Saraki, Tambuwal, Ortom, others: Defection won’t affect Buhari’s re-election – APC

…APC lifts suspension on Sen Sani as Akpabio joins party Wednesday
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…Hold FG, APC responsible if Nigeria democracy derails, says PDP
The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Yekini Nabena, has disclosed that the defection of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, his Benu State counterpart, Samuel Ortom and others will not affect the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

Nabena added that the defecting politicians lacked the political sagacity to affect the goodwill and massive grassroot support the President enjoys from the electorate.

The new APC national spokesman stated this during an interview with select journalists in Abuja at the weekend.

According to Nabena, most of the defectors are paperweight politicians and lack electoral values. He added that the re-election of President Buhari is a done deal based on his continued nationwide support.

He said: “I can tell you authoritatively that the defections will not affect the President’s re-election. It is public knowledge that Saraki’s popularity is limited to Kwara State.

He does not have any power to determine what happens in Kogi or other North Central states where the President still enjoys massive support.

“Please note that Saraki’s popularity is limited to Kwara State alone. He has to contend with latest agitations from certain stakeholders who are now questioning what he he has done for the state in the last 15 years.

You will recall that when the deadliest Offa robbery took place, there was no single Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) in the state to confront the robbers. That shows lack of development in the state.

“When you talk of Tambuwal, it is a known fact that he is not in control of Sokoto State. Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, on whose structure he used to become Governor, is still with us. You have seen what happened when Wammako visited Sokoto at the weekend.

“For emphasis, in Sokoto State, we have the Deputy Governor, 2 senators, 9 members of the House of Representatives, 12 out of the 30-State House of Assembly members and a massive support base in the state.

“For the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, you know that the man is facing a crisis of acceptance. He has to contend with former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam and other major political actors who have been working to ensure that PDP is still a strong party in the state.

Don’t forget that Senator George Akume is a force to be reckoned with in Benue politics. Time will tell who controls Benue in due course.

“Regarding other defecting lawmakers, most of them must get the tickets to run first, it is certain that most of them will not win their re-elections as other dynamic candidates are eager to replace them for positive development of the country”.

In a related development, the National leadership of the APC has lifted the suspension placed on Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central).

The party also directed the chairman of the party in Tudun- Wada ward and others to implement the directive with a view to complimenting the peace efforts being made by the National Leadership of the party to bring peace in the party in Kaduna State.

The party in a press statement signed by the Acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, on Sunday, stated that: “The National Secretariat has received the news of the suspension of Senator Shehu Sani by the Tudun Wada ward Chairman

and wish to clarify that the purported suspension of Distinguished Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District is hereby lifted and he is confirmed as a member and leader of our party.

“The Chairman Kaduna State Chapter has been directed to inform the relevant Ward and Local Government chapters appropriately and also put the necessary mechanism towards complementing the efforts of the National leadership towards ensuring lasting peace and unity in the party”.

Senator Sani had shunned the idea of defecting to the PDP like other APC National Assembly members following the peace moves initiated by the National chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

The Daily Times recalls that the Chairman of the party in Kaduna State, Emmanuel Jekada, had announced on Thursday the confirmation of the indefinite suspension of Senator Shehu Sani, representing Ward 6 of Tudun Wada Local Government of the State, saying that,

“As the newly elected Chairman of the party in the state, records available to me confirmed that Senator Sani has been on indefinite suspension since 2017 by the leadership of Tudun Wada ward of Kaduna Local Government Area of the state and the suspension is still on and valid.

“A media campaign cannot change the valid position of a duly constituted power organ”.

Some members of the ward executives including the Secretary, Ahmed Abdulhakim, the PRO, Auwal Maianguwa and the Ex Officio, Aminu Allan, had on December 27, 2017 announced the Senator’s suspension accusing him of anti- party activities, factionalising the party in the state and criticising the policies of Governor Nasir el-Rufai, which the three officers later denied.

Senator Sani also made his point clear when fielding questions from journalists at the party secretariat a fortnight ago in Abuja declaring that he remains a member of the governing APC, supporting the ongoing reconciliation efforts undertaken by the party’s National Executive led by the National Chairman, Oshiomhole.

“We are confident that the new leadership of the party has the capacity and ability to address injustices. In the words of Frantz Fanon, ‘We revolt because we cannot breathe’.

So we revolted against the party because it is suffocating us. Now we have a new surgeon who is doing everything possible to put it back on track. That is why we give him the benefit of doubt that the problem can be solved”, Sani said.

