Hon Olwale Oshun, a former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, is the National Chairman of Pan Yoruba, Afenifere Renewal Group. He reviewed the state of the nation in this interview:
Excerpts:
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
THE country has witnessed attack on judiciary on occasions but we have not seen such attack on the legislature as witnessed in Abuja and Ekiti. What is the implication of what happened at the NASS?
The sum total of such attack, particularly at the period it happened in Nigeria, was to show the supremacy of the executive arm of government over all other arms.
What happened in the National Assembly coincided with similar police-backed assault on legislature in Ekiti State. This goes to show that institutions of governance are not what they should be in a democratic setting.
Wale Oshun
In my mind, what we have is a situation where Nigerians have sold their souls because at every level, whether in the attack on the High Court Judge in Ekiti or the emotive cry for help by the Chief Judge of Ekiti, there is no moral authority anywhere to bring them justice or succour. Who do we blame, except that the institutions and those who head them are one way or the other compromised and sold their souls.
In any case, in what ways are the legislators better when seven of them can agree to subvert constitutional authority simply because they want power? These individuals did not just appear to force themselves on us, they emerged through some platforms that threw them into positions of power. So, if our society keeps entrusting power into the hands of charlatans, then we deserve the kind of judiciary, legislature, and executive government that we have.
It is an institutional failure. Although, the Federal Government has shown its hand in so many places, whether in Ekiti or Abuja, smashing little persons who cannot stand up to fight for themselves, but then the institutions themselves must show that they have the moral authority and moral convictions to stand up to issues. It is not only when they are affected that they will seek public support. Who stood up for the judges in Ekiti? The legislators, at state and federal levels, kept quiet. Perhaps, if they had stood up at that time, maybe what is happening now would not happen.
So, where does this power play lead us as a country?
The politicians would have to decide themselves. But I can see a situation where gradually, the government is gradually giving the security operatives more roles to play in democratic processes, which should not be, so the day the military stand up to the government and decides to take over power, nobody should complain. Power is an opium in many instances, the more of it you encounter, the more you want to hold on to it.
How do you assess INEC’s preparedness for the forthcoming election?
INEC may be able to speak for itself because outsiders cannot know its intention, we can only extrapolate. But if I take the microscopic view of Lagos Mainland where I monitored the recent PVC collection and CVR exercises, and little extension across Lagos State, there are factors that calls one to question whether INEC is ready or whether it wants to hold an election but only INEC can answer that.
However, what can we deduce from the recent exercises? What I saw was that the bureaucratic support for INEC is weak. Else, if you have prepared for an exercise for many months, why would hundreds of your agents go out with laptops that are non-functional? Some laptops had no batteries, some had bad camera, and some cameras came with a cable that did not fit into any port on the laptop.
So, let us not even talk about INEC’s intention now, let us talk about the bureaucratic competence and readiness for election. What is the probability that on Election Day, they will bring functional equipment and appropriate voter register? They need to answer that question and assure the whole country.
I do not want to start reading meaning into what happened but if INEC really want to hold a free and fair election, would they have not ensured they put in place a competent bureaucracy? INEC has had enough time and they have not spoken out to Nigerians that they lack resources, so we can make a safe assumption that they have the resources and they have the time, yet they are bungling up vital processes that are needed for a credible election.
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