The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has described the 8th
Senate, led by Bukola Saraki, as the worst in the history of the
country. The governor said this in an interview aired on several local radio
stations in Kaduna on Thursday, an online newspaper, TheCable,
reported.
In the interview, el-Rufai knocked Saraki for listing some members
of the ruling All Progressives Congress among those who defected to the
Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday.
He said many of the lawmakers who defected rode on the back of President Muhammadu Buhari to get elected to their positions.
The governor said,
“We have never had a bad senate leadership
like this one by Bukola Saraki. Some people whose names were mentioned
among those who defected said they never authorised it.
“We know those who cannot win elections in their homes. Many of
them found themselves in the National Assembly by riding on the back of
Buhari.
“Some of them won the elections because the presidential and parliamentary elections held on the same day.”
Responding, Saraki described el-Rufai as a careless talker, saying
he as the Senate President couldn’t have announced the name of any
defector if they didn’t sign the letter communicating their defection to
the PDP.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President said,
“El-Rufai
is a known careless talker. He is a man suffering from diarrhoea of the
mouth. You (one of our correspondents) report the National Assembly on a
daily basis. Is it possible for the name of a senator to be announced
as having defected without him or her signing the letter communicating
same to the Senate President?”
“We challenge el-Rufai to mention the name of any senator whose
name was announced without his or her consent. He (el-Rufai) is a
divisive element, an expert hero worshipper and noisemaker.”
“He worshipped (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo once the
way he is now worshipping (President Muhammadu) Buhari, and now he is on
the forefront of abusing the former President. It will soon be the turn
of Buhari to be rubbished by el-Rufai. He did the same to ex-Vice
President Atiku (Abubakar).”