Support Lawan, Gbajabiamila Or Leave, Tinubu Warns APC Lawmakers

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party, Bola Tinubu, has warned lawmakers elected on the platform of the party to support Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila for Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives.

Addressing journalists in Lagos state, Nigeria’s commercial city, on Friday, March 29, Tinubu said the party’s choice must be respected and whoever is against such should leave.

The APC leader noted that the party discipline would be upheld in addressing the leadership tussle of the 9th national assembly.

Tinubu warned against what the APC suffered in 2015 when some of its lawmakers connived with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, which was the minority, and elected those against the party’s choice as principal officers.

Naija News understands that APC is expected to produce the next principal officers after emerging the majority in both chambers of the national assembly; it has 25 seats more than the PDP in the Senate and is clearly ahead of PDP by 100 seats in the house of representatives.

The ruling party already endorsed Lawan and Gbajabiamila as their preferred candidates for Senate president and speaker respectively.

Speaking on the development, Tinubu said the party will not tolerate what happened in 2015 while adding that party discipline is key.

His words: “We were a little careless in 2015. We created the opportunity for serpent to get into our party and that did not allow Nigeria to make the desired progress.

“You have seen the result of it and we are not going to allow that to happen again. We are going to respect our party and we are going to apply the whip.

“It is either you stay with us or you follow us or you leave. You have the freedom to choose but the freedom does not give you as a minority to go and collaborate and protrude our mandate given to you to another party who was our opposition and who is still our opposition.

“We would not take that this time, no matter who you think you are. That is how it is built. Why do you want to deviate from what has been structured? We look at our reward system equally, zone by zone,” he added.

Tinubu said the party had gone through a lot of processes and must remain as one against all odds.