Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has asked the Federal Government to listen to other stakeholders in the area of solutions for insecurity in the country.
Sara ki said the security challenges facing the country was too huge to be left to the government and the ruling party alone.
He made the call on Tuesday while addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting with Former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Pent House OOPL, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Saraki, who led a delegation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reconciliation committee to Obasanjo, noted that the issue of security should involve everybody, irrespective of tribe, religion or political affiliation.
The former Kwara State Governor charged the Federal Government to provide leadership by bringing all stakeholders together.
“I think that when we talk about insecurity, this is an issue that crosses party lines and what is required now is for the government to provide leadership in bringing all stakeholders together. Let us discuss and see how we can address some of these issues,” he said.
He charged the Federal Government to give everybody a sense of belonging, saying “it is important that we all are at the table to discuss.”
“We can tap into a lot of resources, even on the issue of security, there are lots of people with a lot of experience that we can make use of.
“My advice to the government this time is that this problem is a huge problem that cannot be left to just the government and the ruling party. I think this is the time the opposition party, the ruling party, our international friends, the private sector and all of us must come together on the round table because the challenges before us are enormous and we need to address them.”
Saraki maintained that the nation still has two years before the next general elections, adding that “it is the responsibility of all of us to see that during those two years, we all work to address the security issues, but the initiative must come from the government.”
“I think once the government does that, then my own advice is that everybody that has something to contribute should be able to come together and see how people will have a sense of belonging. Part of that sense of belonging is to be on the table to be able to discuss the way forward for this country,” he added.
On why he visited Obasanjo, Saraki informed that the team was in Abeokuta to tell the former President about the committees’ work in a bid to reposition the PDP.
“We told him (Obasanjo) what we are trying to do, to reposition the party, we told him how important that is, the project Nigeria and he told us his commitment to Nigeria, that he will never shirk away from that responsibility to have a better Nigeria.”
Speaking about the crisis rocking the PDP in Ogun State, he said, “Ogun state like some of the other states that we have had issues for many years, you are aware that this is not something that started today. I don’t want to speak too early. We have already started discussions and we are hopeful that we will finally find an amicable solution where all stakeholders in Ogun will be able to work together, I’m very hopeful about that.”
