AS part of its troubleshooting move to placate the National Assembly, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and members of his National Working Committee (NWC) will meet with APC senators tomorrow.
Tribune Online gathered that the APC NWC had recently met with the House of Representatives APC caucus, as part of its peace initiatives at mending the frosty relationship between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
The Senate had, last Tuesday, resolved to suspend action on screening of the nominees for the positions of Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) sent to it by the Presidency, to express its disapproval over what it called the latter’s disregard for its rejection, for the second time, the nomination of Mr Ibrahim Magu as substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Further checks by Tribune Online revealed that two appointees of the Presidency, Colonel Ahmed Ali, (retd) and Mr Babachir Lawal, the Comptroller-General of Customs and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), respectively had, in recent past, ignored summons by the Senate.
Worried by the worsening relationship between the two arms of government, the party had embarked on a series of consultations with key actors, aimed at resolving the growing impasse.
It will be recalled that the party’s leadership, led by Chief Odigie-Oyegun, recently met with the House of Representatives APC caucus.
In a statement issued ahead tomorrow’s meeting with the Senate, the party expressed its happiness with the committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to re-examine the executive relationship with the National Assembly.
The statement read in part: “The party considers the committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as a step in the right direction, which demonstrates President Buhari’s recognition of the paramount importance of the legislative institution in a democracy.
“The party reiterates its commitment to ensure that the relationship between the two critical arms of government improves further, and commended the National Assembly leadership for its maturity and predisposition to have all the issues resolved as quickly as possible, in the interest of the party and the nation as a whole.
“The party, however, warns that it would not hesitate to take appropriate action against any member whose utterances or behaviour is capable of jeopardising the peace initiatives or further worsening of the existing situation.’’
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