The Sustainable Democracy Agenda (SUDA), a pro-democracy group has commended the group of former governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the ninth Senate for endorsing the present Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan as President of the incoming Senate.
A statement by the convener of the group, Ibrahim Haruna Usman said the endorsement by former and serving APC governors elected into the Senate is a vindication that the Adams Oshiomhole led National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC did not impose Lawan on senators-elect as alleged by the camp of one of the contestants for the senate presidency.
The group said “We commend the highly influential APC governors block for this support and by this endorsement the group confirmed that the choice of Lawan by the party leadership was a culmination of broad based consultations with various organs and levels of the party.
“This endorsement as revealed by the Borno State Governor, His Excellency Alhaji Kashim Shettima should put to rest any remaining hope by the minority Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to infiltrate the majority APC for the purpose of hijacking the leadership of the National Assembly as it did in 2015.”
The statement said “As a group that is interested in the growth of democracy all over Africa, SUDA commends the proactive approach of the Oshiomhole led APC in ensuring that lawmakers elected on the platform of the majority party avoid a division that could be devastating to the progress of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
“By this decision of the APC governors, the party has effectively moved away from the indecision of 2015, which led to the power tussle that affected the productivity of the present Senate. We call on the APC leadership to sustain the ongoing dialogue with all its senators-elect to bring them on board towards actualization of this resolution.
“The APC should also monitor the activities of any member of the party that may be working to jeopardize its resolve at consolidating its majority in the legislature. SUDA is against any move at reenacting the 2015 scenario, which didn’t augur well for growth of democracy and development in the country.”
SUDA also called on the APC consensus candidate, Senator Ahmed Lawan not to relent in reaching out to all senators-elect including his opponents, as well as those of the PDP towards engendering a stable and democratically productive ninth Senate.
“It is time for all the incoming senators to key into the Lawan Project and own it, as a way of creating a united atmosphere needed for actualization of their collective and individual legislative agenda. Rebellion as has been seen in the eight Senate only led to self-destruct and institutional retrogression,” the group said.
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