In a related development, more drama has continued to unfold in the polity as the PDP has received a major blow as one of its key members in the National Assembly, Senator Godswill Akpabio has concluded plans to join the ruling APC.

Senator Akpabio had on Sunday visited President Muhammadu Buhari who is currently on vacation in the United Kingdom to intimate him on his decision to join the APC.

The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, at the weekend, announced that the APC would receive Akpabio into its fold on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.

Akpabio, who represents Akwa Ibom North West District, is the Senate Minority Leader and currently a member of the PDP.

Senator Enang twitted on his twitter hadle @SenItaEnang stating thus ; “I’m confirming that the @APCNigeria family as earlier indicated will formally receive H.E,@godswill_akpabio on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at an elaborate ceremony in Akwa-Ibom State.”

Also, a Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, had also posted on Facebook, a picture of Akpabio and the national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, noting that there will be an APC Rally at Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, to receive the former governor to APC.

Akpabio’s visit to President Buhari follows a gale of defections from the ruling APC in which many lawmakers at the National House of Assembly announced their defection to the PDP.

But details of the Senator’s meeting with President Buhari are not yet known.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki and three APC governors, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State had also dumped the APC for PDP.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that it has no hands in the ongoing political tango in the National Assembly and the trending reports in some sections of the media insinuating that the Corporation’s helmsman, Dr. Maikanti Baru, had doled out funds to effect the impeachment of Saraki.

While also exonerating Baru of any involvement in the alleged plot, the Corporation in a statement issued by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, described the report as the handiwork of mischief makers seeking to drag the NNPC and its GMD into a purely political affair totally different from its mandate as the national oil company with fiduciary responsibilities to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The NNPC emphasised that the report is not only false, but also an affront on the verifiable reforms in the operations of the corporation under the watch of Dr. Baru which has witnessed irreversible strides in the area of transparency leading to the sustained publication of NNPC monthly operations and financial records.

The statement added that it was mere fiction and outright ‘tales by moonlight’ for anybody to insinuate that Dr. Baru or anybody else could just take a dip into the Corporation’s till and dole out the volume of funds being portrayed in that phantom report for political purpose.

The Corporation called on all well-meaning members of the public and oil and gas industry stakeholders to discountenance the said story, noting that the Management of the NNPC remains committed to its statutory role and responsibility to the entire federation.

Meanwhile, the PDP has asked Nigerians and the international community to hold the APC and the Federal Government responsible should the nation’s democracy fall under any harm in the coming days.

The party also warned that any attempt by anybody to forcefully take over the control of the National Assembly is a direct recipe for crisis and anarchy, as this will be directly resisted by Nigerians.

This caution by the PDP came against the backdrop of what it claimed of an alleged fresh plot by the APC and its agents to flood the National Assembly with armed plain cloth security operatives to compromise the security architecture to enable the forceful takeover of the leadership of the Senate by APC senators.

This was contained in a statement on Sunday by Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s national publicity secretary.

He said: “Nigerians would recall that we alerted the nation that the purported overseas vacation by President Muhammadu Buhari was to enable his cabal overrun the National Assembly in a manner reminiscent of the siege at the Benue State House of Assembly, so as to sack the current elected Senate leadership and install their stooges.

“When this is done, the Buhari Presidency will in its characteristic response claim the ‘Mr President is unaware”.’

The PDP, however, warned in strong terms, that Nigeria as a nation will never allow such direct assault to the highest symbol of the nation’s integrity as a democratic state.

The party said the laws of Nigeria regarding the sanctity and sovereignty of the legislature are clear and that the citizens will never allow any person or group of persons, no matter the circumstances, undermine the constitutional integrity of the legislature as representatives of the people.

“Any attempt to tempt the will of the people in this direction is a clear recipe for very serious crisis.

“The laid down rules for reconvening the Senate whenever it is on recess, which must be followed when it becomes compelling to reopen the Senate on a date order than the earlier adjourned date, are clear and direct.

“In such a circumstance, Order 12(2) of the Senate Standing Rule (2015) clearly vest such powers and functions on the Senate President, who shall give notice of such new date and time.

“Anything outside the provision of the law is a direct coup not only against the National Assembly but also on our entire democratic system. It is a clear recipe for anarchy of monumental proportion capable of disarticulating our nation,” the PDP declared.

The PDP urged all Nigerians to be at alert, stand up for democracy and condemn the alleged conspiracy against the legislature.