APC stands to gain by Saraki’s defection – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has attributed the slow pace of development in the country on the National Assembly led by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

The Minister made this known when he addressed State House correspondents on the defection of the Senate President and Gov, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara from All Progressives Congress (APC) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mohammed, who spoke at the end of Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that the senate president had operated as being part of the opposition party right from day one as Senate President.

According to him, APC stands to lose nothing with the defection of the Senate President and his loyalists as he has been in the opposition in the past three years.

“If Senate President Bukola Saraki were not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing the budget, approving key appointments and so on.

“In other words, Saraki has behaved all along as a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government.

“It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected.

“Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper. If we didn’t gain by having our member as Senate President, we stand to lose nothing by losing him,’’ he said.

The minister further noted that the series of Federal budget passage delays as well as delays in confirming appointments sent to the National Assembly had worked against development in the country.

He said that Saraki’s defection along with his loyalists from the APC was a welcome development and a great relief to the party.