Hon.Adebisi Yusuff a re-elected member of Lagos state House of Assembly representing Alimosho constituency I, in a no holds barred interview with Lanre Adesanya has emphasized the importance of party’s supremacy and its attendant effect on the polity of any nation, he spoke on the power tussle in the 9th NASS and other sundry issues, calling for a deliberate tone down of money politics in Nigeria. Excerpt:
How will you assess the just concluded general election and what lessons are there to be learnt all through the electoral process?
The last election was a tedious project,in fact I am afraid for Nigeria the way we are going, a period will come in this country that if we are not careful we won’t find intelligent people,who have integrity or people that know what to do and when to do it venturing into politics, if you don’t have money. Politics in Nigeria today,I must confess people do not even know what you have contributed towards the development of a system, it is what they can get forgetting that it is what you put down in sustaining the system that matters than what you get from the system, sustaining the system is most paramount now in Nigeria,if this trend continues Uhmm! I am afraid even the not to young to run crooners I pity them because no matter how brilliant you may be if you don’t have the means,money you can’t go far. We thank God in Lagos state we have got a very focused leader that is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who no matter how poor you are,if he discover you and put you in the system, scanning around for money to ensure you are retained it is not an easy task becoming something in Nigeria today,you need money and that is the true position, for me I will continue to be blunt speaking my mind because that would be my legacy that other people would meet, those who have written long time ago we are reading their piece, witty contributions, seminars and all it is what they have the courage of speaking about that inspires the young ones to become something but if you are afraid that you are going to offend somebody and you refused to utter it you are a dead person,because the moment you die with it you are dead completely and that is why I felt that we should do something about money politics.
Has poverty ravaging the country anything to do with it?
It is true to a certain extent but
even you that you are doing everything possible to make the system work when it
comes they forget about what you have done in the past, that is just the blunt
truth, continue to do everything when it comes to election, people you have
even done it to will tell you what have you done?
They forget so soon,in essence I am advocating for the retraining and rebuilding
of our mindset,to ensure what is obtainable today is redefined so as to justify
our continued existence and integrity that we are preaching today. Yes poverty,
how would poverty not come, because the little I suppose to use to invest
in projects the electorates will demand for money,the system won’t thrive
without money it is not the best but all in all for those who appreciate we
give it them,we thank God and for them that they have seen something worth
appreciating in us, that this man has peculiarities, were it to be based on
performance some people are in this country and in the system that what
they have done so far electorates ought not to ask them for anything because of
singular project in the US that person may continue to be there,I just returned
from Chicago, the Speaker of the house over there has been for fifty years in
the house. As a speaker not an ordinary member why you talking about Obasa who
is just going for the fifth term and second time as a Speaker,but when you look
at the way Obasa is handling the position today, you will know that we need
somebody who is full of experience and can stabilize the house, who knows what
to do and when to do it. That is just it building the institution not the
individual, that man still have some trailing at the back, 21 years,30years and
more he I am not saying that should be replicated here no,but that when
somebody good, he is good there is nothing you can say about it.
You recently brandish your CV to prove a point on social
media space,what role do you feel adequate sensitization can play in toning
down money politics?
There is one particular candidate of
a different political party,that man committed what a journalist or
social scientist would call class suicide by derailing from the ruling party
and decamp to another party to contest with me, saying imagine Bisi Yusuff who
cannot even express himself and I regard them as a novice, he could be said to
be suffering from political schizophrenia, they living in illusion and more
like in a mirage due their vested interest which is conflicting with their
sense of reasoning that inform what they are saying, before many of them
were born I have graduated from the university, after being a graduate, I have
spent eight years here, I am aware I would have gotten several additional
degrees within this period and you can’t buy experience with money just forget
about that. In essence I feel I need to thank my constituents for all the
qualities they have seen in me despite the character assassination and the
deliberate heating of the polity,the people stood and they helped I have the
highest vote, 45,000 plus and again Mr. Honourable contested against me with
all the degrees and intimidating resume,the people now call him honourable 2004
because he scored 2004 votes, you can see the wide margin of difference.
It also shows that aside the money some people still remembered your efforts.
Clearly without that there is no way I would have emerged victorious. Especially my health program alone suffice, when I now came out with my compendium people were asking if I was going for governorship and I said no that is it,because it is only governor that can dabble into such a thing and this is just because I am not a sleeping,I’m not a docile honourable and do not run away from them,I have a functional constituency office running from time to time even when I am not around,I have a team of media people who just as you are attending to me are on ground they are now there putting heads together making researches and more because you can’t afford not to be informed so that you are not deformed,a reader is a leader they say.
