Senate President Bukola Saraki says he tried his best to reconcile with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but he was shown the way out. S
Senate President Bukola Saraki says he tried his best to reconcile with members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but he was shown the way out. Saraki said this while announcing his defection from the ruling party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The number three citizen described his defection as difficult but inevitable. He blamed this on some members who allegedly “ensured that the minimum conditions for peace, cooperation, inclusion and a general sense of belonging did not exist.” He, however, said his departure from the APC does not make him enemies with the party.
In a statement he released after his defection from the ruling party, Saraki said in part, “I wish to inform Nigerians that, after extensive consultations, I have decided to take my leave of the All Progressives Congress (APC). This is not a decision that I have made lightly. If anything at all, I have tarried for so long and did all that was humanly possible, even in the face of great provocation, ridicule and flagrant persecution, to give opportunity for peace, reconciliation and harmonious existence. It is my hope that the APC will respect the choice that I have made as my democratic right, and understand that even though we will now occupy a different political space, we do not necessarily become enemies unto one another.”
“While I take full responsibility for this decision, I will like to emphasise that it is a decision that has been inescapably imposed on me by certain elements and forces within the APC who have ensured that the minimum conditions for peace, cooperation, inclusion and a general sense of belonging did not exist. They have done everything to ensure that the basic rules of party administration, which should promote harmonious relations among the various elements within the party were blatantly disregarded. All governance principles which were required for a healthy functioning of the party and the government were deliberately violated or undermined. And all entreaties for justice, equity and fairness as basic precondition for peace and unity, not only within the party, but also the country at large, were simply ignored, or employed as additional pretext for further exclusion.”
