THE controversies that dogged the Tuesday election of principal officers of the 8th National Assembly have justified the need for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference on the management of Political Parties and electoral matters in the country, Labour said yesterday.
As the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) beamed its searchlight on the outcome of the elections of the National Assembly leaders, it was contended that the emergence of the Senate President, Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Dogara should bring “reconciliation and robust legislative agenda of sustainable change in the country.”
The Deputy National President of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu in a statement, while reacting to the outcome of the National Assembly election results and the initial controversies said that “at stake in this unhealthy development are the critical success factors of consensus building, independence of the National Assembly, party ideologies, inclusiveness and vote-counting, shared values, party supremacy and carpet-crossing among others.”
“These issues are recurring specters haunting Nigeria’s democracy since 1999. Happily these issues have been addressed in 2014 National Conference with robust recommendations begging for implementations. It’s time we worked the national talk which lasted almost a year with enormous human and financial national resources.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of ‘Abubakar Bukola Saraki Leadership Forum’ (ABSLF) Alhaji Bibire Ajape yesterday described the emergence of Bukola Saraki as the President of the eighth Senate, a perfect synergy that would boost the performances in office of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ajape in a press briefing in Ilorin, said since Buhari a former military junta excelled in his war against indiscipline with Tunde Idiagbon, an Ilorin man, the presence of Saraki another Ilorin man, would equally bring out success in Buhari’s second coming as civilian president.
He lambasted some national leadership of the All Progressives Party (APC) for allegedly interpreting the constitution of the National Assembly as a purely party issue rather than national affair.
Aremu added, “Labour therefore calls on the legislators that it is neither triumphalism nor despair but genuine reconciliation and sober reflections. Simple electoral process involving 109 Senators and 360-member House of Representatives should not be characterized by so much tension, doubt and acrimonies.”
“Labour demands that the resolution of the current crisis of leadership of the National Assembly must be in favour of Nigeria and strengthening of Nigeria’s democracy and nothing less. The current crisis of election of leadership in the Assembly comes too soon after the nation has gained considerable political mileage in consensus building following the March 28 2015 presidential elections. This negative development raises the dangerous reminder of the past political wars of attrition.”
