The former Commissioner for Homes Affairs in Lagos State, Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef said he returned to the All Progressive Congress (APC) following interventions by the elders of the party.
It would be recalled that AbdulHakeem who is a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly had on Thursday, October 1 announced his resignation from the party after declaring his ambition to contest for the governorship seat come 2023.
The declaration generated noise with millions of his supporters hailing his decision and promising to support him.
In the wake of this, his appointment as Special Adviser to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, was reportedly terminated.
In a live video tagged: “Special Message to all my supporters” and monitored by Muslim News, the Chief Imam of Lagos State House of Assembly maintained that he remained committed to his agenda to contest for the position of the Governor of Lagos State in the 2023 General elections in Nigeria.
He argued that religion cannot be separated from politics as it takes precedence to preaching.
Below is the transcript of the video:
“I want to thank you all for your support for your prayers and to remind you that from the onset, I told you that we are not desperate. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. I did Istikharah. Istikharah is when pray to your Lord to guide you.”
I did it six times asking Allah to guide us. And when you have such unique privilege of understanding that power and authority, they are in the hands of Almighty God, then, you should count yourself favoured. You should not allow yourself to be pushed around by some people who believe in you but then there is a lot of desperation and they are aggressive about it. I am not aggressive.
I am not desperate. After we have prayed, whatever is the outcome, we need to believe absolutely that power and authority are in the hands of Almighty Allah. Iyepe 2023 is alive, We Fit Do Am Foundation is alive.
Listen to what happened. The elders of the party invited me to a meeting and pleaded with me to return to the party. As a well brought up AbdulHakeem, I must respect the elders. When one become aggressive about his ambition, and then he does not know what he or she is doing.
I am going to start about some Muslims who are asking what you want to do with politics. Not knowing that the first religious duty is to do things right. Do the right thing, the right way. If you observed their evil in the land, take part in correcting, in making amendment in the situation that are within your own purview, try to participate. So, it is only that if you unable to participate that you can now preach. I have been in politics for a very long time, for a very long period. And I have been combining the work of preacher with that of public servant.
When I was in the House of Assembly, I contested election and I won that election. And in spite of being the honourable member of the House of Assembly, who became Chairman House Committee on Education, later I became Chairman House Committee on Local Government, later I became Chairman House Committee on Judiciary, I did not leave the work of God. So, I am always ensuring that I place my Lord above in everything I do. That was how I became the Chief Imam of the House of Assembly till date.
Thinking that if you go into politics you will forget your Lord? No. Politics is the first thing. You know what the Prophet says: ‘If you see anything that is bad, change it with your hand’ and that is where politics and leadership comes in. ‘If you do not have the opportunity to change it that is when it comes to using your tongue to correct it. For you know that leadership is a step above preaching because, a leader can correct a lot of ills in the society. So you righteous men of God do not run away from it. But the difference between those who have fear of God in them and those who do not have is in the way they play politics. So, what did I do?
When I left House of Assembly, I continue to propagate my understanding of righteousness in my only little way and I did not allow politics or political power to get into my head to forget my Lord. So, when I became special adviser to the Governor. Because I promised my people when I was campaigning, I promised that I will serve for only one term and I served only one term, I did not go back to the House of Assembly. Eventually, I became Special Adviser to the Governor; I still maintained my relationship with my Lord because I am always conscious of the day of accountability when I will stand before my Lord.
So, no system of politics has succeeded in taking me away from the purview of my Lord. So, I left there, I became Commissioner for Homes Affairs, I still did not leave the work of God. So, those who are saying that if you go into politics now, you leave the work of God; it is because they are knowing me for the first time. In fact, let me tell you, those who deserved to be there are men and women of God, not men and women who are not of God.
So, it is great contradiction to say that men of God should not be involved in what will bring greatness to the people. Remember, I said we are not desperate. I left the party when I felt some people were not well disposed to it because I did not like anything that will create conflict within the party, but to the glory of the Almighty God, men of honour, our elders, men who have succeeded in various facets of lives, people of over 80 years of age, many of them, came together yesterday because of me. Who am I? A worthless person!
They gathered to come and appeal to me. You need to understand when Almighty Allah is putting you to test. You said you presented something before Almighty God and then you also believe that God will do the best for you. Let me tell you something, whatever Allah has decreed, shall come to past. On the day of judgement, you will not be asked why you are not the governor of the State. It is not part of the question. On the day of judgement, you will not be asked, why are you not the Commissioner? But you will be asked about the act of worship that has been legislated by the Almighty God which you have done.
Let us understand the fact that we need to very humble in all we do. Walahi, you may think that something is good for you. If this people who ought to send for me created time, some of them travelled for four hours to get to the venue. Who am I? Who is Honourable Iyepe that these elders will now come together for? And they said, we plead with you. In fact, Subuhanallah, I glorified Allah yesterday. And I will continue to glorify Allah. So, I am not desperate.
Let me tell you, Allah knows what no one knows. They said it to me that ‘You have the right to have this ambition. You have the right to have this vision. We are not asking you to stop your mission or your vision. But we are pleading with you, return to the party.” and immediately I said I agreed with whatever.
I am not desperate. I am not interested in anything. Being the President of the world is not greater than being a simple rightly guided human being. It is a position of trials, full of temptations. And you need to be very careful when your Lord is guiding you. This is surely, the project of Allah.