Leadership tussle in the national assembly, what counsel have you got for them especially the party so that we don’t have a repeat of what transpired in 2015 and what would be your candid advice to the incoming Governor Babajide Sanwoolu?
There is no where in the world that you would do anything outside the party so the party hierarchy should know who is going for what,that is what stabilize the polity of a country. It is not too long time ago,we all know how Saraki dramatically became the senate president by fraud and we saw the result,so why should we go through that trend again, we should not because experience will guide us,now if you obtained your certificate by fraud definitely you would secure a fraudulent job and the end of it shameless exit from the system like Saraki’s defeat, that is where we saw a Senate President lost his polling booth and when he want to go out of his domain people shouted him down,so I will advice the national assembly that whatever they want to do,we have a national leader and other high ranking leaders of the party they should sit together and constitute very formidable team that would have the interest of the nation at heart not individual ambition. It is highly very important.
The law states the legislators at the chambers shall chose among them, the party influence is not really captured,the national chairman is however signalling a direction but to have go, would you consider that a democracy?
That is what the law would say,but there is internal democracy what it means is for you to subject yourself to party discipline and know that maintaining party discipline is very supreme, the party supported them to the heights they were, those faulting that are really not discipline members. If the party is supporting somebody you will know.
So anybody supporting Ali Ndume should be considered as a
not disciplined member of the party?
Oh yes, do you just come to contest for a position without identifying
with the party?The terminology that the party is supreme must hold sway, it is
applicable anywhere even in the United state,anywhere even in UK you know that
the party must have an internal mechanism by which they determine who gets what,the
leadership anywhere comes out of a gradual progression, you cannot just come
from the blues and say you want to be anything or contesting for something,
those is position must have been in the party,the party supported them to
become what they are today and as a result,they must do everything in line with
what the party is saying, but I know they would fail,those who are not toeing
the party line definitely that is what is going to happen.
IMO state outgoing Governor Rochas
Okorocha does not share this view,he believes Oshiomole is a one man mopol who
dictates and who will at the same time ruin the party?
Now they elected a team that won the presidential race, this same Adams
Oshiomole in Nigeria now and vice president, the national assembly and what have
you, if you consider it you would discover that we are in the majority in the
national assembly so with that it is not contestable.
What should Babajide Sanwoolu be mindful of as he looks at
in his executive cabinet selection?
Sanwoolu cabinet selection, he
should not do it alone,he should consult with leaders very widely,that is my
own candid opinion and I said I would not shy away from saying it, he should
not arrogate the selective power to himself alone. It is when you do that, that
people view it as a team work and they would have confidence in you. Gone are
those days when such subsist, Asiwaju will not even do that to anybody,if you
know him like I do, the Jagaban of Borgu would never select alone,he would
ensure he consult with every leaders in each local governments before
concluding or coming up with it and the era of saying somebody is imported from
somewhere is not tenable here. I trust him he has trained thousand of his foot
soldiers today in Lagos,Nationwide and even outside the shore of Nigeria, he is
being reckoned with across Africa as a leader that has a political family,
sometimes even across all the party lines.There are politicians in other
parties who aligned with his political ideologies,the aspirations and all,so
this is the man that we need.
What are you doing differently this third term?
I will build on what I have done and
would continue in a different manner and with more vigor, what have I not
done,I would not sleep on the floor of the house and would be as articulate as
ever. Marshal the point as it should be in the interest of my constituents and
Nigeria as a whole,back to my constituents they should be rest assured that
they have a ranking member of the house as their representative, because it is
constitutional, aside legislative business,my constituents are now more
confident in me,being a third timer, they follow me as a role model,I now have
the Prince of Hope school of thought where I lecture young people to know what
to do, I will never abandon my health program,I am even sure it would outlive
me, then education being a vehicle for development, when you build the mind of
the people you have built the schools,roads, several social amenities and
infrastructure yet to be seen, I will continue to fund their academic progression,distributing
Jamb forms,skill acquisition like ICT training and more. As former council
chairman and a ranking legislator I will bring my wealth of experience to bear
and lobby the executive to curry better favours in my constituency. Our
speaker have chatted a course for us today to forge ahead,citing California and
Atlanta, let’s leave that even Istanbul in Turkey remained a reference point
going huge infrastructural upliftments everywhere. We can do more that in
Lagos.
This 9th Assembly will be a different one owing to the fact that so many
experienced lawmakers are returning so expect robust legislative session.
How do you view the reduction in the number of women
especially in the coming 9th assembly?
Given women soft landing in political space means you are reducing their
status, in the university the score that secure you admission is not gender
sensitive, consider Hon Tejuosho whose stance is more than a man,they should
join the struggle, if they keep lamenting men would continue to dominate them in
the political space.