Senator Francis Alimikhena, APC, Edo North is the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate and a retired military officer. In this interview with Vanguard, Senator Alimikhena, who is in his first term in the Senate and the only APC senator from the South-South, speaks on topical issues affecting the Senate and his party.  Excerpts:

What should one expect from you as the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate?

I am going to do the best I can for Edo North and Nigeria in general. As deputy chief whip, I will make sure that I make my office very attractive and robust and do what is right for all manner of people.

What are the issues stoking the crisis in your party?

Well, it is a leadership issue and at the same time, it is a family affair. You know in every family, there must be issue and it is good to resolve the issues among the family. It all goes down to misunderstanding. As I can say by my own perception,  misunderstanding and wrong direction are the causes of the wrangling.

There are calls from some quarters that the National chairman of your party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun should resign or be removed. What is your take on this?

I do not believe that he should resign because any decision taken rightly or wrongly is a collective responsibility. If they feel that Oyegun has not done well, it is not only Oyegun that should go, all the National Working Committee, NWC of the APC should go. But I don’t think he should go, it is just a matter of consensus.

When mistakes occur then they can be rectified because if you say one mistake occured here and you say the people that made that mistake should go, what of other people that will come? If they make similar mistakes, will they have to go? I don’t think that it is fair on him for anybody to clamour that they should go because of what has happened.

What is your agenda for the Senator Bukola Saraki led 8th Senate?

Well, I don’t have to set agenda for him because he is an agenda person. He can set good agenda that he believes can be good for the country. You should bear in mind that he was once a governor and he did well in Kwara State and this is his second term in the Senate. He should be able to know the agenda that is good for the country.

Read complete interview here : www.vanguardngr.com