NASS Leadership Crisis Is Not Delaying Ministerial List – Presidency

The Presidency has refuted rumours making the rounds that the ongoing leadership crisis in the National Assembly was preventing President Muhammadu Buhari from naming his ministers.

Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, dispelled the claim onSunrise Daily, a morning programme on Channels TV.

He said Buhari was taking his time to name his ministers because he is trying to avoid a situation whereby he would fire a member of his cabinet few months after he or she is appointed.

“Do you want a situation where the President will appoint a minister and then fire the minister in few months time?” Shehu asked.

Our lawmakers must save APC From embarrassment – Abiola

The daughter of the late Chief M. K.O. Abiola and the Secretary/Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the All Progressives Congress Young Women Forum (APC-YWF), Miss Rinsola Abiola, has called on leaders of the party to put an end to the embarrassing National Assembly leadership crisis.

She said the APC lawmakers were not inspiring confidence in the people as the real change which the party promised Nigerians was a far cry from the brawl at the House of Representatives.

Noting that there had been calls from many quarters for President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute his cabinet, Abiola wondered how this will happen when the Senate, which is responsible for screening candidates is yet to settle down for business.

Abiola reminded the legislators that leadership is a trust which was why Nigerians spoke with their thumbs and entrusted the fate of the country to the APC.

She said, “At every point in time and at every step of the way, we must remember this, and make sure that the people have no cause to regret that line of action. We all have our favourite leaders within the party, people whom we respect so much and whose actions we would never fault.  But at this moment, our plea is to these leaders to do everything within their power to ensure that what they toiled so hard and for so long to build does not amount to naught.

“The thread of unity that binds us all, without which APC would not have attained victory over the PDP, must not unravel! It’s been barely a month after inauguration and the huffing and puffing of discord must not be allowed to tear this house down”.

Besides, she lamented, while  the Boko Haram sect has continued to claim lives in the North east region, the gory activities of the insurgents was not getting the coverage it ought to because the media is now “fixated on the drama in the National Assembly.

“Our Chibok girls are still not back, but pertinent issues like these and a lot more have been pushed to the back burner,” she added, even as she regretted that this was not the APC the youths threw their weight of support behind during the 2015 campaigns.

Abiola further disclosed: “The APC we lent our support and voices to was that party that inspired hope and was laden with promise for a new Nigeria; the APC we are observing right now feels foreign and alien.

“We long for the APC that filled us with hope, pride and sense of purpose and pray that these issues are resolved, and quickly too. If not for any other reason, but for this generation to know that a group of committed Nigerians really can get it right.

“For the sake of the millions of Nigerians with miniature APC flags hanging from their windshields, those of us with APC magnets on our doors and refrigerators at home, and those who pay to have APC branded shirts made for them, this house must stand.

“Nigerians defied the threats of bombs and trooped out en masse to be present at APC rallies. The crowd in Borno, despite the threat and devastation, was unprecedented, and we received the same warm welcome in Gombe, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Lagos and even Bayelsa.

“Those Nigerians who showed their support both during the campaign and on election day did so because they had finally found a reason to believe”.

-Leadership