Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State has stated that the senators that defected from the APC were afraid of what Buhari would do to them in his second tenure because they are corrupt. The Governor gave this as an explanation for the spate of defection that recently hit the ruling party.
While answering questions during a media chat in his state conducted in Hausa he said “Why did these people (senators) leave APC? It’s because they love bribe and were afraid of what President Muhammadu Buhari will do to them if he gets re-elected.
“This is just the truth. What joined them together is that they love bribery and corruption and they are afraid President Buhari will deal with them.”
It would be recalled that about 14 senators, 37 members of the house of assembly and some governors defected from the APC with most of them going to the main opposition party, the PDP.
According to El-Rufai, President Buhari would never work with any corrupt politician. He also stated that President Buhari cannot be faulted on performance because he is doing his best. He added that the President made Nigerians three campaign promises which included fighting corruption, improving the economy and defeating Boko Haram.
He added that had the defecting senators been truly supporting the President, he would have achieved much more than he did. He said “Nobody will criticise this government for lack of performance because they are trying their best. If the senators were honestly supporting the president, he would have achieved more than what he currently achieved; but instead they are sabotaging his effort.
“He gave them budget (2018), they sat over it for 7-8 months without passage. The House of Representative members are more honest and trustworthy.
But those in the Senate have nothing in mind rather than looking for money. Senate leadership under Bukola Saraki is the worst and no good leadership in the Senate.”
After stating that this current senate was the worst in Nigeria’s history, he went on to add that despite the defections, the APC still controls the majority in the senate and that he has confidence in the ability of the new party chairman Adams Oshiomole to handle the situation.
“It’s not surprising because we have been hearing that many senators will defect. “We heard about it, even though some of the senators whose names appeared among those that defected denied it.
“We have been assured that our party, APC, still controls majority in the senate. I have confidence in our new party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, that he will handle the issue well and any governor in his state will also take measures.
“We were also told that apart from the senators, there are also governors that will defect. We wish them well because we know those who cannot win election in their homes among them. They are only elected into Senate based on Buhari’s factor or popularity.
“Majority of them were elected because their election was conducted same day with President Buhari. If they think they can win alone, we wish them luck.”
Source: Vanguardngr