Senators Isa Misau and Rafiu Ibrahim have said Nigeria would be a better place if the All Progressives Congress (APC) devoted more time to solving the nation’s myriad of problems instead of dissipating energy in the quest to pull down the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
They also cautioned the APC against fomenting trouble when the Senate eventually reconvenes because the party would meet its match should it decide to breach the peace.
The two senators issued the warning in a statement they jointly signed in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The statement partly read, “This is the first time in the history of the country that the ruling party will leave the issue of its achievements and start blaming its failure on just one individual, no matter who the individual is.
“It is also the first time a ruling party will plan to hoodwink Nigerians by saying everything wrong under its watch is due to the action and inaction of one man.
“APC has devoted all the time and knowledge of their national chairman, national leader, publicity secretary, four senators and two presidential aides to the daily abuse of Saraki, such that it appears as if Saraki is the only politician in Nigeria today.
“If these individuals devote the energy they are exerting on Saraki to finding solutions to the security problem, economic crisis and collapse of infrastructure, among others, they will come out with some action plan, except they are only skilful in mischief-making.”
The Senators expressed surprise that all the decisions the Senate, as an institution, took were being blamed on Saraki. They wondered if Saraki was also going to be given credit for all the achievements of the Senate.
The legislators also said, “The laws that have been signed by the President and which led to the World Bank improving the rating of Nigeria in the Ease of Doing Business Report; the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill which broke the jinx of over 14 years on the law, the progressive constitution amendment bills, the five anti-corruption laws, and many others, as well as the fact that the 8th Senate has done better than the previous ones in terms of number of bills passed, the petitions successfully treated and the various interventions: will all these be credited to Saraki and not the entire Senate?
“You blame a man for what an institution lawfully did.”
They asked if was not dishonest for the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, and former Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who moved and seconded the motion for adjournment respectively, to remain silent as Saraki was being accused of unilaterally adjourning the Senate.
The lawmakers noted that the plot to distract Saraki with the battle for political survival ahead of the 2019 elections would fail.
They declared that the strategy would not work because Saraki remained unfazed by their antics.
The statement further read, “Many people who are grandstanding now do not care how history will record their roles.
“Which of the decisions that are now being criticised did the APC pretenders in the Senate oppose? Of the 10-man Senate leadership, five of them are in APC. Those who enjoy privileges in the Senate now look the other way when the Presidency is complaining.
“We will, however, warn the APC that they will meet a match in those of us in the PDP if they try to foment trouble in the Senate whenever we resume.”
The PDP Senators accused the APC of orchestrating the various attempts to subvert the Senate. They listed some of the attempts to include: stealing the mace, brutalising of members of staff of the Senate, invasion of the Senate complex with hooded and masked security agents, among others.
When contacted, the acting National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, said, “The APC is a law-abiding party. That is why we are asking that the Senate reconvene in the interest of Nigerians.
“Since they said we don’t have the numbers to impeach Saraki, let the Senate reconvene and Senators decide who their genuine leaders are. The minority PDP and their Senators cannot continue to hold Nigeria hostage.”
The National Assembly embarked on its annual recess on July 24 and it is expected to reconvene on September 25.
