Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

NLC chief wants national confab report implemented

By Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna) and Abiodun Fagbemi (Ilorin)
12 June 2015   |   12:04 am
THE controversies that dogged the Tuesday election of principal officers of the 8th National Assembly have justified the need for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference on the management of Political Parties and electoral matters in the country, Labour said yesterday. As the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) beamed its searchlight on…
NLC President, Wabba

NLC President, Wabba

THE controversies that dogged the Tuesday election of principal officers of the 8th National Assembly have justified the need for the implementation of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference on the management of Political Parties and electoral matters in the country, Labour said yesterday.

As the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) beamed its searchlight on the outcome of the elections of the National Assembly leaders, it was contended that the emergence of the Senate President, Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Dogara should bring “reconciliation and robust legislative agenda of sustainable change in the country.”

The Deputy National President of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu in a statement, while reacting to the outcome of the National Assembly election results and the initial controversies said that “at stake in this unhealthy development are the critical success factors of consensus building, independence of the National Assembly, party ideologies, inclusiveness and vote-counting, shared values, party supremacy and carpet-crossing among others.”

“These issues are recurring specters haunting Nigeria’s democracy since 1999. Happily these issues have been addressed in 2014 National Conference with robust recommendations begging for implementations. It’s time we worked the national talk which lasted almost a year with enormous human and financial national resources.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of ‘Abubakar Bukola Saraki Leadership Forum’ (ABSLF) Alhaji Bibire Ajape yesterday described the emergence of Bukola Saraki as the President of the eighth Senate, a perfect synergy that would boost the performances in office of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ajape in a press briefing in Ilorin, said since Buhari a former military junta excelled in his war against indiscipline with Tunde Idiagbon, an Ilorin man, the presence of Saraki another Ilorin man, would equally bring out success in Buhari’s second coming as civilian president.

He lambasted some national leadership of the All Progressives Party (APC) for allegedly interpreting the constitution of the National Assembly as a purely party issue rather than national affair.

Aremu added, “Labour therefore calls on the legislators that it is neither triumphalism nor despair but genuine reconciliation and sober reflections. Simple electoral process involving 109 Senators and 360-member House of Representatives should not be characterized by so much tension, doubt and acrimonies.”

“Labour demands that the resolution of the current crisis of leadership of the National Assembly must be in favour of Nigeria and strengthening of Nigeria’s democracy and nothing less. The current crisis of election of leadership in the Assembly comes too soon after the nation has gained considerable political mileage in consensus building following the March 28 2015 presidential elections. This negative development raises the dangerous reminder of the past political wars of attrition.”

2 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    NLC should pressurize for the implementation of this report as the survival of our nascent democratic dispensation depends on it.Kid glove techniques of mere appeals and profuse verbosities cannot implement this very report of no mean significance

  • Author’s gravatar

    .The Senate “selection” was a sham -a selection and the clerk has some explaining to do as regards the rigging that went down there…, 51 APC Senator-elect were disenfranchised, as well as, at least one PDP-Senator elect Ben Bruce ( I imagine there are more than one …see the clip) also did not vote even as the clerk claimed all PDP senator-elect voted. See the clip and think for yourself what just happened at the senate, copy the following url onto your browser and take a listen to Ben Bruce https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZrGDULpEZQ&feature=youtu.be