2019: NASS leadership crisis won’t affect APC, says Dogara

Yakubu-Dogara

SPEAKER of House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has said those predicting that the crisis witnessed in the election of the presiding officers of the National Assembly would affect the chances of All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2019 elections will be disappointed. His comment came on the heels of the alleged report credited to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, that his emergence “was a sign of PDP reclaiming what was taken from it by APC in 2019.”

Speaking while receiving a delegation of the defunct 2014 Presidential Primaries Committee of APC, which paid him a courtesy call in his office, Abuja, yesterday, Dogara said that APC had come to provide the required positive change in the country.

He said the disagreement among party members in the election of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives as well as the Deputy Speaker was not enough to distabilise APC.

He also said what was witnessed was merely a conflict of ideas by various interests involved in the process of selecting presiding officers for the legislature.

According to him, “we are here to work and we do not have any reason to fail. We cannot fail. That is why I picked holes in the ambition of those who have their eyes fixed on 2019.

“We did not get here because of 2019. If we do the right things and the people see results, 2019 will take care of itself. We cannot fail because we are here to bring change.”

Appeals to APC members

While appealing to members of APC not to see what transpired during the elections as crisis that would tear the party apart as a result of the interests expressed by members, he said the party had the capacity to manage every member and their interests.

He said: “People talk about crisis in the party. I do not see any crisis. Even if there is, the party has the capacity to deal with whatever issue pertaining to its members and their interests.

“The crisis being perceived by a section of people in APC is not a crisis, but simply a conflict of ideas because we are not perfect. We are all products of imperfection.

“We thank God that we maintain a comfortable majority and we intend to take advantage of it.

“We will work with the executive in delivering change to our people without actually compromising the independence of our institution.”

Speaking earlier, Secretary of the committee, Dr. Alex Ideye, said the delegation came to congratulate him on his emergence as Speaker of the House.

Ideye urged the Speaker to reciprocate the good gesture of his opponent, Femi Gbajabiamila, by carrying everybody along in his leadership of the House with a view to building consensus and achieve legislative harmony.