It Is A Lie, I Am Not Protecting My Office – Senate President

The Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, has decried what he called the fake story circulating about him.

In the past couple of days,  both the Conventional and Social Media were awash with a story that Lawan was sitting on the  letters of 12  Senators of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who had written to express their intention to defect from the Party to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

If they do, said the story, Lawan would lose his very high profile office as Senate President because his Party, the APC, will lose the majority seats in the Senate.

But in a statement signed by Ola Awoniyi, Lawan’s Special  Adviser on Media, the Senate President dismissed the news as fake. He said there are no such letters he is sitting on and challenged any Senator so affected to go public.

The Statement titled

Senate President not sitting on letters of defection reads:

“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 (APC).

“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.

The report mentioned only Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa as one of the affected Senators.

“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.

“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 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.”