Buhari meets with APC senators after mass defection from the party (photo credit: state House)
Lawmakers loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari have told Senators and members of the House of Representatives willing to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to do so before the party primaries begin in August.
The lawmakers also called on Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara to step down when the National Assembly resumes sitting in September if APC retains majority seats.
Speaking on the demand, a former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume told the Nation: “If Saraki defects, he has to step down. That is what it should be.
“But, as of now, he has not announced, written or registered. He is only hobnobbing around with PDP. So that is what we have to wait for. If he announces his resignation from APC or his defection, he loses the Senate President’s seat automatically.
“If Saraki defects to the PDP, he is still our colleague in the Senate, but he cannot remain the Senate President. That cannot work. But he will be a senator like me. The same thing applies to Dogara.
“You cannot participate in PDP primaries while you remain in APC; it is not possible and you can’t remain in PDP and go and participate in APC primaries.
“Even the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines do not allow you to do that. You have to move to a certain party before a certain period and the period is usually before the primaries.
“I remember in my own case, I moved from ANPP to PDP but I had to do that before the expiration of my time.”