The
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John
Odigie-Oyegun, on Tuesday wrote the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
The chairman, in separate letters to
Saraki and Dogara, presented the party’s position on the principal
officers of the Senate and the House.
In the letter to Dogara, the party
presented, Femi Gbajabiamila (South-West) as the House Leader; Ado
Doguwa (North-West) as deputy leader; Mohammed Monguno (North-East) as
chief whip; and Pally Iriiase as deputy chief whip.
Senator Ahmed Lawan (North-East) was
picked as Majority Leader; Prof. Sola Adeyeye (South-West) as chief
whip; George Akume (North-Central) as deputy Majority Leader and Abu
Ibrahim (North-West) as deputy chief whip.
Meanwhile, eight APC governors on Tuesday
met behind closed doors with Odigie-Oyegun, in a bid to resolve the
impasse in the National Assembly.
Legislators
on the party’s platform in the National Assembly have been unable to
agree on the choice of persons to occupy the positions of Senate
Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Senate Majority Whip and Deputy
Majority Whip.
These positions are normally the exclusive preserve of the majority party.
It was learnt that Odigie-Oyegun was
presiding over a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee when
the governors came into the party’s National Secretariat and asked to
meet with him in his office.
The governors, who met with the chairman
are Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai (Kaduna), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger),
Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Abubakar Badaru
(Jigawa).
Details of what transpired behind closed
doors were sketchy as of the time of filing this report but it was
learnt that the governors asked the chairman to step up and take charge
of the situation in the National Assembly before it consumes the party.
A party leader privy to the meeting said,
“The chairman was told to restore sanity into the party. He was told to
ensure that those who stood with the party during the recent elections
into leadership positions in the National Assembly were not
disenfranchised.
“I believe it was based on this that the
party has written an official letter to the Senate President and the
Speaker on the need for them to respect the party by making sure that
Lawan and Gbajabiamila are treated fairly. By this, the party means that
the two should be given the positions of Majority Leaders in the Senate
and the House of Representatives respectively.”
There were rumours that the governors met with the chairman to demand for his resignation.
When contacted, the National Publicity
Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “I am not privy to what
the governors came to discuss with the national chairman in his office
but I can assure you they did not come to ask him to resign.”
None of the governors responded to
inquiries from journalists as they filed out of the party chairman’s
office into their vehicles.
After the meeting with governors, the APC national chairman also met with Lawan and George Akume.
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