Lawan dismisses reports on Senators’ defection letters, blames mischief- makers
by Ebor Cletus Ralph Jr
Ahmed Lawan, the Senate President, denied allegations on Saturday that 12 senators had sent letters indicating their intention to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC).
There were rumours on Saturday that Lawan purposefully chose not to read the letters that the lawmakers who had expressed their displeasure with the ruling party at the plenary on Friday in Abuja had submitted.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation, had raised the red flag in June about a plan by several senators to defect from the ruling party when their attempt to win re-election to the upper house of congress the following year failed.
In the most recent few weeks, the APC had lost at least six senators to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition groups, including Yayaha Abdullahi, the previous majority leader.
However, in a statement issued by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, the Senate President described the reports as syndicated lies orchestrated by mischief- makers.
The statement read: “We have seen a story on social media and some online newspapers purporting that the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, is sitting on letters from some senators allegedly intimating him of their defections from the All Progressives Congress.
“The story insinuated that Lawan is sitting on the purported letters to protect his position as the President of the Senate. We hereby state categorically that the story is utter falsehood as there is no such letter before the Senate President.
“Obviously, the purveyors of the syndicated lies had not even bothered to confirm from the Distinguished Senator if and when he submitted any such letter to the Senate President. It is public knowledge that the Senate President has always promptly read out at plenaries letters by senators defecting from one party to another.
“The Senate President is sufficiently knowledgeable about the rules and workings of the Senate and has been discharging his responsibilities within the ambit of those rules.
“That is why he has continued to enjoy the confidence and full cooperation of his fellow Distinguished Senators, irrespective of party affiliations.
“Apparently, some vested interests want to magnify challenges to sow seeds of discord in the Parliament in promotion of their selfish agenda.
“We wish to reiterate that the Senate President is not withholding or sitting on any letter of whatever content from any of his Distinguished Senator colleagues.
“Therefore, any story purporting such exists only in the imagination of the mischief-makers circulating it.”
