Save your seat, defect to APC now – Senator Marafa tells Ekweremadu

A member of the Senate Unity Forum, a group within the All Progressives Congress senators in the red chamber, Senator Kabir Marafa has affirmed that the only condition that would keep Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President was for him to defect to the ruling party.

He cited the section of the Nigerian constitution, which states that once there is a division (in a political party), members are free to decamp.

Speaking with Punch, Marafa enjoined the Deputy Senate President to save his seat and kindly pitch his ‎tent with the ruling APC.
He said, “I am using this medium now to tell him to please join the APC. It is when he says he is not joining (the party) that you can come back to say Ike has refused to join the APC, what are you going to do? I am using this medium now to call on Ike to join APC.
“He has the golden opportunity: Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff have successfully to our delight, caused a division in the PDP. We are always praying that their power tussle will continue. While I pray for Makarfi to have the upper hand, I am also praying for Sheriff to have the power and ability to sustain the fight, so that we (APC) will be taking the senators one by one.”
Asked what happenes if he refuses to join, Marafa said, “the Constitution says once there is a division (in a political party), senators can defect. Let all well-meaning APC members and even people who are sympathetic to the APC, let Ike (Ekweremadu) — instead of moving against his seat, which I don’t want to do because he was my leader in the 6th and 7th Assembly and now in the 8th Assembly — use this golden opportunity to defect to the APC and the party will become one in the Senate.

“Then, I can tell you that the Senate will be stable and there won’t be any friction. The little (issue) we can then have may be due to human nature. You never can say that you will gather people and they will not disagree.
“I am telling you that he has the opportunity now. Let him just defect. The beauty of any political party is the people. If you can join us, join us. We want more people. Instead of moving against his seat, let him join us.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned against any attempt to remove Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President.