and very little to agonize for in terms of the interim contraption’ he added.

Earlier, while giving a short sermon , Sheikh Sulaiman Kasandubu had  urged Muslims and people of other faiths to let it exercise their minds that there would be a reward for whatever anyone has done here on earth while also emphasizing importance of getting closer to God spiritually- Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980. Thank you