The Coalition of United Political Parties on Tuesday withdrew its recent call on federal lawmakers to boycott the Wednesday joint session of the National Assembly during which President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill.
According to Punch, the coalition’s first national spokesperson, Imo Ugochinyere, made the Coalition's position known in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the decision was arrived at following the intervention of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and two unnamed former presidents.
He appealed to lawmakers to scrutinize the document when eventually presented.
“The opposition coalition has yielded to the pressure of an early morning intervention by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, calling on opposition coalition CUPP to sheath their sword and withdraw their call on opposition boycott.
“The opposition leadership, after reviewing the intervention of Senate President and the Speaker as well as other eminent leaders, including two former presidents, wish to announce a withdrawal of the call.
“The opposition coalition says they will continue efforts to ensure that they deploy all lawful arsenal at their disposal to ensure that the President is defeated and urges parliamentarians to scrutinise the budget documents when presented and ensure it reflects the wishes of the people. The opposition, however, holds strongly to the views expressed for the boycott over the three-year reign of impunity of the President, despite the call off.
“The opposition also condemns the IGP for illegally holding activist Deji Adeyanju and moving him by 4am to Kano in a plot to hold him behind bars over a case he has been discharged and acquitted of by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
