Lawan dismisses reports on Senators’ defection letters, blames mischief- makers

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, on Saturday dismissed reports on the submission of letters by 12 senators planning to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC).

There were reports on Saturday that Lawan deliberately refused to read the letters submitted by the lawmakers who had become discontent with the ruling party at Friday’s plenary in Abuja.

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, had in June raised the alarm on plan by some Senators to dump the ruling party after they failed in their bid to return to the upper legislative chamber next year.

The APC had lost at least six senators, including the former Majority Leader, Yayaha Abdullahi, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties in the last few weeks.

However, in a statement issued by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, the Senate President described the reports as syndicated lies orchestrated by mischief- makers.

The statement read: “We have seen a story on social media and some online newspapers purporting that the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, is sitting on letters from some senators allegedly intimating him of their defections from the All Progressives Congress.

“The story insinuated that Lawan is sitting on the purported letters to protect his position as the President of the Senate. We hereby state categorically that the story is utter falsehood as there is no such letter before the Senate President.

“Obviously, the purveyors of the syndicated lies had not even bothered to confirm from the Distinguished Senator if and when he submitted any such letter to the Senate President. It is public knowledge that the Senate President has always promptly read out at plenaries letters by senators defecting from one party to another.

“The Senate President is sufficiently knowledgeable about the rules and workings of the Senate and has been discharging his responsibilities within the ambit of those rules.

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“That is why he has continued to enjoy the confidence and full cooperation of his fellow Distinguished Senators, irrespective of party affiliations.

“Apparently, some vested interests want to magnify challenges to sow seeds of discord in the Parliament in promotion of their selfish agenda.

“We wish to reiterate that the Senate President is not withholding or sitting on any letter of whatever content from any of his Distinguished Senator colleagues.

“Therefore, any story purporting such exists only in the imagination of the mischief-makers circulating it.”

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