Why Buhari Met With APC Senators In The Villa - Oshiomhole

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday hosted All Progressives Congress (APC) Senators and candidates to a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the dinner, the National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiohmole, described the event as a “nice meeting”.

He said the event had provided an opportunity for the president to meet with the caucus of the Senate and the “incoming senators’’ (APC Senatorial candidates).

Mr Oshiomhole expressed the hope that Nigerians would give the APC a comfortable majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives based on the tenet of `one-man, one-vote’.

He said: “Basically, the meeting was for the president to meet with the caucus of the Senate and the incoming senators by the grace of God.

“The whole idea is for the president to have direct interaction with the senators and the senatorial candidates of the APC so that they will work hard and ensure that on the basis of one-man, one-vote, the outcome of the 2019 elections will be in our favour.

“This is an opportunity for some of the senatorial candidates to meet with the president for the first time.’’
According to him, the meeting also enables the president and the senators and party’s senatorial candidates to compare and share notes on the campaigns of each of the senatorial district.

On the reactions of the international community to the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, Mr Oshiohmole dismissed any form of foreign outcry against the action taken on CJN’s case, saying that Nigeria was not a colony.

He said Nigerians must defend the supremacy of the country, adding that corrupt justices were being prosecuted across the world.

Also speaking on the suspension of the CJN, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan, said it was wrong for the Senate to reconvene over the matter as there were many cases in courts challenging or supporting the suspension.

He, however, stated that the Senate could reconvene to consider the 2019 budget proposal and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategic Paper.