The former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct ‘New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP)’, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has described recent defections by some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and supervised by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara as “most unfortunate and despicable”
Eze, who regretted that majority of those involved had been members of the defunct nPDP however, warned that they were taking risks not commensurate with their political future. He argued that such step could lead to their losing their seats in the National Assembly and premature retirement from politics.
The former nPDP Spokesman, who frowned over the defections, said that as long as there was no crisis or split in APC, as stipulated in the Nigerian Constitution, those who defected risked forfeiting their seat in the National Assembly.
While citing Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution which states that a member of either the Senate or House of Representatives would lose their seat if they defected from the party that sponsored them except as a result of division in that party or merger between his party and another or faction thereof, Eze reiterated that APC was neither in crisis nor would be in crisis. “Section 68(2) imposes a duty on the presiding officer to give effect to the above provisions unless satisfactory evidence is provided by the member under the proviso of Section 68(1)(g)”, Eze added.
“It is sad and unfortunate that the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives are all aware of the constitutional provisions against such unwise and unwarranted defections but supported and aided the acts just to endanger the political future of the victims. Now that the plot to mobilise for the opposition political party (PDP) to have majority in the Senate and the House has collapsed like a pack of cards, it would have been advisable for both Principal Leaders of the two chambers to honourably resign their membership of APC so that we can rebuild the party to give Nigerians the desired change which both Saraki and Dogara have made impossible by frustrating most of the good policies of this administration”, Eze said in a statement he issued.
He cited the delay in the passage of the 2018 national budget as one of the anti-people postures of the National Assembly amongst other key policies of the Federal Government frustrated by the National Assembly.
Eze said it was painful that the legislators, who, as members of the defunct nPDP, had worked hard to bring APC into power, were same people working for its downfall.
Eze, a chieftain of APC, pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians to forgive them.
“At the time we left PDP, we joined other progressives to salvage this nation and for some of us to turn around at this period because of selfish ambition, to embarrass this nation in this form, is to me most unfortunate and despicable”, Eze said.
He advised Saraki and Dogara to emulate Senators Lanre Tejuoso and Adesoji Akanbi who realised their errors and retraced their steps rather than ruin their political future.
He congratulated Senator Shehu Sani for returning to the fold from the ‘Red Sea’ after realising that it will take another forty years for PDP to come back to power at the centre.
He concluded by pleading with Nigerians not to give up on President Muhammadu Buhari and APC as it will be a disaster to allow those that have looted our common patrimony with impunity to succeed to come back to power to liquidate the much that this administration have succeeded to save so far which is their sole agenda of defecting
