Ndume: According to Akpabio, the Nigerian Senate is now a FG parastatal.
Salihu Moh. Lukman, a former national vice chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has charged that Godswill Akpabio,
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, chaired by Abdullahi Ganduje, sacked Senate Whip Mohammed Ndume, setting the stage for Lukman’s remarks.
The former director general of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), in a statement headlined “Fanatical Mindset,” released in
Abuja on Thursday, stated that all patriotic Nigerians need to realize they have a duty to save their nation.
Lukman questioned how Nigerians could have a democracy that yields leaders that are insensitive to criticism.
Nigerians should not permit a scenario in which the leaders of the ruling party act in a manner akin to military tribunal officials,
who are fanatical in their condemnation of all those who are accused of crime and do so without providing a fair trial.
The idea that Sen. Ndume may be asked to “honourably resign the membership of APC and join any opposition party of his choice formally” by Dr. Ganduje and Sen. Basiru is quite intriguing.
With its organs failing already, the APC has essentially kicked out all of its members.
“The National Working Committee, the National Chairman, the National Secretary, or any other official is not authorized to abruptly remove a principal officer of the National Assembly under the APC Constitution.
It is regrettable that the APC Senate Caucus will allow such an unlawful behavior. They have thereby established a precedent that will further impair the National Assembly’s independence.
“Already, the APC, led by Dr. Ganduje, has removed key officers for criticizing President Tinubu’s administration, highlighting the fanatical mindset undermining Nigerian democracy.
Sen. Godswill Akpabio has been conducting himself in a way that almost reduces the Senate Chamber to the status of a parastatal of government.
“A democracy is nonexistent if it is unable to accept criticism. A dictatorship is one that suppresses the right to a fair trial.
A democracy is worse than a military administration if it allows the ruling party to demobilize its organs and unintentionally remove its members.
To bring back Nigeria’s democracy, all patriotic political figures in the country must band together. To reconstruct Nigerian democracy, opposition leaders in the country must band together and create a truly powerful political party.
All of our opposition leaders and APC orphaned leaders need to get together. Sen. Ndume is invited to join the nation’s political leaders in their efforts to rebuild and restore democracy, since she is the newest APC orphan.
“Patriotic Nigerians must assist APC in ensuring its defeat in 2027 as long as it, its leadership, and Asiwaju Tinubu’s government have chosen the self-destructive route, which is akin to a declaration of working to terminate their reign in 2027!”
Sen. Ndume “have been making uncouth and rabid outbursts against the government, before the international and before the global community is not only harmful to the government’s image alone but
also undermines the party’s unity and cohesion and in addition, undermines the government’s efforts to bring in foreign direct investments to Nigeria,” according to a letter sent by the APC to Akpabio.
He continued, saying that “kleptocrats and kakistocrats populate the government,” adding that the term “kleptocrat” refers to those “who are in government for what they can make for themselves.”
Consequently, the letter to the Senate asked Sen. Ndume to “formally join any opposition party of his choice and honorably resign the
membership of APC instead of hiding behind the veil of crass activism to decimate the hard-earned cohesion and goodwill that…the APC is enjoying within and outside the country.”
