Saraki Won’t Return To Senate, APC Vows

Saraki Won’t Return To Senate, APC Vows

Meanwhile, the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday said it had not given up on
its belief that Senate President Bukola Saraki was a usurper who needed
to vacate his position since he now belonged to the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), which is in minority at the Senate.

The party also
said it was confident that the forthcoming elections would dash Saraki’s
hopes of returning to the Senate as the people of Kwara Central would
reject him as their representative at the polls.

Saraki was
elected as Senate President in June 2015, much to the chagrin of the APC
leadership which had pencilled down Senator Ahmed Lawan for the
position. Several efforts by the party to remove him from the position
have failed.

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the APC National Chairman,
has been at the forefront of Saraki’s removal since his defection to
the PDP. He insisted that the position was for the APC, the party with
majority members.

On his part, Saraki has vowed to keep his seat, saying he would only step down if he lost the support of majority of senators.

Speaking
with Daily Independent, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the National Publicity
Secretary of the APC, said the party had not given up on its position
that Saraki was a usurper who should vacate his position for the APC.

He,
however, said it would not allow Saraki distract the party and the
government of President Muhammadu Buhari from fulfilling its promises to
Nigerians.

He said: “We have never given up on the issue of
Saraki remaining in position as Senate President. We will continue to
regard him as a usurper.

“There is nowhere in the world, in a
presidential system of government, where the minority sits as the leader
of the National Assembly, be it in the Senate or House of
Representatives. It is for the party in the majority to decide who the
leader is.

“Though we see him as a usurper, we are a serious government. We have a responsibility towards governance.

“This
is somebody whose main interest is to ensure that we don’t have the
opportunity to do those things that we have promised to do for the
people of this country.

“We won’t allow such a person to
constitute a hindrance to governance. So, we have to be practical and
pragmatic as possible in a way that we will be able to deliver on our
promises.

Issa-Onilu also said the APC was confident that Saraki would not return to the Senate for another term.

“We
know that election will take care of him. His people are going to
reject him. The people of Kwara Central will reject him at the polls
come February. So, he is not a major issue for us now.

“The major
task before us is to continue to execute those major projects that we
are executing, come up with policies and programmes that will positively
impact on the lives of Nigerians.

“We are focusing on things
that will make Nigerians renew our mandate in this election. But that
doesn’t mean we ignore the fact that he is a usurper who is sitting on
the seat that doesn’t belong to him,” he said.

Also speaking to
Daily Independent, Saraki who spoke through Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, his
Special Adviser on Media, described the statement by the APC as an
empty wish which would not materialise.

He also sounded a note of
warning that the APC would meet its waterloo in Kwara if it attempted
to rig the elections through federal might.

He said: “It is an
empty wish. They are not God who can determine the future of anyone. The
people of Kwara know those who are with them.

“These people talking are visiting politicians to Kwara. They are the type of people we refer to as seasonal politicians.”

Source:- Independentng