President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday hosted All Progressives Congress (APC) senators and candidates to a dinner at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the dinner, national chairman of APC, Mr. Adams Oshiohmole, said the meeting provided an opportunity for the president to meet with the caucus of the senate and what he referred to as the “incoming senators.”
He said the party was optimistic that Nigerians would give the APC a comfortable majority in the Senate and House of Representatives in the forthcoming elections.
“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 a 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,” he said.
He said the meeting also enabled the president, senators and senatorial candidates to share notes on the campaigns of each of the senatorial district.
Responding to the reactions by United States of America, United Kingdom and the European Union on the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mr. Walter Onnoghen, the APC chairman dismissed 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 said, however, that the senate could reconvene to consider the 2019 budget proposal and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategic Paper.