The parliament of Nigeria has been re-opened after a brief blockade by security forces on Tuesday.
The armed men prevented lawmakers and others from entering the building for up to an hour.
Local media reports that lawmakers, fear the lock-down is part of an attempt to force a change of the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Last week the President of Nigeria’s senate defected to the opposition.
Bukola Saraki left the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
This was seen as a major blow to President Muhammadu Buhari’s bid for re-election in next year’s polls.
Saraki’s defection follows similar move by more than twelve Nigerian senators from the ruling APC last month.
I want everyone who is out there, who has facilitated or endorsed these actions implicitly or explicitly to know that #TheWholeWorldIsWatching. pic.twitter.com/xcHPk9ZmXJ
— Olu W. Onemola (@OnemolaOlu) August 7, 2018
Another 37 members of the house of representatives also announced their defection from APC.
These defections have heightened political tension in the country with the President out of the county on holidays.
A PDP lawmaker Tajudeen Yusuf told the Punch that “We call on Nigerians to rise and oppose this assault on the National Assembly. Democracy is about expressing diverse views.
“At the end, majority will carry the day, while the minority would have had their say.”
His vice and acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has said he will investigate the blockade.
75-year-old President Buhari is struggling to deal with his country’s economic crisis as millions remain jobless. He has also failed to contain ethnic clashes and the insurgency of militant group Boko Haram.
Source: Africafeeds.com
