Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Sen. Shehu Sani has explained that his presence at the meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate caucus with President Muhammmadu Buhari, on Wednesday night, did not mean his grievances had been met.

Sani, who represents Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, spoke to State House Correspondents after the meeting which ended at 11.30pm.

Forty-two of the 53 Senators of the APC were present at the meeting which held at the First Lady Conference Room.

Sani, who had been a major critic of the ruling party said, “I am here as a member of the APC Caucus in the Senate. My presence here does not mean that my issue has been resolved 100 percent, but I am of the belief that we have a leader in the party who is doing everything possible to see that the problems that we have that led to a revolt are resolved.

“Revolt at times is most necessary. In fact, APC itself is a reflection of revolt. It revolted against the system of iniquity and today it is in power. I am here because I believe in the leadership of the party. I believe also in the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I also believe there are no issues that we cannot solve as human being; as men of conscience. I believe that the discussions we have had here is reassuring, soothing and comforting. That a process has started to heal the wounds and address issues that led us to where we are today.

“We must recognise the fact that the problem the new leadership of the party is trying to solve today was something that ought to have been solved a year or two years ago.

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“The chairman inherited both a civil war and a Cold War in the party and he is doing everything to solve the problem. I am of the belief that a forum like this is a big step forward. I am here because I believe in the process. I believe the leadership can solve the problems.

“The National Chairman of Nigeria’s governing party, says the party, remains focused on providing good governance to Nigerians.

“The National Chairman said the legislators that defected on Tuesday were victims of misinformation but some of them will retrace their steps and come back to the APC.

“Many of the people who have left are feasting on misinformation. There was a clear attempt by a few who have other agenda to try and play up fears and seek to profit from those issues by spreading misinformation in the manner that they did.

“Like everything that is not based on truth, the truth emerges and victims of misinformation retrace their steps which is why a senator has already returned to the fold and I am sure more and more of the, who left out of confusion will come back.”

Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, said the meeting was held at the instance of the Senators, who were in the Presidential Villa to show their solidarity for the President and his administration.

“The Senators have come in huge numbers to prove that the APC remains the party with the largest number of Senators as well as members in the House of Representatives. Also to prove that we still have what it takes to continue to provide good governance for Nigeria.

“We have agreed that going forward, the APC cannot be intimidated. The government will not be intimidated or distracted.

“We remain focused and committed to addressing the critical challenges that confront our country, namely security, economy and fight against corruption.

“On all three, the President is consistent and determined and the senators have come to reassure him of their full backing on these three core commitments which we have made to the Nigerian people and for me as party Chairman, we are very excited,” he said.

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Also speaking to Journalists, the Majority Leader in the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, who led the APC Senators to the Presidential Villa for the meeting, said they were in the Villa to pay courtesy on President Buhari and to also give him details of what transpired at the Senate, on Tuesday, July 24.

According to Lawan, “We have come to pay a courtesy call on our leader, the President of this country and them inform him about what happened yesterday (Tuesday) in the Senate and indeed the National Assembly; the defection by some of our colleagues from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party, the PDP and various political parties. We informed the President of how we stand in the Senate.

“As at today, the APC caucus in the Senate is 53 in number, followed by the largest minority party the PDP with 48 Senators and then the ADC with 2 Senators, APGA has 2 Senators.

“We have 2 vacant seats which were occupied by APC Senators who are late now. By the grace of God there will be election into those two seats on August 11 and hopefully the APC will clinch both and our number of Senators will swell to 55,” he explained.

Re-echoing the position of the party’s National Chairman, Lawan said the APC Senators were consulting widely and some of the defected Senators would come back to the APC.

“Let me also say that even form Tuesday, less than 24 hours into the defection. We had discussions with some of our colleagues who defected and they have shown their willingness and interest to retrace their steps so we are working very hard round the clock, with our party’s National leadership led by the very hardworking Adams Oshiomhole, to ensure that we re-engage with our colleagues that defected and that we reach some understanding and resolutions that will enable them to come back home very soon.

“Even some PDP Senators have indicated their readiness to come into the APC fold,” he stated.