Saraki's Exit, a Relief, Says FG

 

The federal government on Wednesday in reacted to last Tuesday's defection of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, along with Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing his exit as a relief.

Briefing journalists in the State House at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Saraki's defection did not take the ruling party by surprise, noting that he had all along acted like an opposition member in the APC.

According to Mohammed, if the party did not gain anything from the emergence of Saraki as the Senate president, it will have nothing to lose either by his exit, alleging that he had deliberately slowed down the progress of the government by delaying budget passage and approval of key appointments.

"If Saraki were not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing the budget, approving key appointments and so on.

"In other words, what we are saying is that the Senate President Saraki has behaved all along as if he is a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government. We would have done better under a Senate president that was in opposition.

"It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected. Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper! If we didn't gain by having our member as Senate president, we stand to lose nothing by losing him," Mohammed said.

On the implication of Saraki's exit for the APC in Kwara State, Mohammed said the fortunes of the party in the state only got brighter, pointing out that following his exit, APC members have now come together to reposition the party for victory in 2019.

Further stating that the Kwara State chapter of the APC would only be stronger, he said the consultative meeting of the party held in the state at the weekend was a defining moment for many people in the state who have been seeking freedom.

According to him, the dissolution of the executive committee of the party in state by the National Working Committee (NWC) had provided the platform for APC to start on a fresh note.

"Realising this, the true APC members in the state have come together to strengthen the party; open its doors to new members and reposition it for the 2019 elections, with a view to delivering the state to President Muhammadu Buhari.

"This was what we did last weekend, and you saw the way the people reacted. Yet, what happened at the weekend was not even a rally. It was a consultative stakeholders' meeting. And it was a defining moment for the millions of Kwarans seeking political direction and emancipation.

"Thankfully, the national leadership of our party has hearkened to our demands by dissolving the state exco and constituted a caretaker committee. That offers a fresh start for the APC in the state.

"No one tree, no matter how big, can make a forest. Every Kwaran is important in the emerging political dispensation in the state, and it is the realisation of this new dawn that has set the state agog for the APC," Mohammed added.