The Federal Government on Wednesday described the defection of the Senate President of Nigeria, Bukola Saraki from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a great relief to the party.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this while briefing State House correspondents shortly after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Mohammed said the Senate President was the greatest obstacle to the current government as he was always an opposition in the ruling party who used his position to frustrate the workings and progress of the government.

“I don’t think the government would have suffered more as regards the delay in passing the budget. The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has behaved all along as if he was a member of the opposition,” Mohammed said.

The minister maintained that the APC stands to lose nothing with Saraki’s defection along with his numerous loyalists, adding that the APC in the Kwara State would grow even stronger following his exit.

He also disclosed that the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in  Kwara State had also defected to APC, demonstrating their rejection of Saraki’s return to the party.

“If Senate President Bukola Saraki were not a member of the APC, the party and the government it leads could not have suffered more than they had already done, with regards to the delay in passing the budget, approving key appointments and so on.

“In other words, Saraki has behaved all along as a member of the opposition, deliberately slowing down the progress of the APC-led federal government. It is therefore neither a surprise nor a blow that he has defected.

“Perhaps the only surprise is that when he eventually defected, it was a mere whimper. If we didn’t gain by having our member as Senate President, we stand to lose nothing by losing him,” he added.