Tinubu: Why I Am Intervening In National Assembly Leadership Race

Bola Ahmed Tinubu has strongly rebuffed insinuations of meddling in the election of a new Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives saying his intervention was to safeguard the agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Noting that the Buhari administration was stymied by the emergence of Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara at the National Assembly leadership, the All Progressives Congress, APC national leader said it was essential that a leadership that would help achieve the agenda of the Buhari administration was put in place.

The statement issued by Tinubu’s media office came against the background of Tinubu’s strong support for Senator Ahmad Lawan for Senate President and his political protegee, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila for Speaker.

He said: “Asiwaju is neither inclined, nor sufficiently naive, to take his eye off the present in the futile attempt to peer through the thick fog that is the future.

“With the Senate leadership usurped by regressive elite, that chamber constituted a brake on progress and good governance.

“The Senate leadership, and to a lesser degree, the House leadership, stymied APC legislative initiatives while attempting to hoist noxious, reactionary and self-interested legislation on the nation.”

Noting that the outgoing National Assembly leadership did not help the budget process, he said:

“National budgets were delayed and distorted as these actors repeatedly sought to pad budgets with pet projects that would profit them.

“Even worse, they cut funds intended to prosper projects that would have benefited the average person. After four years of their antics halting the progress of government, we should do all we can to prevent a repeat of their malign control of the National Assembly.”

Noting how Saraki became Senate President, he said:

“He planted himself at the apex of legislative power. But his actions as Senate president showed a man devoid of compassion for the average Nigerian. All he cared for was power and position.

“Soon he will be deprived of both. House Speaker Dogara has fared only slightly better. Occupying these positions is not a guarantee of future success. It is only a guarantee of present duty.

“Politics requires jockeying and maneuvering for influence to get the right people in the right positions. To be beneficial, politics must be tied to the greater purpose of governance, such as with President Buhari’s goal to reform the national economy for the good of all Nigerians.”

“In supporting the party and the President, Asiwaju has shown his commitment to achieving the President’s goals. Nothing more should be read into it,” the statement said.

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