Senate President Bukola Saraki has said that he would not keep quiet and allow Senator Ahmed Tinubu, the National leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), to create what he called “wrong, false and mischievous impression” about his defection.
Saraki said this on Monday in Abuja while responding to reports credited to Tinubu on the reasons why Saraki and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal left APC.
Tinubu was quoted to have said that the duo left because they could not get what they had wanted.
Saraki, in his response, said he would not watch Tinubu present his prejudices as facts for public consumption even though he had always restrained from “joining issues” in the media in view of the respect he had for the APC leader.
“I have been consistent in my complaints to all leaders of the APC, including Tinubu.
“A situation where the National Assembly is not constructively engaged or carried along in key policy decisions, particularly those that will eventually require legislative approval, is not in the best interest of the nation.
“No genuine leader of the legislature will be comfortable that the Presidency will simply write a terse letter to the National Assembly on key issues which the federal legislature is expected to later deliberate upon and give its approval.
“The Buhari administration consistently treats the legislature with contempt and acts as if the law making body should be an appendage of the Executive. To me, that is unacceptable.
“In the same way, I find it very objectionable that many stakeholders who worked strenuously to get the administration into office have now been excluded in the government and not consulted on key decisions as necessary and expected.”
He alleged that some of them were treated as pariah, stressing that a party which ignored justice, equity and inclusion as basic precondition for peace, unity and stability would not sustain its membership and leadership.
“Let me redirect the attention of the former Governor of Lagos State to the aspect of my July 31, 2018, statement.
“In the statement, I announced my exit from APC and I emphasised that the decision “has been inescapably imposed on me by certain elements and forces within the APC.
“Forces, who have ensured that the minimum conditions for peace, cooperation, inclusion and a general sense of belonging did not exist.”
Saraki further insisted that those APC elements had done everything to ensure that the basic rules of party administration, which should promote harmonious relations among the various elements within the party were blatantly disregarded.
“All governance principles which were required for a healthy functioning of the party and the government were deliberately violated or undermined.
“ Also, all entreaties for justice, equity and fairness as basic precondition for peace and unity, not only within the party, but also the country at large, were simply ignored, or employed as additional pretext for further exclusion.
“The experience of my people and associates in the past three years is that they have suffered alienation and have been treated as outsiders in their own party.
“Thus, many have become disaffected and disenchanted.
“At the same time, opportunities to seek redress and correct these anomalies were deliberately blocked as a government-within-a-government had formed an impregnable wall and left in the cold everyone else who was not recognised as “one of us”.
“This is why my people, like all self-respecting people would do, decided to seek accommodation elsewhere”, Saraki Said.