The Speaker of the House of Representatives
Yakubu Dogara, has described as laughable
claims by some people that he and some All
Progressives Congress (APC) members in the
House were planning to defect from the party to
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The speaker in a statement issued by his Special
Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki
Adamu Hassan said there was no truth in the
claims.

The statement quoted Dogara as saying he told
visiting APC State party chairmen led by Alhaji
Umar Haruna Doguwa, acting Chairman of the
forum who also doubles as the Kano state APC
chairman in his office, that the claims were
ludicrous.

He said it was laughable for some people to
insinuate that he and other APC members were
planning to leave the party they helped to build.
“I want to discountenance these ludicrous and
laughable discussions that some of us in the
House are even conniving with some people so
that we can defect. Only a fool will believe that.”

“We have toiled day and night, we control the
government at the centre, and in our states,
then we park and move to a house that we
deserted before, it is even unthinkable and
unimaginable that someone will even make such
assertions.”

Dogara also assured that the APC will overcome
the current crisis saying, “we have been through
a lot but obviously it is expected, as a new party
we are beginning to know ourselves. It is
expected that from the beginning we will have
some kind of friction, but we cannot be con­
sumed by those frictions.”

On party supremacy, the Speaker said although
he agreed that the party is supreme, he however,
said absolute sovereignty and supremacy rest
with the people.

“It is my deepest conviction as a student of
democracy, I know that democracy is loosely
defined as government of the people, by the
people, and for the people. In actual fact,
sovereignty in a democratic regime belongs to
the people. The government is for the people
and the party too is for the people.”

According to the Speaker, “absolute supremacy
must be anchored on the sovereignty of our
people because if we don’t pursue the interest of
our people, you can guarantee the fact that
sooner than later there may be no APC.”

“So the people must be at the centre of whatever
policy we formulate or whatever directive we
give to somebody. The party must have our peo­
ple at the centre of that activity otherwise the
people will rebel against us and we don’t pray
for such.”

The Speaker assured the party chairmen that he
and all APC members of the House are not
disloyal to the party because “all of us
contributed immensely to the building of the
APC. It is our duty to ensure that the party
survives. And they say it is only a mad man that
will use the same hands that he used in building
a house to pull it down. We are not mad, we are
not fools.”

Dogara, warned that the APC risked losing
popularity if it makes the mistake of mar­
ginalizing some zones in the sharing of positions
of principal officers of the National Assembly
because when elections come, the party will go
back to the people to seek for their support
“We have to extend the hands of friendship and
brotherhood to them to ensure that we
strengthen their position so that we can make
considerable inroad into those states. And if we
don’t do that then we should be counting, our
days because if Nigerians didn’t save PDP, if we
mess up they won’t save us. We owe more than
just passing interest in ensuring that we continue
in the task of rebuilding the APC.”

He therefore called on all party members and
leaders to put national interest over and above
all other considerations saying, “There was one
judge who once remarked that there is one
consideration that is even above the constitution
even though the constitution of the land is the
supreme law, the grand norm but the
constitution does not even acknowledge it. He
said that consideration is national interest. If
there is no Nigerian there won’t be Nigerian con­
stitution.”

“As long as we put this national interest forward
we are not going to have a problem, we want to
be in this for the long hold and not a sprint race
but rather a marathon. Sincerely speaking we
cannot afford that APC becomes an exclusive
club of certain privileged people. We must
spread our hands otherwise we will diminish.
And that therefore means that the work has just
begun especially in states that we are not in
power.”

He said it was incumbent on the APC to partner
with opposition party in the House because “the
House is always a one house, we work in such a
way that will keep the House united in spite of
our political party affiliations. “

“If we have divisions in the House and if that
division is sharply along party lines, most of the
instructions you will give us in-form of pro­
grammes that you send to us through the
executive may suffer delay. Our people will
expect that we use our majority position to
bring about leadership with cooperation from
even the opposition party and deliver the
promise of change.”

Speaking earlier, Doguwa said they were in the
Speaker’s office to congratulate him and urged
him to carry every member along in the running
of the affairs of the House.
He also assured the Speaker of their readiness to
support the leadership to ensure that they
succeed.

yemaldo:
Buhari popularity won u guys d election, leave at ur own risk

Sijo01:
Possibilities cannot be rule out. With naija politicians, unthinkable funny things are possible.

bamog:
oya tel me aw diz post go make chelsea win community shield wen cech dey post 4 arsenal?

westgermany:
Dogara be like shoroniyen

Rilwayne001:


I know saTANists like you would be here giving yourself false hope. Dream on miss TANoid, dream on.

Rilwayne001:

When is the community shield gan nan?

Sijo01:


Save yourself from developing HBP...

.. am not partisian

bamog:
early august sha!!!!

bamog:
early august sha!!!!

stuff46:
I like the way Apc and it peoples are ranting

Rilwayne001:


I'm not getting any HBP ma'am. You are the one that need to stop worrying your life over APC/PMB.



Yeah, you are not partisan on this thread, but it doesn't change the fact that you displayed yesterday how discombobulated you are.

HungerBAD:
Even me i laughed when i read the story earlier.

It is Metuh, the older brother of Barcanista at work.