Saraki’s Exit, a Relief, Says FG

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The federal government Wednesday in Abuja reacted to Tuesday’s defection of Senate President Bukola Saraki along with Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing Saraki’s exit as a relief.

Briefing journalists in the State House at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Saraki’s defection did not take the ruling party by surprise, noting that he had all along acted like an opposition member within the APC.

According to Mohammed, if the party did not gain anything from the emergence of Saraki as the Senate President, it will have nothing to lose either by his exit, alleging that he had deliberately slowed down the progress of the government by delaying budget passage and approval of key appointments.

“If Senate President Bukola Saraki were not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing the budget, approving key appointments and so on.

“In other words, what we are saying is that the Senate President Saraki has behaved all along as if he is a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government.

“It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected. Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper! If we didn’t gain by having our member as Senate President, we stand to lose nothing by losing him,” Mohammed said.