NEWS
NASS leadership:
Oshiomhole, Tinubu under fire over stance on Ahmed Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila
Second republic federal lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has said that while the All Progressives Congress, APC, had the right to show keen interest in those aspiring to lead the National Assembly, the dictatorial posture of its leaders was a turn-off.
Speaking with Sunday Telegraph, Mohammed said the utterances of the APC
National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on the leadership tussle in the National
Assembly portrayed him as someone who did not understand party leadership.
According to Mohammed, while the party had a right to demand the
loyalty of its members elected into the National Assembly, its leaders must
learn not to make careless utterances on the matter.
He said, “I admit that because of what happened last time (2015), the
APC wants to make sure it gets it right this time. But it appears that the same
carelessness with which they handled the matter last time is also repeating
itself.
“Last time some members of the party felt that they had something
called independence or autonomy of the parliament so they can do what they
like. But it would have made a lot of sense of they had won the election as
independent candidates. It is only then that they can talk about independence
of the legislature.
“However, Oshiomhole has carried over his attitude as a labour unionist
and enforcer of strikes into the running of a political party and nobody has
called him to order.
“If he thinks that it is only by bullying members of party in the
National Assembly that they would achieve their goal then he must have a
rethink. He should never have been the National Chairman of the ruling party or
any other party for that matter. We tend to think people will change their
character when they occupy certain positions of authority but it doesn’t happen
that way. It is not possible for leopard to change its spots,” he said.
Mohammed did not also spare a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, for inadvertently “playing roles” that could hurt the ruling party in
the long run.
He said that the fact that both Senator Ahmed Lawan and Rep. Femi
Gbajabiamila are perceived as Tinubu’s candidates had already become a
challenge for duo who are seeking to lead the incoming National Assembly.
Junaid Mohammed said, “It is an open secret that Tinubu had a
presidential ambition in 2023 and whatever he does now is perceived as designed
to boost his own chances in the future.
“But how many votes can Lawan mobilise for him in Yobe and the North
and how many votes can Gbajabiamila deliver for him in Lagos and the South
West? But I don’t see how fixing certain people in certain places in the
National Assembly can advance his political career. It will not and he needs to
very careful,” he said.
Mohammed urged the ruling party to put their house in order by
persuading their members to support their preferred candidates on the basis of
merit rather than through coercion or godfatherism.
He warned that if the APC goes about it recklessly they may create
another opportunity for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cash in on their
mistakes.
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