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| Saraki and Dogora |
Some chieftains of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Nigeria’s main opposition party, have said the party
will warmly welcome erring members of the All Progressives Congress like
Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
The party chieftains, Senator Sam Egwu;
Dr. Akilu Indabawa, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees; and Alhaji
Owolabi Olorunoje, Chairman, Lagos State chapter of the PDP, told our
correspondent on Thursday that defection of the erring APC members in
the National Assembly would amount to paying APC back in its own coin.
Saraki, Dogara and some other APC
legislators had gone against the party’s directive by putting themselves
up for elections into principal positions in the National Assembly.
Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila were
expected to be the only APC candidates presented for the positions of
Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives while
George Akume and Mohammed Munguno, were to be their deputies,
respectively.
But since Saraki and Dogara put
themselves up for elections and won in their respective chambers against
their party’s directive, speculations have been rife that their actions
might be laying groundwork for their defection to the PDP.
Incidentally, Saraki and Dogara used to be PDP members before they defected to the APC in 2014.
Saraki has, however, described such insinuation as “absurd and laughable.”
But the PDP chieftains had said they would be welcome to the party should they decide to defect from the APC.
Egwu said, “What has happened now is
just speculation about what has happened or what may happen tomorrow but
the truth is that they are mature individuals and Saraki has said he’s
not defecting but if he comes back to the PDP, we will receive him with
open arms.
“People should understand that politics
is dynamic and if they feel that they will be given the platform to
exercise their fundamental rights more in the PDP, so be it, they should
come back to the PDP and we have no qualms with that. After all, they
used to be our members.”
He also described APC as ill prepared to
be the country’s ruling party, saying the party lacked the vital
experience required for the position.
He said, “What is happening shows that
the APC is not actually prepared for their victory (at the poll). They
forgot that this is not a party convention. The National Assembly is an
independent arm of the government and they had to meet as scheduled.
“So it shows a sign of unpreparedness or
not knowing the workings of government, for the party to schedule a
meeting at the time the National Assembly was supposed to reconvene and
have its business.”
In his reaction, Indabawa, who shared a
similar view, said, “What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander. If APC is getting payment in its own coins, they will be
consumed by their own sweat. This is a product of their own machinations
against PDP and it is haunting them back.
“That is why when you are planning;
don’t ever plan evil against your brother because one day it will haunt
you. So it is coming back to haunt them now.
“When they plotted against the PDP using
Aminu Tambuwal (immediate former Speaker of the House of
Representatives who defected from the PDP to APC) and others, they never
thought that they would be in the government as the ruling party. Now
they are there, so they are getting paid in the very same coin they
produced.”
Olorunoje said, “PDP didn’t kick them
out, it was as a matter of choice that they came to the PDP and left the
party. PDP is a party that doesn’t belong to anybody; you can come in,
register and leave when you want.
“This is the PDP so it’s the peoples’
party. So if he (Saraki) decides to return to the PDP today, he’s most
welcome. When APC said the party would sanction their members, it’s like
saying what they did was illegal. But what they are doing is not
against Saraki and Dogara, it’s against the people of Nigeria.”
Source: Punchng
