PDP takeover of Senate doom for Buhari – Yerima

A PDP-controlled Senate will spell doom for the All Progressive Congress government of President Muhammadu Buhari, former House of Representatives member Dr Haruna Yerima has said.

“The ruling party and the presidency must ensure that the ranks and files of APC senators remain intact,” Yerima told Daily Trust on Thursday.

The APC chieftain said with the ongoing criminal trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki, “something strategic must be done to avert the National Assembly’s ridiculing of the president.”

“You can imagine what will happen if the PDP takes over the Senate? What happened during the election of Saraki in June last year is an eye opener. There will be problems for Buhari’s government if the PDP takes over the senate,” he said.

The university teacher said “if Saraki finally resigns or found guilty who takes over? We can only dismiss the possibilities of PDP’s taking over at our own peril. The PDP requires only three senators to form the majority. It is easier for them because the Saraki diehards in the APC will support them.

“Where the pendulum of some former governors in the senate will swing to is clear going by their antecedents. This should worry any believer in Buhari’s change agenda. The progressive policies of the president which requires the lawmakers’ nod will be jeopardized.”

He said the policy direction of the current National Assembly is antithetical to Buhari’s change agenda. “The unpopular buying of luxury cars for lawmakers, the controversial amendments of the Code of Conduct Bureau laws, the budget debacle are pointers to the fact that it will get worse if eventually the PDP takes over the Senate,” Yerima said.

He said the patriotic members of the APC in the National Assembly “must work in tandem with the party leadership to salvage the situation. Their inaction now will spell doom for the president and Nigeria at large.”

source