Senate sabotaging Buhari’s govt, says Adamu

Senator Abdullahi Adamu

Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

The senator representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Abdullahi Adamu, has accused the Senate of taking decisions that are frustrating the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adamu’s position was contained in a statement on Tuesday.

He is one of the 10 lawmakers who stormed out of the Senate chamber when the Senate passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill seeking to reshuffle elections, which those loyal to Buhari have opposed.

He said, “I believe we need to retrace our steps and reconsider our stand as legislators on matters of public interest. Our party, the APC, has the majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, yet we hold the executive prisoner of politics that are unhealthy for the polity. It is such a terrible irony that we sabotage our own government by refusing to do our part in support of the executive.

“Appointments requiring Senate approval are held up. The consequence is that the public has nicknamed the President and his administration ‘go-slow.’ The people gave us the mandate as a party to deliver. With our control of the executive and the National Assembly, there is no reason why the government cannot acquit itself and fulfil the yearnings of the people.

“Perhaps, while we are consumed with sabotaging the administration and stabbing one another in the back, we forget that in less than a year from now, we shall be required to seek the people’s re-validation of our mandate to sit in these hallowed chambers. What shall we tell them?”

The lawmaker stated that part of his “crime” was his stand on the amendment to the Electoral Act.

“Me and some of my colleagues were opposed to this amendment on the grounds that it is not the duty of the Senate to determine the order of elections. It had never been part of the Electoral Act and there is no need to deny the commission the right to do its duty as it deems fit. Happily, I am not alone in taking this stand. Some of my colleagues are opposed to it too,” he said.

When contacted, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, said Adamu was entitled to his opinion.

Sabi-Abdullahi said, “He is a senator, I am a senator. He is entitled to his opinion, I am entitled to mine. Anything that we did not discuss in the chamber is not subject to my reaction. I am not here to react to whatever he has to say.”