Some senators elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had an emergency meeting on Monday night over the fate of Senate President Bukola Saraki.
It is understood that the senators met at a location in Abuja to decide on how to go about the removal of Saraki following his defection from the ruling APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Both chambers of the National Assembly have been on an annual recess for more than two months since July 24 but they are due to reconvene on Tuesday.
It was gathered that the federal lawmakers will, however, postpone the sitting to Wednesday to honour late Rep Princess Funke Adedoyin, who passed away about two weeks ago. This is part of the tradition of the National Assembly.
An APC senator, who secured his return ticket, said it would be difficult for them to be committed to Saraki’s removal as the party treated many of them “unfairly.”
The senator said while the APC national leadership gave some senators automatic tickets, it left others to go and slug it out.
“There’s a caucus meeting this night. But the issue is that the way we fought the whole thing, in the end, we were not regarded as anything. Many of our colleagues are discouraged. Even our religion, we practise it because of the reward God has promised us.
“Some people were given automatic tickets, while others were not given. APC hasn’t been fair to the National Assembly members. Most importantly, they have been discriminatory in treating us. They allowed some of us to go through the exposure and difficulties before coming to say they want to give them automatic tickets.”
A member of the House of Representatives also said that dozens of his colleagues in the APC would join other parties as they were denied return tickets through manipulations.
The APC reps, it was gathered, were angry that their state governors have hijacked the process of the party’s primary elections to favour new entrants into the race.
The affected lawmakers spread across almost all the 36 states of the federation.
One of the affected lawmakers said that if the national secretariat of the party did not take any concrete action, they will dump the party within this week as they resume from their annual recess.
“Look at what they (APC) did to some senators by giving them automatic tickets. Don’t we deserve the same? Are most of us not loyal to the party too? So, we should also be considered for automatic tickets or they should allow a free and fair process,” one of the lawmakers said.
Source: Daily Trust
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