THE National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said he will not lose sleep over the defection of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives from his party.

Speaking after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Tuesday, he said it is better for the defectors to leave because they do not believe in the ideals of the APC.

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He noted that he will like to build a solid party which is not just a vehicle for acquiring political office or personal gain.

Oshiomhole noted that the people who defected have no electoral value as according to him, Buhari scored more votes than them in their own constituencies.

Asked about the siege at the residences of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, the party boss said it was a security matter that he could not comment on.

Asked to react to the spate of defections, he said: “Well, my attitude is like I have told you before, as the National Chairman, I am committed to listening to very legitimate grievances and engaging all those who are aggrieved that we can see through their grievances. But I insist that I will not miss a sleep one minute over mercenary activities.

“I had said and I want to repeat, this business of governance must be driven by men and women of honour. If the only motivation is personal interest, what is in it for me, what have I gained, how many people have done XYZ for? If that is the basis, the earlier those in this business of personal gains, the earlier they return to where they belong the better.

“This party that I am privileged to chair is not worried at all. We are not disturbed, I am not going to miss my sleep and we will go into the campaign.

“Check the electoral results, you will find that a lot of those who claimed to have decamped on a good day, the vote they got that made them members of the Senate, our president got much more votes in their constituency. So, l we are fooled at all.

“The thing going on is that you have a lot of so-called big masquerades with very little and no electoral value.

“I have tried my best which I think I needed to do to give people comfort, those who claimed to be aggrieved. But those who have other hidden agenda that are not negotiable, I am not going to be able to appease anyone who expects x-level of return and the system is not delivering it, in terms of personal return. I can’t solve that.

“But those who felt that in terms of within the management of the party they have issues, those ones are on the table it can be dealt with. But those who have issues under the table they are beyond me.

“But let me assure you, I am so happy that over time that water will find its level. Because, if you remember what I said the day I formally declare my interest to contest, I had said, to be a progressive party means we must be clear that it cannot be a party for everyone.

“We have to be sure that you subscribed to the values and ideals of a progressive party. If indeed you belong to the extreme right, and you mistakenly find yourself in a progressive party, obviously that is not where you belong.

“As soon as you realize that you can’t adjust to the requirement of progressive, which is people driven, people based, people, oriented and you choose to return to the right wing where you know what the name of the game was, share the money, it is your choice.

“But, I need to remind you, I am not a poor student of struggle, I am not a professor of struggle, I am a product of struggle, I know what I am talking about. Very soon Nigerians will go to the polls and we will see who will deliver what in his constituency.”

What is the implication of this defection, your party is now the minority in the National Assembly?

The issue is that they have defected so what is the other implications?

They have adjourned till September what’s the implication of that for your party?

No no no. The business of the Senate or the National Assembly is not to legislate for the good governance of APC, it is to legislate for the good governance of Nigeria. If people have chosen that it is more politically convenient to suspend the process of legislation ahead of time because it is not convenient for their political interests and choose to insubordinate the Nigerian National interest for that purpose, it is their choice. If there are implications it is for the Nigerian Nation not for APC.

The former Edo state governor regretted the role played by the former APC members in the Senate. According to him, “to be very honest with you, it is better you formalize where you belong and be properly identified by your father’s name than purporting to bear my name and you are working for my opponent.

“Every observer particularly the elite core of the Nigerian media that is represented in the State House, you know that it there has been opposition to this APC government, that opposition has come within the ranks of members of the APC, some in the National Assembly.

“I mean, who can we be in majority for example and we use that majority to elect opposition to take the number two slot in our own party. How could we have been in the majority and the president’s makes nominations and those nominations are lying on the floor of the Senate and the Senate will not confirm those nominations.

“Even if that Senate was formally led by opposition, the issue will be much clearer but they have become much more complicated when those refusing to confirm the nominees purport to be members of our party.

“The earlier everybody properly identifies where he belongs in my view, this is it.”

On the siege on the residences of Saraki and Ekweremadu, Oshiomhole said: “When you are dealing with law and order issues I am not going to stand here and make comment on the basis of your own speculations, I need to have the details. I am not into security apparatus, I do not understand how they operate but you also don’t want to accuse me of obstruction of justice, which a democracy requires.

“So I am going to limit myself to my brief, namely issues that affect membership and the running of the APC. Just to reassure you, I am happy. I have made this point long ago that with time, Nigerians will really have to be able to say, this is what this party stands for, this is what the other party stands for.

“This is a thing that in the morning you will have breakfast with me, in the afternoon you are having lunch with python and in the evening you are having sugarcane with some other forces, I think in the interest of our nation we need to simplify these issues before the electorates. Because the confusion is that you have a coalition of people whose ideas are not compatible.”

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