Order of elections: APC members in NASS distancing themselves from Buhari —Lanlehin

IMMEDIATE past vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, has described the changed order of 2019 elections passed by the National Assembly as an indication that All Progressives Congress (APC) members in both chambers are trying to distance themselves from the perceived failure of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lanlehin, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District between 2011 and 2015 and is now a governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the APC members in the National Assembly were conscious that President Buhari had failed to honour the promises he made to Nigerians and should, therefore, face the consequences of his actions and inactions in 2019.

The National Assembly recently passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which places the presidential poll last, contrary to the initial order in the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan, on the sidelines of PDP youth summit, Lanlehin noted that in 2015, most National Assembly members won their elections on the coat-tail of Buhari, who has now become an electoral liability that they do not want to associate with.

“You can even see from the goings on in the National Assembly that APC members are trying to distance themselves from the president. The last time we voted, all of them got on his coat-tail to get voted in.

“But now, they have realised that anybody who is associated with the president is likely to have a big problem. ‘You are on your own,’ that is what the APC members in the National Assembly are telling President Buhari.

“And that is way it should be anyway because you should be able to stand on your own and swim or sink on your own. In any event, we can start election from the little (not in importance) election and move to the bigger ones.

“But because the NASS APC members know President Buhari has performed so woefully, they want to ensure that he stands on his own and face the consequence of his actions or inactions squarely.

“Our people are tired of empty promises. This government has not fulfilled 10 per cent of its promises to Nigerians and the people of the state. Despite this, they are saying they want to come back with all impunity and arrogance they have shown,” he said.