Senator representing Ekiti Central, Opeyemi Bamidele, has justified the recent gale of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of chieftains of the opposition parties.
Addressing the media shortly after the three Senators representing Kebbi state formally announced their defection to the APC on the floor of the Red Chamber, the Leader of the Senate dismissed claim that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was coercing members of the opposition parties to join the APC.
Bamidele equally declared that by accommodating defectors, the Tinubu administration was creating a government of national unity.
He said: “We will not close our doors to anyone intending to join the party.
“In the same way, we will not also discriminate against anyone either on the basis of religion, tribe or any other factor. Our doors will continue to be open for more people to join at all levels.
“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the members of the minority political parties.
Bamidele who maintained that the opposition parties, particularly, the PDP was getting depleted because its chieftains were impressed by the APC administration performance further claimed that under the PDP administration, opposition parties stalwarts were intimidated to abandon their platforms.
He said: “We were all in this country when PDP was the ruling party. We saw all the things that happened under the PDP in an attempt to get more states, more seats in the Senate and more seats in the House of Representatives. We are not at the polls. No one is being coerced.
“If anyone is coerced, definitely the person is not Senator Adamu Aliero. All of us know that the person cannot be Senator Yahaya Abdullahi that will be co-opted.
“Neither will Senator Garba Maidoki with a stint in the private sector before he ventured into politics will defect to APC without clear conviction. They are not all in politics so that they can feed themselves and families.
“As far as we are concerned, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi that I know will rather stay in opposition and be very loud.
“They all recognise that this is not the time for grandstanding. This is the time for all of us to work together to take Nigeria to the next level.
“One of the defectors has been privileged to be the Governor of Kebbi State, precisely from 1999 to 2007. He even served as the Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today, he is the most ranking member of the Senate.
“Another one has served as the Leader of the Senate in the 9th National Assembly. These are people who know what they are doing. They can never mislead the people of Kebbi State. They can never mislead Nigeria.
“For us in APC, this is a wonderful development. For those who are keenly watching political developments, rest assured that at the end of the day, this can only be for the good and greatness of Nigeria.
“To the rest of our colleagues on the minority isle, we will continue to work together for the progress of Nigeria.
“I say it again for the umpteenth time. Those who refer to this parliament as a rubber stamp parliament should note that we are at a very critical stage of our national life when all hands must be on deck.
“Today, it is not about which political party you belong to. Once you are in this hallowed chamber, it does not matter which political party you belong to. What matters to us all is the overriding public interest.
“In the course of collectively serving overriding public interests, three of our colleagues saw the need to cross to the ruling APC.’’
