– Haruna Yerima, a former House of Representatives member, said that the PDP controlled Senate will spell doom for the APC
– He advised President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party to take measures to stop the opposition party from taking over the leadership of the Senate
– Yerima noted that the PDP requires only three senators to form the majority
According to Yerima, something strategic must be done to avert the National Assembly’s ridiculing of Bukola Saraki.
Haruna Yerima, a former House of Representatives member, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled Senate will spell doom for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Daily Trust reports that Yerima advised the president and the ruling party to take measures to stop the opposition party from taking over the leadership of the Nigerian Senate.
“The ruling party and the presidency must ensure that the ranks and files of APC senators remain intact,” he said.
According to the APC chieftain, something strategic must be done to avert the National Assembly’s ridiculing of Bukola Saraki.
“You can imagine what will happen if the PDP takes over the Senate. What happened during the election of Saraki in June, last year, is an eye opener. There will be problems for Buhari’s government if the PDP takes over the Senate.
“If Saraki finally resigns or is found guilty, who takes over? We can only dismiss the possibilities of PDP’s taking over at our own peril. The PDP requires only three senators to form the majority. It is easier for them because the Saraki diehards in the APC will support them.
“Where the pendulum of some former governors in the Senate will swing to is clear, going by their antecedents. This should worry any believer in Buhari’s change agenda. The progressive policies of the president, which require the lawmakers’ nod will be jeopardized,” he said.
Recalling the unpopular buying of luxury cars for lawmakers, the controversial amendments of the Code of Conduct Bureau laws, Yerima concluded that the policy direction of the Senate was antithetical to Buhari’s change agenda.
Meanwhile, Clifford Ordia, the senator representing Edo Central in the National Assembly, has disclosed that Saraki has the full support of himself and other PDP senators.
However, he noted that should the Senate president be convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the PDP would produce his successor.
In a swift reaction, John Odigie-Oyegun, the APC national chairman, said that the party would never allow the PDP to take over the Senate leadership should Saraki be removed.
He noted that the APC was still the majority party in the Senate so the issue of losing its position does not arise.