Rep Moshood Mustapha is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member representing Asa/Ilorin-West constituency of Kwara state in the House of Representatives and a member of the House Committee on Petroleum. He had at different times served as commissioner for agriculture and lands under the immediate past administration of Bukola Saraki(now senator). MM, as fondly called, also served as Special Adviser on Special Duties as well as the states Amir-l Hajj in 2010 under the same administration. He spoke to UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB in Ilorin on the Farouk-Otedola bribery saga currently rocking the House, the members integrity, recent shake-up in the NNPC leadership and the re-run election into the state House of Assembly which the PDP won penultimate Saturday

Subsidy bribery saga

You see, it’s been a very serious matter because the issue of fuel subsidy is something that has really affected the Nigerian economy and the people. People take the issue very, very serious and based on the credibility of the report at the time it was submitted, it was very disappointing to get to know that something very serious happened without the knowledge of the entire House, and Nigerians are actually disappointed. And it’s unfortunate that they were even looking at it as if it’s a big issue that is going to rock the boat. But interestingly, we are very good in crisis management. I don’t want to pronounce anybody guilty because it’s before the security agencies and probably, it will subsequently go to the court and I believe that whoever that had soiled his hand either be it Lawal(Farouk) or Otedola(Femi), I know that the law is not a respecter of anybody. So, it is very easy for the law to take its course. But, as members, we want people to know that we believe so much in Nigeria, we believe so much in the Nigerian people, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we provide the platform for good governance and that exactly is what we intend to achieve.

Members’ integrity

We belong to different committees in the National Assembly, and that does not mean that if one finger is soiled, that you will expect that other fingers are also soiled. As far as the member of that committee from Kwara…, I know who you are talking about… who happens to be a member of that ad-hoc committee. If by one way or the other, he finds himself in that committee and he had done creditably well and one way or the other, this crisis erupted ,that does not mean he has image crisis.

We have a creditable representative on that committee in person of Ali Ahmad. And since this investigation started, nobody has ever pointed any accusing finger at him because we know his pedigree, we know what he can do, we are sure that after the whole thing unfolded, our brother will come out without any blemish. That, I can assure you.

Shake-up in NNPC

One thing that is very constant in life is change. It is very obvious and government is a continuum and nobody can be in a particular position in government and expects to be their forever .We see it as a normal thing as far as we are concerned in the legislature. Based on the kind of oversight function we perform over the executive, we believe that from time to time ,this kind of change will come. Because it’s like the oil sector… and everybody has seen that there is so much crisis within the oil sector, and of course the National Assembly which has the responsibility to check them has been making so many pronouncements about our findings within that sector. So, it’s incumbent on the executive to take action and that is the only way we can move together. That, I want to believe was exactly what crystallised in the recent change at the NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation). What you have seen is just a very simple thing.

Government has seen that there is the need for reinvigoration of some other people who can move that sector forward and they have done just that, and if there is any other thing or changes that will come, it will be welcomed because the president has the executive power to change his cabinet and he has taken that position, and it is acceptable to us in the National Assembly. So, we don’t have any problem with that.

Kwara Assembly re-run

It is an unfortunate situation because we know that the election that was conducted in 2011 was free and fair, most especially in this ward (Balogun Alanamu ) which happens to be my own ward. As the representative of the people, it was very credible. But you know when you talk about election and electoral law, there is absolutely nothing that you can do, you have to follow the law and if it is the wish of the court that there should be a re-run, we in the PDP as a law abiding party and people, have no choice other than to ensure that we reach out to our people, implore them to come out again which we know quite sure that is not an easy task. After coming out of a very rigorous election within a year or thereabout, we had to call out our people again to come and perform their civic responsibility. I think by and large, this task is something we believe we cannot avoid and that is why we are here and as you can see it is very peaceful and orderly and we believe that at the end of the day, we are really going to make a statement, and what statement are we going to make? That PDP is really on ground in Kwara.