The last may not have been heard about the Tuesday’s defection of 13 Senators and 37 House of Representatives members from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The Presidency Thursday said that it has received the commitment of the defectors to work for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2019 election.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, made the stunning clarification at a press briefing in Abuja.
Enang noted that most of the defectors expressed intention to work for and with President Buhari to ensure his re-election in 2019.
He said that the defectors came to the conclusion to work for Buhari’s re-election because they were convinced that their problems were domestic and internal to the political structure of their respective states which had nothing to do with President Buhari.
Asked to name defectors who gave the assurance to work for Buhari in 2019 Enang parried the question.
He simply said, “It will be improper and breach of confidentiality for me and for the persons to be named but I have had discussions with them. Most of them are coming back and most of them are defecting to political parties that are not challenging the APC.”
Asked whether Senate President, Bukola Saraki was invited to the meeting President Buhari held with APC senators at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, Enang said that the senators were led by Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan.
The presidential aide said that National Assembly members should bear in mind important pending issues even as they go on vacation.
Enang said, “These senators by virtue of their procedure have not yet fully and effectually deflected but have expressed intention to defect by the procedure.
As a political party interacting with the leadership of the APC and other parties there is a lot of room left “for conciliation and reconciliation.
Again all the grievances expressed by the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members non is attributed or directed to President Muhammadu Buhari nor his actions or any action or commission or omission of the President or the Federal Government.
“In my interaction pre and post expression of intent to defect by the Distinguished Senators and members, all the dramatis personae, the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members expressed their solidarity and support for Mr. President and expressed categorically that their grievances and consequent actions are not directed against President Buhari nor his reelection in 2019 but domestic actors in their constituencies political fields such as the governors, state party leaders or frustration over zoning or indeed calculations for a return ticket or platform for 2019 elections.
“Indeed a great number of them have indicated that even if they pursue their bid on different platforms, they will still campaign for President Buhari in 2019 on the platform of the APC.
“What have been done by the Distinguished Senators and Honourable members are group notice to switch camp. It is inchoate and lives windows, doors and rooms for further consultations and resolutions because our party, the APC minds and cares for all members in or out of office.
“Like the Holy Bible enjoins, if you loss one sheep out of hundred, preserve 99 and go and search for the lost one sheep.
“ I believe that all if you saw perhaps this morning that at the interactive between the distinguished Senators of APC and M. President which lasted till the early hours of this morning, some of the Distinguished Senators who expressed defection to other parties or intended defection have returned to the fold of the APC.
They were with Mr. President and those who were not there, because the notice was short some of them could not return and most of them will still be joining further interaction within the weekend with the leadership of the party.
“There has been a lot of return and a lot of calm on the family of the APC.
“The executive, president and ministers will keep working with the legislature with respect due their offices and person and keep working with them as legislators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who make laws for the executive to execute irrespective of their individual political decisions while leaving all options open for conciliation.
We will be praying the legislature, the leadership, membership to consider that there are many matters of very urgent nature which are pending before the legislature and unless considered, the functioning of certain institutions of the government will be hampered. If you recall a lot of the funding for the 2018 budget was budgeted to come from some external sources.
The request for approval to raise funds from these external sources is before the legislature and unless considered it may hamper the level of implementation.
Again, before the legislature proceeded on vacation, Mr. President also laid before them the request for virement, this also will be affected.
Mr. President had earlier on laid the request for the application of some security funds for the purchase of Tucano jets to fight insurgency that is still pending.
There is also the budget which is pending. You remember the president laid before the National Assembly some times in November last year the 2018 budget. It was the budget of the Federal Government and the budget of the government-owned corporations, what has been passed in 2018 is the budget of the Federal Government and the budget of the Federal Government corporations has not yet been passed.
“You know that these budgets also include provisions for employment, provisions for capital spending which will affect the run of the economy, functioning and a lot other economy unless the legislature considers this, the executive is very law abiding and will not do a thing which the law requires the legislature to do, to approve first before it is done unless it is done. We will be praying the legislature to consider the emergency implications of this and decide to come out of this and consider this within the period of the vacation.
“We accept that some exigencies may have caused the abridgment of the time within which they were to proceed on vacation.
“We will be working with them to ensure that we have few of these considered and passed within a time that it will still be reasonable to attain the purpose of the economy.
“All of them have said that they do not have a problem with the president.
“These persons have expressed intention to work for and with President Buhari; all these are domestic and internal to the political structure of the respective states and has to do with the 2019 electoral calculations.
“Some of them are questions that have to do with zoning. The president said that he is aware of the issues that they have. The questions that have arisen in this matter are party matters domestic to the different states. The national office of the party is handling the issues.”