Leader of the Senate Opeyemi Bamidele, has said that President Bola Tinubu was not coercing opposition lawmakers to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) contrary to public criticism.
He said this during plenary on Tuesday, while justifying the defection of all the three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators from Kebbi to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Bamidele noted that the ruling party “is now running a government of national unity.”
Bamidele spoke in the presence of the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje; Governor of Kebbi, Alhaji Nasir Idris and APC National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu, among others, who were at the Chamber.
Those who defected are Sen. Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Sen. Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South).
Bamidele noted that their defection was based on the overriding public interest and had nothing to do with turning Nigeria into a one-party state.
According to him, the ruling party will not close its doors to anyone intending to join the party.
“In the same way, we will not also discriminate against anyone either on the basis of religion, tribe or any other factor. Our doors will continue to be open for more people to join at all levels.
“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the members of the minority political parties.
“It is not by sheer coincidence that virtually all political parties from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to the Peoples Democratic Party have to join the ruling APC.
“Even APGA, which has not joined the ruling party, has also graciously nominated and donated a minister of state to the Federal Government of Nigeria under the APC administration.
“That is to say, what we are now running is a government of national unity,” he said.
Bamidele specifically commended the defectors for their decision to join the ruling APC while reflecting on how the PDP was coercing members of the opposition parties to defect to its fold when it was in government at the federal level.
He said: “We were all in this country when PDP was the ruling party. We saw all the things that happened under the PDP in an attempt to get more states, more seats in the Senate and more seats in the House of Representatives.
“We are not at the polls. No one is being coerced.
“If anyone is coerced, the person is definitely not Sen. Adamu Aliero. All of us know that the person cannot be Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi that will be co-opted.
“Neither will Sen. Garba Maidoki with a stint in the private sector before he ventured into politics will defect to APC without clear conviction.
“As far as we are concerned, Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi that I know will rather stay in opposition and be very loud.
“They all recognise that this is not the time for grandstanding. This is the time for all of us to work together to take Nigeria to the next level.
“One of the defectors has been privileged to be the Gov. of Kebbi, precisely from 1999 to 2007”.
“For us in APC, this is a wonderful development. For those who are keenly watching political developments, rest assured that at the end of the day, this can only be for the good and greatness of Nigeria.
“To the rest of our colleagues on the minority isle, we will continue to work together for the progress of Nigeria.
“I say it again for the umpteenth time. Those who refer to this parliament as a rubber stamp parliament should note that we are at a very critical stage of our national life when all hands must be on deck”.(NAN)
