[ad_1]
Dozens of legislators have left the ruling party of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari for the main opposition and small parties on Tuesday, in a push to re-elect him next year.
Buhari and his party All Progressives Congress (APC) Up to now, his opponents were gaining momentum before the party primaries in August, while dissatisfaction grew with regard to his style of government and the treatment of widespread violence across the country. The country.
Fourteen senators and 37 members of the House of Representatives of the lower house left the APC on the last day before Parliament was adjourned for the break. There are 109 seats in the Senate and 360 in the House of Representatives
Most of those who joined the main opposition, the People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Senate Speaker Bukola Saraki told senators that their colleagues had "decamped". defected, "leaving Buhari with a minority in the 109-seat upper house.
"Members of the 37 @HouseNGR Reps defect @APCNigeria," said Saraki's help, Bamikole Omisore on Twitter. Saraki did not announce it would stay at the APC.
The list of Senators includes Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano Key State, who lost to Buhari in the presidential primaries of the APC before the 2015 elections.
was considered a potential presidential candidate for next February's elections, but he has not yet declared it.
Should he do this, which would make him angry at former vice president Atiku Abubakar? PDP National Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan described the defections as "a good development for our democratic culture" and blasted Buhari for "intimidating" and "harbading" the opposition.
"Converted Democrat"
Buhari, a 75-year-old former army general who served as a military leader, came to power in 2015 promising to Nigerians that he was a "democrat" converted".
He enjoys strong support from his base in the north and the power of tenure that, until his defeat against President Goodluck Jonathan, had been seen as a guarantee of electoral supremacy.
Earlier this month, more than 30 parties, including the PDP, declared that they were forming a new alliance, while a dissident group formed within the US. APC of disgruntled party members was forming a new alliance.
They called his stewardship of Nigeria over the last three years a "monumental disaster".
READ MORE: Buhari can not have both ways
Social unrest erupts in Nigeria following escalating bloody conflicts between farmers and cattle ranchers and Islamist attacks by Boko Haram persist as a constant threat.
This threatened Buhari's promise to tackle insecurity, reform the oil economy and create much-needed jobs. ] Under Pressure
Rumors of potential defections have swirled in recent weeks due to deteriorating relations between the executive and the legislature, with lawmakers complaining that security services were being used by the government to target perceived political opponents.
Buhari held closed-door meetings with the ambitious Saraki, who, while being a member of the ruling party, thinks that he has been designated as a critic and rival by the Presidency.
Many of those who are under investigation or on trial for corruption are PDP members. Saraki himself defected from the PDP to the APC before the last elections.
Earlier this month, Saraki was laundered in Nigeria's Supreme Court of corruption charges, which he described as politically motivated. Police on Monday called Saraki in person to answer allegations that he was linked to a gang that had conducted a violent armed robbery in April in his home state of Kwara
Saraki Monday night called the invitation a "ploy" mbadive defection and said the police were used by the executive to conduct a "witch hunt" policy.
Tuesday morning, police surrounded his house in Abuja but he managed to get to parliament after sending a lure to the station
Police said in a statement that they do not want to go to Abuja. had not "besieged" his house
© Agence France-Presse
[ad_2]
Source link