You have a situation at hand, people are pleading with you and some people from yesterday are now saying…’Honourable, you disappointed us’. I said, it is good I disappoint you and I hope I have not disappointed my Lord. Because at times, it is some followers that mislead their so-called leaders. You must never let anything get into your head. Nobody has supporters. Even if you have millions of supporters, so long the Almighty God does not support you, it shall not come to past. But if the Almighty God supports you and the whole world say no, it shall come to past, because His will shall be done. So, let us be very calm, let us be very respectful.
Look at the letter I wrote to the party, I prayed for them because they really assisted them. If you assist me with N5, I will praise you for the rest of my life. I will always thank you. Many people have been abusing me. You can never see me reply their abuse. I will never. The day I do it, I become one of them, because no amount of distraction can distract God. God is great. Our God is ever focused. His will shall be done. So, Iyepe 2023 is my vision and is still alive. But if Allah says, AbdulLateef AbdulHakeem you will be in the mosque praying, so be it.
If Allah says you will be preaching, so be it. He knows the best and he will do the best. But he has not disallowed you from expressing your intention to worship Him, making live easy for people, creating employment, showing examples of leadership. That is what we have. You cannot even do it alone. You need a team. And you see that I have always prayed for those in power. It is not easy to be in power. All of them, I have always prayed for them. It is not easy to be in power.
But you know, my training as a lawyer and someone who preaches the word of God, you must also make attempts to understand that you have a duty to correct the ills in the society. All political parties are good because you have good people in all political parties, you have bad people in all political parties. You only know about yourself. You are not begging anybody; it is only the Almighty God that can make it easy for you. So, my message is: Do not lose interest in politics because some Alfas ask why you are going into politics.
You see, so long you fold your arms and allow people who do not have the fear of God, don’t complain ever. Never complain.
Number two is political apathy. Let us go out of it. Let us do our best. I have never felt so honoured like i felt yesterday.
I want you to know, whatever you want to do in life; do not place it above God. We are still on our mission. But we have to do it bearing in mind that only Allah paddles the canoe to the harbour of progress, which means at every point do not create problem for yourself or for any other person. Do not be mischievous. Always be generous in your attitude and know that what will be, will be. Being in any position is not a honour, it is a trial.
If you are asking for trials, be careful. That is why it is very easy for me to let go. Why? What my Lord has done for me is greater than what the whole world can do for me and you must also have that impression. You must understand that what your Lord has done for you is greater than what the whole world can do for you. So, do not lose interest in politics, do not be discouraged that the man we followed has decided to go back.
No, did you tell me to leave my party? You did not ask me to leave my party, I left on my own and I go back on my own. I do it on principle. I left because I did not want to create discord within the party. Because when I am in the party, some people followed me and some people didn’t follow me, then it creates conflict. But, when I am outside the party, so many people became free and now I have returned to my party and we are not saying bad thing about other parties at all. Allah owns the vehicle and He knows which vehicle is the best for you at all times.
But let me tell you something, do not be desperate. Once again, I thank Almighty Allah. I thank all the elders of the party. I thank them for creating time to come and see their son. They should have summoned me; they should have invited me including the chairman of the party. But they left their serious engagements and created hours of meeting with me. Who am I? I am nothing. May Almighty Allah bless you all. May Allah honour you all. It was a trial for me and I thank Allah I survived the trial.
I was able to let them know that I was nothing and I am nothing and I will still be nothing. Only our Lord is something, forever. But the interesting part of it is that many of them were listeners to my programmes and viewers of my videos. And they were using my video to talk to me. Allahu Akbar. Imagine people like Baba, Tajudeen Olusi, what have I achieved in life? Former deputy governor of Lagos State, Prince Ogunleye. People like Baba Oluwa, Baba, Bushra Alebiosu, all these elders. In fact, may Almighty Allah bless all of them. They were so many and then I felt honoured and it will be wrong for me to say anything other than yes. May Almighty God honour you as you honoured me.
So let people understand that we are not desperate. We are still on our mission, we are back to our party. We will do everything possible to contribute to the growth and development of our State and nothing will distract us from the worship of our Lord.
I said to some people, the last assignment I was given, I did it and Alhamdulillahi it brought glory to Lagos State. I was not found wanting as a Commissioner in the State, I did my best. And the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Muslims in Lagos State, they will tell you, he was able to do his best. There was harmonious relationship among people of all faiths. That was my duty, my responsibility.
They asked me to be in charge of pilgrimage. Our people went to Jerusalem, they took first position in Nigeria and people went to Hajj and Lagos came first in terms of operations and the logistics because of the way it was done. Out of eight awards, Lagos collected seven when I was there. That was the assignment I was given when I was there. If I was given Commerce and Industry, I will still excel. So, I am not just saying that for you to praise me. It is just for those who are saying that in a political position you forget your Lord. No, those who think when in a political position, you forget you Lord, no it is still part of the same process. I want you to keep your hope alive.
Support whoever the Almighty God eventually decides to chose and do not say because Iyepe is not there. Iyepe is not desperate. I told you before, I said that if I contested election and I lose, I will be the first to give lecture the second day and I will say Inna liLlahi wa inna ilaehi raajihun. Because once you asked Allah to guide you, He is going to guide you to the best. Do not argue with Him. You may hate something, it may be the best for you. You may love something , it be the worst for you, it may be bad for you. Your Lord knows, you know not. Let’s be grateful to Allah, let’s glorify Allah all the time and be respectful to our elders and know that we do not see it all.
May be you are still looking at chapter one, this book perhaps might have chapter 10, chapter 11, chapter 12. You do not know. Be calm and be grateful to your Lord.
I am in total support of honourable Yepe. Whatever decision you might have taken is okay by me. All powers belongs to Allah!