Senate President Bukola Saraki |
Federal lawmakers loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari have asked
senators and members of the House of Representatives planning to dump
the All Progressives Congress (APC) to do so before party primaries
begin in August.
The legislators under the aegis of Parliamentary Support Group (PSG),
also want the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Speaker Yakubu
Dogara, to step down when the National Assembly resumes sitting in
September if APC retains majority seats.
It would be recalled that most of the lawmakers who jumped ship during the week have pitched their tent with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking on the demand, a former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume
told the Nation: “If Saraki defects, he has to step down. That is what
it should be.
“But, as of now, he has not announced, written or registered. He is
only hobnobbing around with PDP. So that is what we have to wait for. If
he announces his resignation from APC or his defection, he loses the
Senate President’s seat automatically.
“If Saraki defects to the PDP, he is still our colleague in the
Senate, but he cannot remain the Senate President. That cannot work. But
he will be a senator like me. The same thing applies to Dogara.
“You cannot participate in PDP primaries while you remain in APC; it
is not possible and you can’t remain in PDP and go and participate in
APC primaries.
“Even the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines do not allow you to do
that. You have to move to a certain party before a certain period and
the period is usually before the primaries.
“I remember in my own case, I moved from ANPP to PDP but I had to do that before the expiration of my time.”
On the consequences of the defections on APC, Ndume said: “We are
better off because we now know clearly the colour of the moles and the
names of the moles that were living with us and most of these people had
issues, which is why they left.
“Some of them have issues in their constituencies, some with their
governors. You cannot say they are not important but they cannot do any
damage; they are not indispensable.
“Our meeting with the President has unified us. Before, some of the
defectors were standing up to talk the way they wanted but now we have
known true and committed APC senators and Representatives.”
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