Senate President, Lawan clears the air sitting on letters of defection

President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan on Saturday denied media reports that he was sitting on letters of defection from senators which he didn’t want to announce during plenary.

The report, he said, was untrue and that the purveyors failed to investigate or seek clarification from the Senators who tendered their letters of defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC).

In a statement by the Special Adviser (Media), Mr Ola Awoniyi on Saturday, Lawan said, the parliamentary rules do not allow him to deny reading a letter from any Senator on the floor, while he advised newsmen to verify their facts before publishing.

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 (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 an 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.

“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.”