The Former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Audu Ogbeh, has described the much talked-about Muslim-Muslim ticket of the party for the 2015 presidential election as a mere speculation. This is as he also described as partisan, the ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, which advised 37 members of the House of Representatives, who defected to the APC from the PDP, to vacate their seats.
There have been rumours that the leadership of the APC had settled for former head of state, General Muhammad Buhari, and former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, both Muslims, as the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the party for the 2014 election. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>
But Ogbeh, in an interview in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said the leadership of the opposition party had never sat to discuss who becomes the APC presidential and vice presidential candidates.
He said, “We have not discussed anything about the Muslim-Muslim ticket. I am a Christian but I am open to every religion. We have not discussed it. It is purely a speculation. It is somebody’s idea but no such decision has been reached without debate on the merit and demerits of such an idea. So, that is no reason for anybody to pull out. At the end when we take decisions, Nigerians will be satisfied with the sensibility of our decision.”
The APC chieftain wondered why the judge would advise the defecting lawmakers to vacate their seats, when he did not advise those who dumped other parties for the ruling PDP to do likewise.Ogbeh said: “The judge did not give a ruling; he gave a piece of advice but we have reason to believe that the advice was truly partisan. We are not trying to accuse the judge of trying to do favours to the PDP. There have been party members who left other parties to join PDP; what does he have to say about them? I wish he could say that anybody who had left his party should quit his seat; he didn’t say so.
“There are some judgements that make people wonder if judges are still open-minded and fair in what they do. He had no authority to do so.
“Number two, no arm of government has the authority to interfere in the internal workings of any other arm under this constitution. So, I think that the House of Representatives has given due consideration to that and realised that, really, they cannot take any action based on the advice of the judge. It was not sought; it was not an issue before him.”
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