President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday met separately with the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and some governors in the wake of defections from the party.
Both meetings held at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja some hours after Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The second meeting started around 9.46pm with 15 APC governors and one deputy.
They are Governors Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abubakar Bello (Niger), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Mohammed Jibrilla (Adamawa), Abubakar Bugudu (Kebbi), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa), and Godwin Obaseki (Edo).
The Deputy Governor of Osun State, Grace Titilayo Laoye- Tomori, represented Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha were also at the meeting which was still on around 11pm.
Give us our crown, Oshiomhole tells Saraki
Earlier, after the first meeting, Oshiomhole told journalists that Senate President Bukola Saraki, who defected from APC to PDP, should resign.
Oshiomhole, who met the president alongside some senators, said the Senate President seat belongs to the APC as the party with majority.
“I mean you should not collect a crown that belongs to a family and wear it on behalf of the family if, for your personal reasons, which he has enumerated that he has gone to another family. It is just a matter of honour to leave the crown in the house that the crown belongs to,” he said.
He said as it stands, APC is still the largest party in the senate with 53 senators.
“Going forward, we will expect the system to get stronger to the extent that it is able to learn the correct lessons and take the correct steps to profit from these developments,” he said.
N/Assembly should reconvene – Senate leader
Also speaking, Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan urged his colleagues to reconvene in order to consider the president’s request on INEC budget.
“As the president leaves for his vacation, I believe we are supposed to continue to be very responsible legislators, those issues that are so important to this country that we have not dealt with, we should be able to come together, come back and deal with them.
“We have placed our total commitment and loyalty to our party and Mr. President, we remain true and genuine representatives of our people, we will not want to do anything that is not in the interest of our people and this administration.
“I am calling on my colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to come back and consider the requests of Mr. President for the virement and supplementary budget for INEC for the 2019 election,” he said.
Expect leadership change in Senate – Sen Adamu
Sen Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa), told journalists in Abuja that a new leadership of the Senate would emerge.
He said he and other APC senators would meet with the leadership of the party and decide on the next line of action since they still maintain the majority in the Red Chamber.
“We will work for a better understanding between the Executive and the National Assembly. The problem has been that the Executive and the Legislature have not been in good terms, to that extent, there was no smooth flow of the relationship between the two,” the senator said.
Asked how they could achieve that when the two presiding officers of the Senate are now in PDP, Sen Adamu said: “I’m talking to you as Senator Abdullahi Adamu now. Let’s get to the bridge, we’ll cross it.
“I’m sure the Senate will live up to its responsibilities. It’s a mess. Now there’s a vacuum. Until the vacuum is resolved, because the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President have gone to the PDP, while the APC maintains its majority in the National Assembly,” he said.
Why I returned to PDP – Tambuwal
Justifying his decision to quit the APC, Tambuwal said he went back to PDP to join forces with other leaders in the country to sack the Buhari-led administration, adding that the APC has turned itself into a sanctuary for the corrupt and a machine for rigging and for the rape of democracy.
Addressing a crowd of supporters at the Government House in Sokoto, venue of the defection, Tambuwal said: “I return to the PDP with a clear conscience today, because the party has learnt some bitter lessons and noted what mistakes it must avoid in the future. It is now a repositioned and forward looking political party to which I now pledge loyalty, in my resolve to contribute towards improving the lives of Nigerians and expanding opportunities for the youths.”
The governor said Nigeria was going through the most difficult and precarious times since the civil war, with ethno-religious and regional distrust at its highest ebb.
“The same reasons we left PDP then were reasons of bad governance, insecurity and corruption,” he said, adding that “Today, I am sure you will bear me witness that not much has been achieved in the last three years in all of these and things are getting bad and even worse.”
According to him, the APC has reached “historically unprecedented heights of impunity in all manner of vices, far above and beyond the challenges which made some of us to leave PDP about four years ago to join others to form APC.”
18 of 30 Sokoto lawmakers follow Tambuwal
Eighteen lawmakers of the 30-member Sokoto State House of Assembly, including Speaker Alhaji Salihu Maidaji, also dumped the APC for PDP.
The speaker said they were aware that all efforts to bring sanity into the APC and unite the different groups, camps and faction, had proved abortive.
However, Alhaji Sani Yakubu (APC- Gudu), who spoke on behalf of 12 other members of the assembly, reiterated their commitment and loyalty to the APC-led government under President Buhari.
“We remain members of APC, the party we were elected under its platform to represent the people of our various constituencies in the State Legislative House,” he said.
Wamakko: Sokoto remains APC state
Reacting to Tambuwal’s defection, Senator Aliyu Wamakko said the action of the defectors will not affect the chances of the APC in the 2019 elections.
Daily Trust reports that Wamakko and the Sokoto State Deputy Governor Ahmed Aliyu did not leave the APC.
Speaking on NTA last night, Wamakko said “Let me assure you that the Sokoto State where I come from is an APC state. The entire state is APC. Whatever you might have seen or might have been told, just take it as a mere story. The people of Sokoto are behind Mr President General Muhammadu Buhari, they are certainly behind Senator Wamakko their former governor, and all other leaders who chose to remain in APC. Insha Allah by Saturday or Sunday when I get back to Sokoto, you will see who is really in charge of Sokoto. I am assuring you that there is no cause for alarm.”
Despite defections, we’ll win in 2019 – APC
The APC has expressed optimism that it will still win in 2019 despite the gale of defections from the party.
The APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in a statement yesterday, advised Saraki, Ahmed, Tambuwal, and the other defectors to maintain in their respective environments the spirit and atmosphere of “freedom created by the APC, which enabled them to leave without let or hindrance.”
“We thank them for their contributions for the period they were with us. We also salute their courage to openly declare where they belong, as we had always advised.
“Saraki and the others have the freedom of association and the right to pursue their political ambitions wherever they deem fit,” the statement said.
PDP Reps allege plot to impeach Saraki
A group of PDP lawmakers in the House of Reps have raised the alarm over plans by APC to impeach Bukola Saraki.
Spokesman of the group and House Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuka Onyema (PDP, Anambra), who disclosed this at a press conference at the National Assembly, said Senators Ali Ndume, Abdullahi Adamu and Ovie Omo-Agege were behind the secret plot.
Onyema also alleged that the plotters, with the help of security operatives, had forcefully invaded the Senate chambers earlier on Monday.
“We also have it on good authority that they are planning to come back this night and tomorrow morning, aided by security forces, our own security forces,” Onyema alleged.
He said they have decided to keep vigil to prevent the illegality.
PDP, Atiku welcome Tambuwal
The PDP and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar have welcomed the Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal back to its fold.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan described Governor Tambuwal’s decision as courageous and patriotic.
Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in a statement by his Media Office yesterday welcomed the returnee and called on all lovers of democracy and progress to join PDP.
