N’Assembly posts: Saraki, Dogara set to defy APC

The crisis within the All Progressives Congress over the choice of candidates for the speakership and the Senate presidency of the 8th National Assembly deepened on Sunday as candidates not endorsed by the party’s leadership vowed to contest the elections on Tuesday.

Findings in Abuja on Sunday showed that the candidates – Yakubu Dogara (House of Representatives) and Bukola Saraki (Senate) had intensified   lobbying   the Peoples Democratic Party incoming lawmakers.

Senators-elect and their counterparts for the House began accreditation for the Tuesday election at the National Assembly in Abuja on Sunday.

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The immediate past Minority Leader,   Femi Gbajabiamila, had at the party’s mock election   on Saturday emerged the APC consensus candidate for the post of speaker. He   polled 154 votes as against     Yakubu Dogara’s    three votes.

A total of 183 members registered for the mock election but the votes of four   were declared as invalid.

Bukola Saraki’s group boycotted the primary conducted for senate presidency , but the APC picked Ahmad Lawan, who got 32 votes.

Votes allocated to Dogora, a fraud, says Jibrin

But on Sunday, the spokesperson for the 8th Assembly Consolidation Group which is Dogara’s campaign body,   Abdulmumin Jibrin, warned that the APC was a on a path of self-destruction by sticking to the outcome of the primary.

Jibrin, a former Chairman, House Committee on Finance and contestant for the speakership until last week when he stepped down to support Dogara, insisted that there was no election.

“The mock election is a blatant lie. It was very shameful and disgraceful and the party only made a mockery of itself.

“We walked out of the hall and we never participated in the election. Therefore, the votes allocated to us were a fraud and we will not accept them,” he told a news conference on Sunday.

Jibrin   claimed that members of the group had received threats of disciplinary actions from the party since Saturday, but he restated the resolve of Dogara’s supporters to ignore the APC and nominate him(Dogora) for Tuesday’s (tomorrow) election.

Disclosing   that the group   had petitioned   Buhari to wade into the matter, he said it was regrettable that   in just a week after the APC formed the government at the Federal level, it appeared set on “derailing” from the ideals which propelled it to power.

“We have decided to write a petition to Buhari to intervene in this matter; to call the party to order. We will go ahead to nominate Dogara on the 9th and we will not back out,” he said.

The group seized the opportunity to unveil   Lasun Yusuf, a member from Osun State, as Dogora’s running mate .

The same Yusuf, had last week, announced that he was backing Gbajabiamila, only to make a U-turn on Sunday.