Executive/Legislative face off: Time for statesmanship, not brinksmanship--Issa Aremu

L-R The National President,National Union of Textile,Garment & Tailoring Workers of Nigeria [NUTGTWN] Comrade John Adaji with the General -Secretary and Governorship Aspirant under the  Labour Party for Kwara state Comrade Issa Aremu with the former Governor of Kaduna State Alhaji Balarabe Musa during his visit to intimate him on his intention to run for 2019 Election.PHOTOS:OLU AJAYI.

Both members of Federal Executive and the Federal legislature must  “embrace statesmanship in place of brinkmanship” as a precondition for sustainable democratic process in Nigeria. Comrade Issa Aremu General Secretary Textile Union made this observation at related but separate events in Kaduna on Wednesday and Thursday.

At the unveiling of the 40th Anniversary Logo of Textile Union, the frontline labour leader said the “addictive conflicts” between the legislators and the Federal Executive would undermine good governance and democracy. Comrade Aremu who is a governorship aspirant in Kwara state said Nigeria’s  uninterrupted democracy in the last 20 years needed quality people who would stand  for fundamental state principles of good governance as contained in 1999 constitution in place of what he called “politicians desperate for immediate pursuit of power and money”. Referring to the drama at the National Assembly following illegal prevention of some legislators on Tuesday, Comrade Aremu said the survival of the “smartest politicians” must give way to the survival of democratic process in Nigeria. He said democratic forces who fought for democracy must not allow the democratic process undermined by “selfishness and cheap carpet crossing”. The labour leader said it was time Nigeria implemented the resolutions of 2014 conference with reference to code of conduct for political parties, political party office holders on carpet crossing.  He said section 68 (8) of Constitution (as amended), be further amended to “indicate that any elected official, executive or legislative, who carpet-cross, regardless of the reasons for such, shall automatically forfeit their seat. Such officials  are however, free to contest for the position or indeed any other position on the basis of their new political party. Earlier the President of NUTWN, Comrade John Adaji  had disclosed that  the 40th anniversary of the Union would hold from Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th October 2018. Activities include Anniversary Rallies, Lectures, Exhibitions, fashion parade and gala nite/Anniversary Awards in major textile cities of Kano, Kaduna and Lagos. National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoting Workers (NUTGWN) is one of the registered twenty-nine industrial unions, which came into existence after the amalgamation of scores of house unions in 1978.

Meanwhile the first democratically elected governor of Kaduna state during the second Republic, Alhaji Abdulkadr Musa had endorsed Comrade Issa Aremu for the post of governorship of Kwara state citing his commitment to struggle for social justice and development in Nigeria. “I support Comrade Aremu 99 per cent. I would have supported him 100 per cent if he runs on PRP. But Labour Party he chooses is part of progressive families  committed to socialist transformation of Nigeria” he said while Labour Party aspirant paid him a courtesy call at his residence in Kaduna. Comrade Aremu disclosed that he was inspired by the progressive record of Alhaji Balarabe as the first executive governor of Kaduna state adding that “am an ideological and political son of Alhaji Balarabe Musa right from my university days”.