By Abdulfatah Babatunde
#TrackNigeria: An Islamic scholar, Ustadz Ismail Busayri has called on Muslims to engage meaningfully in the political process of electing God-fearing leaders that will deliver good governance and ensure peaceful society.
Busayri spoke at a political discourse on “Elections and Electioneering’’ jointly organised by Centre for Global Peace initiative (CGPI) and The Muslim Congress (TMC) in Lagos.
The programme was organised as a build-up toward the general elections, scheduled to hold on Feb.16 and March 2
The discourse, with the theme: “Credible Elections: Foundation for Positive Development’’, was held at the TMC Dawah Centre on Apapa/Oshodi Expressway.
In his lecture titled: “Attributes of a Good Public Servant,’’ Busayri, who is the Secretary of the Muslim Community of Oyo State, spoke on the importance of leadership position in any society and as enjoined in the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad.
Quoting relevant portions from the Glorious Qur’an, the scholar spoke on the imperatives of Muslim to meaningfully engaged in the political process by voting and seeking public office.
He noted that Allah described Muslims as the best leaders evolved for mankind.
Busayri, who is a former Naibul Amir (Vice President of TMC), also highlighted the prerequisites of a good leader in accordance with the principles of the Shari’a, quoting relevant portions from the two authentic sources of Islamic scriptures.
He delved into history by highlighting three methods by which leaders emerged in the society globally which include; through military coup, monarchy and through Suurah (Consultations).
He said that while coup and monarchy systems were forceful, brutal and without tenure, the emergence of leaders, through consultation tends to involve the people and has a tenure of office.
Also speaking, an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Luka Buba, charged the gathering on the need to play an active role in the election process and what they need to do to ensure that their votes count on election day.
According to him, the first step they need to take is to collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) which is the only instrument through which they can elect their leaders.
When he asked the gathering “how many people have PVCs here ‘’?, the response was in affirmative as virtually everybody at the venue raised hands.
Buba told the gathering that INEC had registered over 84 million Nigerians for the coming general elections from which Lagos accounted for about seven million.
According to him, there are more than one million PVCs lying in wait at the INEC office in Lagos for collection.
He, therefore, charged those that had registered but had yet to collect their PVCs to do so by going to their ward headquarters to get theirs.
The INEC official commended the organisers of the discourse, expressing joy at the massive turnout of Muslims for the programme.
“I have attended series of sensitisation programmes organised by different Muslim organisations and mosques, the turn out here today was massive. I am really impressed.
“Not only did the men come out, their wives and other Muslim women also attended in their numbers. This is what INEC wants and the bodies should be commended,’’ Buba said.
Earlier in his address, Dr Luqman AbdurRaheem, the Amir (President) of TMC, said that the programme was put together to sensitive people about their civic responsibilities as citizens.
He said that the programme was also meant to educate them on the voting process and to highlight the attributes expected to observe in those vying for public offices.
AbdurRaheem said that good governance could only be achieved when leaders emerge through general consensus.
He said, “Every effort must be geared toward enlightening the public on active participation in the election process.” With reports by (NAN)