The Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, on Saturday said his All Progressives Congress, APC, would resist any attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to divide it,
Mr. Sani, a civil society activist, made the assertion while reacting to the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate President of the 8th Senate. He stated this when he visited physically challenged people at their base on Kano Road, Kaduna.
“We will not allow the PDP in the National Assembly to divide our party,” the lawmaker said. “We will initiate a process of reconciliation, of bringing both the Unity and the Like Minds Forum together with a view of strengthening the party to face challenges ahead.”
He said those who think the crisis will bring down the party are simply making a big mistake.
“APC is facing post-election crisis, but we are assuring Nigerians that the crisis faced by the party will be resolved and the party will emerge stronger. There is no doubt about it,” he added.
The first-term lawmaker also confirmed the existing polarisation in the newly inaugurated Senate, saying, “The legislature in the upper house are divided between Bukola Saraki and Ahmed Lawan’s camp. Saraki and Lawan are bona fide members (of APC) who have contributed a lot to the success of the party.”
Mr Sani is one of the 51 APC senators who supported the candidacy of Mr. Lawan. The 51 lawmakers had gone for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari when Mr. Saraki was elected Senate President by the remaining 57 senators, majority of them members of the PDP. A similar scenario also happened in the House of Representatives when Femi Gbajabiamila who had the support of majority lawmakers of the APC lost the speaker’s position to another APC candidate, Yakubu Dogara, who was mainly backed by the minority PDP. The APC had initially rejected both results but later backtracked.
On Saturday, Mr. Sani assured the physically challenged Kaduna residents that the APC-led government is committed to their welfare and well being.
“We will do everything possible within the law to see every one among the Physically Challenged is given education,to access soft loan for businesses and get skill acquisition so as to be self employed.
“It is always good to identify with the poorest of the poor people living with disability; to eat and drink with them, to show how important they are and fill at home,” he said after which he donated N200,000 to his hosts.
The leader of the physically challenged people ,Abdullahi Samaila, thanked the Senator for his gesture and urged other political office holders to emulate him.
