On N/Assembly leadership and Tinubu’s gaffe

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu is only wailing over his failure to have control of the National Assembly and make it a puppet of the executive by installing his stooges as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. We find it quite unfortunate and worrisome […]

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu is only wailing over his failure to have control of the National Assembly and make it a puppet of the executive by installing his stooges as the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.

We find it quite unfortunate and worrisome that a man who is not an elected member of the Senate could declare publicly that he had a preferred choice as the President of the Senate when it is clear that only members of the Senate can elect whoever they want as their President.

From this statement, it is obvious that Tinubu expressed the pains of the failure of his selfish agenda which he has been nursing since 2015 when he lost woefully in his bid to annex the NASS as another district under his control and had since sent him to oblivion in national politics.

As a group championing the advancement of democracy we find the statement of the APC National Leader ridiculous and self-indicting. He who lives in a glass house must not throw stones and anyone coming to equity must ensure they have no iniquity in their hands. Tinubu does not have the moral high ground to label anyone a robber.

If what Tinubu desires and describes as a vibrant Senate Presidency is one that will be taking orders and directives from Bourdillon and become a rubber stamp of the Presidency, as it is being practised in Lagos and Osun states, then it is safe to say Nigeria do not desire such model, he should keep the model to Lagos before he’s subjected to further national ridicule like he has been since 2015.

We must also state clearly that there is no iota of sincerity and patriotism in Tinubu’s statement, he is only fighting for his 2023 presidential ambition and he’s pained and still bereaved that a huge step to achieving the ambition was frustrated by patriotic legislators who stopped his attempt to allow an outsider take a hold of the NASS leadership and toss it wherever he wants.

Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, has also chastised Tinubu, over his recent utterances and said it is unfortunate that such utterances were coming from an elder statesman like him.

According to Ibrahim, Tinubu should seek caution in his public utterances “because good leaders don’t talk down on people the way he does and should note that his being a leader today does not mean he will be leader forever and I can say with emphasis that our own leaders don’t talk to us the way Tinubu is talking”.

Ibrahim is quoted to have said  “I reject being called a political prostitute in totality and can also say this about my other APC Senators then because I knew no money  exchanged hands but we voted based on our conviction. Tinubu is to blame for planning to impose a leadership on the Senate without carrying along APC Senators. I wonder why the former Lagos governor is still pained by what transpired over three and half years ago. He haunted and persecuted Dr Saraki since his emergence as Senate President and it took the ruling of the Supreme Court for him to be vindicated. So, when there was no sincere reconciliation, we left the APC for them. Now, Tinubu is now referring to an old issue forgetting that he and others caused the problem then,”

Ayo Adewunmi , National Coordinator, Democracy Advancement Solidarity Movement