Senate Minority Leadership: Group warns Akpabio, says ‘Tambuwal never betrayed PDP, colleagues’

Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has been warned not to dabble into the Minority leadership issue of the 10th Senate, as such could destabilise the Upper Legislative House.

The advice was given by the PDP Action 2023 in a statement on Saturday in Abuja by its Chairman, Dr Rufus Omere.
In the statement entitled, “Who is Afraid of Tambuwal”, the PDP Action 2023 advised the Senate President to avoid meddling into the issue of Senate Minority leadership but concentrate instead in assisting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver sound legislation and good policies to ensure good governance in Nigeria at this critical period of change and renewal.
The group expressed surprise as to why some elements in the majority party and their collaborators are desperate to control the leadership of the Minority parties in the Senate.
According to the statement by Dr Omere, “Since the issue of Minority leadership of the 10th Senate became topical, the media has been awash with contrived, manufactured, sponsored, desperate, irresponsible, and generally distasteful stories planted by people with inordinate ambition to stifle the voices of opposition and future accountability in the 10th Senate.
“They have zeroed in on His Excellency, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, as their problem. They have levelled all sorts of spurious and unfounded allegations on him.
“They allege that he has once betrayed some people and PDP. Behind these allegations is an attempt to re-litigate the 2022 PDP presidential primaries.

“They have consistently tried to pin on him the issue of betrayal of some of his friends because of the patriotic role he played during the PDP National Convention.
“We cannot hold brief for Tambuwal, but at the appropriate time, the relevant question would be asked: Who betrayed who?
“Tambuwal had shown interest in the PDP presidential nomination long before some people suddenly appeared on the scene and expected him to drop out for them just because they believed that they had more financial resources than him, whether they had better programmes for Nigerians didn’t matter.
“Tambuwal has shown himself to be a team player and a responsible and sophisticated leader with bright ideas on the development of the Nigerian nation.
“He didn’t betray the PDP or the nation in his eight years as Sokoto State Governor.
“His colleagues trusted him with leadership of the PDP Governors Forum, an office he handled with distinction and aplomb.
“In fact, at a time, the Forum became the only true voice of constructive opposition in Nigeria, always proferring workable solutions to Nigerian problems. Did he betray PDP then? Of course not.
“His colleagues also found him worthy to be the Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum. Did he not represent the PDP and the Forum credibly? Yes is the resounding answer.

“Was there any complaint of lack of capacity or untoward conduct?. None whatsoever. He defended the ideals of PDP and Nigerians in such a way that his colleagues once again unanimously elected him as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, a position usually reserved for majority party Governors.
“And why did they do that? Because they saw in him the critical leadership qualities for nation building. He did not allow or participate in many anti people and anti democratic proposals at the dying days of the Buhari regime.
“He rallied around the entire Nigerian Governors to speak with one voice and assist the nation at its trying times of transition.
“So, why are they afraid of Tambuwal? Are they worried that he may become a stumbling block to alleged plot for complete dictatorship in Nigeria?
“Are they afraid that he might mobilize his colleagues to say no to certain anti people policies being foisted on the Nigerian nation?
“Are they afraid that he is not corrupt and has not soiled his hands in his years at the highest echelon of public service?
“In the National Assembly, a Speaker outranks a Senator. As a former Speaker, he has the ranking and qualifications to become the Minority Leader of the 10th Senate.
“Tambuwal is a parliamentarian par excellence. A strong defender of the prerogatives and institution of the legislature. A strong and tested advocate of the independence of the legislature and a strong believer in combining this independence with a constructive role to ensure deliverance of democratic windfalls for the people.
“He has demonstrated the capacity to forge alliances within his team for good cause. He has also shown that he is not over ambitious.
“He demonstrated the political equivalence of SUPREME SACRIFICE by voluntarily relinquishing his quest for PDP presidential nomination in 2022 when he was a strong enough contender to clinch the ticket.
“To those who are sponsoring these attacks on Senator Tambuwal, let them first purge themselves of the ignoble roles they played in the last presidential elections. Some Nigerians have no shame.
“And if one may ask, why are some elements in the majority party and their collaborators desperate to control the leadership of the Minority parties in the Senate?

“We counsel the newly elected President of the Senate not to allow people to destabilise the Senate by dabbling into the Minority leadership issue of the 10th Senate but to concentrate instead in assisting Mr President deliver sound legislation and good policies to ensure good governance in Nigeria at this critical period of change and renewal”, the PDP Action 2023 said.