Lasun dares APC over call for resignation as group threatens court action

Yussuf Lasun, deputy speak- er, House of Representa- tives, has vowed not to be stampeded to resign despite pressure from the All Progressive Congress (APC). Lasun spoke in reaction to the outcome of the meeting held between John Odigie-Oyegun, APC national chairman, and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State held last week as part of the reconciliatory effort to douse the tension in the Lower Chamber. BusinessDay gathered that Oyegun and Aregbesola at the meeting mounted pressure and demanded that the Deputy Speaker should step-down for Femi Gbajabiamila who was adopted by the leadership of the party as the Majority Leader. Speaking on the develop- ment, Lasun who decried the heightened pressure from the party, said: “Not only that my colleagues on June 9, 2015 elect- ed me on the floor of the House, it was not an appointment, it was an election that was beamed live, and it was watched all over the world, and don’t forget that there were 358 members of that House that were inaugurated that day and were present.

“And having elected the speaker, there were now 357 members who would vote for the Deputy Speaker’s position; as at that time the speaker can only be involved, so 357 participated in the election and I scored 203 votes.

“It was an election, not an ap- pointment. Having gone through all that, it will be difficult for any- body to want to say that the part of the solution, part of options opened to APC now is to allow the Deputy Speaker to resign so that there can be peace in the House.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker’s kinsmen under the aegis of Ilobu Development Association have threatened to challenge the planned removal of the Deputy Speaker from office.

Abdulwahed Odebunmi, secretary of the group who spoke at a press briefing, threatened to drag those calling for the resignation of the deputy speaker to court.

They also called for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the APC in order to avert collapse of the party.

The group further warned that the move by the ‘anti-democratic forces’ to stampede the Deputy Speaker out of office, may eventually lead to irreparable crisis in the party if urgent steps were not taken.

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja