Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the Southwest have vowed not to recognise the emergence of Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara until the crisis revolving around the National Assembly contest is sufficiently resolved by the party.
Chairman of the Ekiti State chapter of the party, Chief Jide Awe disclosed this yesterday as his counterpart in Oyo State, Chief Akin Oke insisted that the two presiding officers of the National Assembly should apologise to the party to avoid compounding their problems.
Saraki and Dogara |
The duo spoke in the wake of assertions that the Southwest caucus of the party may have decided to boycott activities of the party upon the crisis provoked by the failure of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to win the leadership contest and the subsequent resistance to his emergence as Majority Leader of the House.
Speaking on the development, Awe said: “I was at the NEC meeting but I did not go and salute the Senate President and the Speaker. This is because there are issues on ground that have not been resolved by the leadership of the party. This crisis has to be resolved. We are a third party to this crisis and a third party should not contribute to an existing problem, rather he should look for solutions.”
Awe noted that the chairmen of the party from the region unanimously resolved not to congratulate Senator Saraki and Speaker Dogara.
His words: “All the Southwest chairmen have decided to allow the party solve the problems with the National Assembly before we start congratulating the winners.
When probed to know if the chairmen from the zone were acting the script of a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he said, “that is what they will think but they are wrong. People do not know the workings of the APC. For Asiwaju (Tinubu) not to be at the NEC meeting means that he is not a member.
Also speaking on the issue, chairman of the party in Oyo state, Chief Oke said the state chairmen of the party believe very strongly that party supremacy should be respected.
He also maintained that the state chairmen of the party visited the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki to ensure that he respects the position of the party.