NASS Crisis: There’s Light At The End Of The Tunnel, Says Oshiomhole

Adams Oshiomhole-Atiku BaguduGovernor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday said there was already light at the end of the tunnel as far as the ongoing leadership crisis in the National Assembly, especially the Senate, was concerned.
Oshiomhole stated this when he spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari alongside Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu.
The two governors were mandated by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress to mediate in the leadership crisis rocking the Senate as a result of the emergence of Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate against the party’s choice, Ahmed Lawan.
The governor said after meeting with the warring Senators on Sunday evening, he and Bagudu decided to meet and brief the president on how the mediatory talks are going.
He said with the emergence of the principal officers of the Senate, their intervention was just to ensure that all the aggrieved sides would be carried along in the scheme of things in the National Assembly.
He said, “I feel the position now is ‘look how do you ensure that having elected this two (Senate President and his Deputy), that the remaining positions that are within the discretion of the APC caucus in the Senate are distributed in a way as to give the other groups that were shut out of the process a sense of belonging?’
“We are convinced that a winner-takes-all in this case won’t work and building peace is making concession and power works better when it acknowledges that even the person who is powerless has a right to exist.
“My brother (Bagudu) and I spent some time with the senators last night (Sunday) and we had what I think was a useful conversation. We have come today to report to the President what transpired at the meeting and make few suggestions to him and I think for me there is light, as they say, at the end of the tunnel.
“One thing is clear, we are all APC family, we are all committed to change. We recognise that there are few issues; people may not be comfortable, but we have what it takes to resolve the issues so that in the National Assembly we will have an APC Senate caucus that is united, that is ready to support the change agenda as the President is committed to and work along with PDP.
“Nobody is suggesting that we shouldn’t work with PDP. PDP exists in the House, just as APC had existed in the House under PDP government. So, at some point there has to be a way to engage bipartisan. So, that is basically why we are here”.