APC orders members to block executive bills

By The Rainbow

The  All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday  urged its members in the National Assembly to block all legislative proposals from President Goodluck Jonathan.

Such proposals include the President's request for the passage of the 2014 Budget and the confirmation of all nominees to military and civilian positions.

The party's action is its own countermeasure to what it considers  Jonathan's encouragement of lawlessness in Rivers State.

Members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the opposition APC gave these directives after an emergency meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

APC said that the directive would remain in place  'until the rule of law and constitutionalism is restored in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria in general.'

In a statement read out to reporters by the party's Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also directed its members across the country to resort to self-help if the impunity persisted.

The party specifically directed its members at the National Assembly to ensure the blockade of the 2014 Appropriation Act, the confirmation of the service chiefs and ministerial nominees until impunity allegedly being perpetrated by the People's Democratic Party (PDP)-led government stopped.

In reaction, People's Democratic Party (PDP) said  the directives by the APC's was a direct call for anarchy and a vindication of its (PDP's) earlier position that the APC is out to destroy the institution of democracy and the unity of the nation.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said last night that with the anti-people directives, Nigerians could now see that the PDP was not crying wolf when it alerted that the APC did not mean well for the nation.

The PDP said: 'In asking that service chiefs should not be confirmed by the Senate, the APC has revealed its devilish plot to undermine the nation's security system, create a state of anarchy and pave the way to unleash mayhem on the people.'