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The All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, approached the Presidency to halt what it termed alleged breach of the law that led to the emergence of Abubakar Sulaiman and Frank Okiye as Speakers of Bauchi and Edo State Houses of Assembly, respectively.
APC’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, dropped the hint when he met with 21 members of the Bauchi Assembly, led by the immediate past governor of the state, Mohammed Abubakar, at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
He further stated that the party had already petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, over the questionable roles played by his personnel when the two assemblies were inaugurated earlier in the week.
Oshiomhole, who likened what transpired in both Houses to daylight robbery, maintained that there was no way both assemblies would be allowed to preside against the wish of majority of the members.
While urging the lawmakers to keep the peace and toe the path of justice, he vowed that the party, which had exercised restraint in deploying the apparatus of power to have its way, would surely fight the “illegalities” in both states to its logical conclusion.
He said the minority lawmakers cannot rob the people, who have chosen to entrust the leadership of the State House of Assembly in the hands of the APC by voting for 21 of you, while they allow PDP only 10, of their right to govern.
Oshiomhole stated: “APC should control the legislature. It is because of the liberal disposition of the President that you can have a PDP person being proclaimed as the governor of Bauchi State after the last election. We could as well have used the Police to occupy Government House and put anybody of our choice to govern Bauchi State.”
“In spite of the huge reservations we had about the manipulations in the election and the fact that we, as a party, believe that Abubakar won the election, until the court makes the pronouncement, once INEC has chosen to recognise Muhammed, we have to abide by that reality, painful as it is.
“Minority can never preside over majority in a democracy. There is no way PDP can produce the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and other principal officers. If he insists, then he is inviting trouble. We will ensure that the rule of law prevails in Bauchi.
“Unfortunately, the situation is also similar to the one that is happening in Edo. I am ashamed to talk about it, but there is nothing to hide. We have a similar situation in Edo, where we have an all-APC parliament and somebody wants a particular person as Speaker, but 19 out of 24 are opposed to this person.
“They then decided to carry six members, bundled them into a vehicle, some of them in their boxers, to be inaugurated at 9.30 pm. Yours was 6a.m, Edo’s was 9.30pm, all unholy hours.”
Earlier on, Kawuwa Damina, who was elected Speaker by 21 of the 31 Bauchi lawmakers, alleged that they had been subjected to all forms of threats and harassments at the hands of the agents of the PDP due to their allegiance to the APC.
He called on security agencies to give them cover for proper inauguration for the 9th Assembly in line with the dictates of the constitution.
