Defection: Oshiomhole asks Saraki to step down

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress  (APC), has asked Senate President Bukola Saraki to step down.

Speaking with journalists after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and some APC senators in Abuja on Wednesday, the party chairman said the senate president collected a crown that belonged to a family to wear in another.

On Tuesday, Saraki defected from APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Oshiomhole said the senate president must return the crown to the house where it belongs, since the APC is still the largest party in the senate.

“Nobody in the APC will be surprised about the development. In fact, they have stayed little bit longer than we thought. Last week, the Kwara state governor said he was leaving but he didn’t say when. So, we are not surprised at all,” he said.

“But these are what I might call temping moments because I had faced similar situations in my state when people were leaving. But the beauty of democracy is that whether big or small, it is one man one vote on election day, no difference between a senator, a president, a journalist and any other person.

“In a sense, we have to accept that once a couple for any reason or the other find that they not compatible, the only honourable thing is to go.”

He expressed delight that Saraki acknowledged the role the APC under him played not to lose key members.

“I was happy for one thing is that the senate president as a mark of honour accepted that he is leaving not because the new leadership did not make effort, he admitted that not only did I do everything possible along with the vice-president, along with some governors and we had meeting with the president, but he argued that those efforts came too late,” he said.

“But whatever is the reason, we can decamp from a party but we can’t decamp from Nigeria, the only thing is that there are other consequential issues that every man or woman of honour who had taken such decisions would be expected to follow through.

“I mean you should not collect a crown that belongs to a family and wear it on behalf of the family if for your personal reasons which he has enumerated that he has gone to another family. It is just a matter of honour to leave the crown in the house that the crown belongs to. As it stands even now, APC is still the largest party in the senate, we have 53 senators, that is much more than PDP has, or APGA has.

“So, I think the important thing is that our democracy is still evolving, there are a couple of lessons to learn from the development.”