The senator representing Kaduna-Central senatorial district, Senator Shehu Sani, has urged his colleagues to put Nigeria first in every decision they make instead of pursuing the selfish interest of their caucuses.
The All Progressives Congress in the Senate is currently divided into two groups: The Unity Forum and the Like Minds.
The Like Minds, which is headed by Senator Bukola Saraki, was said to have entered into a deal with the Peoples Democratic Party so that Saraki could become the Senate President while Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP retained his seat as the deputy.
However, Sani said in a Facebook post, on Sunday, that senators must learn to put their selfish interests aside when making decisions that would affect Nigerians.
“The tradition or convention of permitting the legislature to set up cluster groups in the National Assembly with all sorts of appellations and goals sows the seed of the pursuit of narrow interest above national interest.
“Such groups operate with divisive and inimical tendencies of either a cult or a mafia gang. In this circumstance, elected legislators with a sworn mandate to uphold nothing but the constitution and the state are entangled by a competing and, at times, conflicting agenda of allegiance or loyalty to such groups,” he said.
The human rights activist cum politician said that the party was struggling to accommodate divergent interests but maintained that the APC would overcome its challenges.
“The APC will overcome its post-election internal rift and will emerge stronger. The termites and the bugs that find abode in the cracks will, at the end, be squeezed out. Every revolution staggers in its early days. The challenge before the leaders of change is how to walk the land mines and disentangle the web without crashing the revolution.
“We have defeated a common enemy and are now facing the contradiction of divergent internal interest. The spirit that led us to the mountain top to hoist our flag will keep the same flag flying,” Senator Sani stated.
