Governor of Kaduna state Nasir El-Rufai says Nigeria’s 8th Senate, under the leadership of Bukola Saraki, is the country’s worst in history.
El-Rufai made this known based on the defection of 51 federal lawmakers from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to majorly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday.
The Kaduna governor, who like Saraki, is a bigwig of the ruling party, blamed the senate president for the mass defection.
He particularly insinuated that the Senate President masterminded the defection.
El-Rufai believes Saraki, as the leader of the National Assembly, did not manage the aggrieved lawmakers in a manner expected of him.
The governor made known his grievances with Saraki during an interview aired on several local radio stations in Kaduna on Thursday.
“We have never had a bad senate leadership like this one by Bukola Saraki. Some people whose names were mentioned among those who defected said they never authorised it,” he reportedly said.
“We know those who cannot win elections in their homes. Many of them found themselves in the National Assembly by riding on the back of Buhari.
“Some of them won the elections because the presidential and parliamentary elections held on the same day.”
But Saraki has responded.
“We challenge El-Rufai to mention the name of any senator whose name was announced without his or her consent. He [El-Rufai] is a divisive element, an expert hero worshipper and noisemaker,” The Punch quoted Saraki’s media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, as saying.