SARAKI MUST VACATE HIS SEAT, OSHIOMHOLE SAYS, AS APC SENATORS MEET BUHARI
SARAKI
MUST VACATE HIS SEAT, OSHIOMHOLE SAYS, AS APC SENATORS MEET BUHARI
APC National chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, with some APC senators after the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday. NAN photo
The
National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole;
and some senators elected on the platform of the party led by the Senate
Leader, Ahmed Lawan, on Wednesday met behind closed doors with President
Muhamamdu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The
meeting came amidst the gale of defections being witnessed in the party.
Oshiomhole told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that the
right thing for the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is to vacate his
seat, having left the party.
He said
it was a matter of honour for Saraki to leave “the crown” in the family it
belongs to.
Oshiomhole
said, “But whatever is the reason, we can decamp from party, but we can’t
decamp from Nigeria.
“The
only thing is that there are other consequential issues that every man or woman
of honour who had taken such decisions would be expected to follow through.
“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.
“As it
stands even now, APC is still the largest party in the Senate. We have 53
senators, that is much more than PDP or APGA has.”
The
former Edo State Governor said nobody in the party would be surprised by the
decisions of those who defected because the signs were clear before now.
He,
however, admitted that it was a tempting moment for the party.
He
added, “Nobody in the APC will be surprised about the development. In fact,
they have stayed a little bit longer than we thought.
“Last
week, the Kwara State Governor said he was leaving, but he didn’t say when. So,
we are not surprised at all.
“But
these are what I might call temping moments because I had faced similar
situations in my state, when people were leaving.
“But
the beauty of democracy is that whether big or small, it is one man, one vote,
on election day. There is no difference between a senator, a president, a
journalist and any other person.
“In a
sense, we have to accept that once a couple for one reason or the other find
out that they are not compatible, the only honourable thing is to go.”
Oshiomhole
said he was happy that Saraki admitted that he (Oshiomhole) and Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo, as well as some state governors, tried their best to resolve the
matter that led to his exit.
“But he
argued that those efforts came too late. But I couldn’t have started acting
before I was born,” the party chairman said.
While
admitting that there are lessons to be learn from the development, Oshiomhole
said going forward, he would expect the system to get stronger to the extent
that it is able to learn the correct lessons and take the correct steps.
The
Senate Leader on his part called on his colleagues in the National Assembly to
reconvene from their vacation to pass the budget of the Independent National
Electoral Commission presented by the President.
“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 elections,” he concluded.
