Certain chieftains of the All Progressives Congress last night met with the national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the party national secretariat.
Those who met with Comrade Oshiomhole to discuss the set back suffered by the ruling party at the national assembly included Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, former Sokoto state governor, Aliyu Wamakko and Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Senator Lawan claimed the APC was still in the majority despite the defection by 15 of its senators
to the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).
He said: “We came to brief the national Chairman and the National, Working Committee on the incident that happened today in the Senate. You will recall that there was defection to the PDP and other parties by some of our members in the Senate and what we have come here to do is to brief the national leadership on what has happened.
“Even though we have lost some of our colleagues to the PDP and other parties, the APC still retain the position of the number one party with most seats than any other. Presently, we are 53 Senators, PDP has 49, ADC has 3 and APGA has 2and we have 2 vacancies because we lost our colleagues in Katsina and Bauchi. They were APC seats and in August, bye-election will be held and APC will reclaim its seats and our majority will increase.
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“We are also going to work hard with our leaders to reach out to our colleagues who have left us and give them the comfort they required that this party is the party to work with because we have a president who has remained focused and has done so much with little resources.
“At the end of the day, we are hoping that our colleagues who have left us will come back to this party to continue in the nation-building process.”
He further claimed that his position as Senate Majority Leader was not in any way threatened by the mass defection.
“My position as Senate Leader is not in contention. If you look at our Senate rules, the party with the majority of seats provides the majority leader. I told you that we are 53 and PDP 49. You do not need to be a great mathematician to know that we are in majority. But that is not the issue really. It is not about the office of the majority leader, but for our colleagues working together and facing the same direction as progressives to make Nigeria better and give the president the support that he requires and for the party to continue to provide the kind of leadership we need. That is what we are looking for.”
Also speaking with newsmen, Ekiti state governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi said the defection would not affect the party fortunes in the forthcoming general elections.”
“What the defection signifies to the party is that it is democracy in action. It does not portend any danger to our party. “Democracy is not an event, it is a process.
“It is wrong to take an isolated event and come to a conclusion about an issue. As one door shuts, some other doors will open. I urge you to stay tuned.”
