Rep. Pat Asadu, a medical doctor, represents Enugu, Igboeze, Nsukka federal constituency in the House of Representatives.
One of the leading lights of the National Unity Group, NUG, he posits that the group would soon draw a dividing line with opposition All Progressives Congress, APC in the House.Excerpts.

By Emman Ovuakporie

How do you react to assertions by APC lawmakers that your group is unserious?
For me it is not wrong if APC think we are seeking relevance because relevance is about preserving the peace, keeping Nigeria united, protecting our democracy and making sure that as those who have opportunity at this time to be in government, that we leave Nigeria better than we met it.

We want to be relevant as long as the national discourse is involved. Rather than allow the politics of a particular moment derail us from looking at bigger the picture, we want to continue to do the right thing.
The bigger picture I am talking about is that I come from a section of the country where the civil war we fought has taught me that we do not need to go the way of dividing ourselves again.

I have had to bury some people from my constituency killed by Boko Haram. Burying them I had to think of what is there for me as a legislator if I can just sit down and pretend that nothing is going on in the country.

If relevance is making sure that we preserve the unity of this country by belonging to the National Unity Group then I will tell you that I have no regret. We want to ensure that anarchy does not reign in Nigeria. The group is not just coming up, we have been there.

Your group is seen as a front for President Goodluck Jonathanfs political ambitions.
Our National Unity Group is only interested in the peace of the country. We didn’t come into being because of the APC challenge. Overtime, we had situations where some people tried to overheat the polity, we stood up to challenge such situations. There were a number of times when some members pushed one another over some issues, we intervened in those occasions.

Why is the PDP caucus in the House  seeking a working relationship with lawmakers from APGA, Labour and Accord if it is sure that it has   enough members to challenge APC members in the chamber?
We are not luring them. In 2011 when President Goodluck Jonathan was elected, APGA did not have a presidential candidate and the party adopted the PDP candidate as its own candidate. Labour party and Accord did similar things. These parties have been working with PDP.

What has happened is that, instead of allowing this country to disintegrate those parties have decided to join forces with PDP. The alliance is not new, we had common presidential candidate in 2011. After the election, the parties resolved to work together to ensure that the government does not collapse.

What do you make of APC lawmakers’ boast that they will use robust intellectual argument to block any aspect of the budget that they do not want?
I agree that PDP members in the House have been so relaxed for so long, what is happening in the chamber is serving as a wake up call on the PDP to know that we have to act. I don’t think APC is wrong in what it has been doing because it is an opposition party. The only problem I have with them is that sometime they do not know where to draw the line. They should be able to consider the delicate balance of this country.

On the issue of budget, they have raised our alertness. I think we are going to match them intellectually. I am not going to comment on their claims that PDP members are intellectually inferior to them because that is totally out of the way.

All the members of the House were voted because of the popularity his or her people had confidence in him  or her.  If the election is free and fair and your people elect you, definitely you are qualified to be in the House. I just hope that they were misquoted on the claim of intellectual superiority. We will test our strength when it comes to voting. Both the recurrent and capital components of the budget will be passed. I don’t know how our hospitals, security, education etc will look like if we do not pass the budget.