PREPARATORY to the conduct of July 8 bye election for Osun West Senatorial District, Senator Mudashiru Hussain, on Wednesday emerged as the flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC)
Hussain, who had last week Sunday been disqualified by the screening committee of the APC led by Hon Sanusi Garba Rikiji from participating in Wednesday’s primaries later had his disqualification upturned by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
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At the primaries exercise held in one of the event centres in Osogbo, Osun State capital, over 3,000 delegates of the APC voted massively for Hussain, who was the only aspirant left in the race after Ademola Adeleke had decamped to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), where he emerged as the candidate of the party.
Adeleke, who was cleared last week Sunday to contest on the platform of the APC, later wrote a letter to the authorities of the party, resigning his membership before joining the PDP.
However, Hussain at the APC primaries, conducted by Hon Sanusi Garba Rikiji polled 2,412 votes to emerge as unopposed candidate of the party.
In his acceptance speech shortly after the exercise, he described his emergence as victory for the APC, people of Osun West Senatorial District and the people of the state in general, stressing that the development was a further testimony of the life-changing feat of APC led administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Husain used the occasion to call for the observation of a minute silence honour of the late Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke whose death he described as painful.
While appealing to all party faithful to always toe the line of obedience and submission to party leadership in tandem with democratic tenets, he emphasized party supremacy at all times just as he reflected on circumstances that earlier surrounded his disqualification.
According to Hussain, “It is to the public knowledge, that this contest was characterised by twists and turns, amongst which was my earlier disqualification by the screening committee of the party, which decision was upheld by the Appeal Screening Committee. However, as stipulated in the guideline of our party, the NWC upheld my further appeal to it as the body with power to make final verdict on the qualification of any candidate.”
He then expressed appreciation to the national chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Governor Rauf Aregbesola and all the leaders and members of APC throughout the country for their unflinching support leading to his emergence as the flag bearer for the rerun election.
“I believe in the oneness of our party, and I took the decision to use legal means to correct what I felt has been wrongly done by both the screening committee and the Screening Appeal Committee. Fortunately, the National Working Committee of our party upheld our contentions. This is the beauty of democracy, especially in a political party like ours,” Hussain stated.
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