Lagos ACN Legislators meet Tinubu,rule out Defection to PDP

Lagos ACN Legislators Meet Tinubu, Rule Out Defection To PDP

HON. ABIKE DABIRI (2ND LEFT) WITH HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-ELECT. FROM LEFT: GANIYU OLATUNDE HAMZAT, ADEBIMPE AKINSOLA AND DAYO BUSH-ALEBIOSU, WITH THEIR CERTIFICATES OF RETURN RECEIVED FROM INEC IN LAGOS TODAY, MAY 09, 2011.

LAGOS, May 09, (THEWILL) - Shortly after they collected their Certificate of Return from the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yaba, Lagos, members of the House of Representatives met with the party's National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The meeting was said to have been arranged following a report that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) lawmakers in the lower legislative chamber plan to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as a condition to get the position of Deputy Speaker.

Though information on the discussions at the meeting with Tinubu was sketchy at press time, THEWILL gathered that the former Lagos State governor summoned the lawmakers to brief them on the plan of the ruling PDP to break into its rank at the National Assembly.

In their reaction to the report, the lawmakers debunked the report published in a national daily.

Speaking with THEWILL, Hon. Ganiyu Hamzat (Mushin II) simply ruled out the likelihood of ACN lawmakers defecting to the PDP, stating that the idea was unprogressive to the philosophies of the country’s main opposition party.

He said, "It cannot be true. I have not been consulted about it. I have not been contacted. The idea is at variance with the tenets and ground norms of the Action Congress of Nigeria. We cannot entertain it. By the grace of God, all my colleagues in the opposite wing will not defect to the PDP."

Also, Minority Leader of the Lower Chamber, Hon. Hakeem Gbajabiamila, said there was no such thing in the pipeline, thus wondering where the report emanated from, while he expressed the strong will of ACN lawmakers to play the role of the opposition party.

He added that if there “is a move like that being initiated by the ruling party, it is already a wasted effort. The ACN lawmakers are not under pressure to dump the party. It is unrealistic and false because our programmes and philosophies are different absolutely from that of the ruling party.”

In his reaction, Hon. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, representing Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency I also said the report was speculative. He said the ACN lawmakers are positioning themselves to make meaningful input into the legislative process.

Akinderu-Fatai added that the new Electoral Act as amended did not give room for haphazard defection as contained in the report.