The Earlier You Realise Saraki Remains Senate President, The Better : Senators Tell Abu, Others

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The struggle to take over and control the office of the President of the Senate is involving and interesting by the day since the formal defection of President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Satraki from the All Progressives Congress (APC), to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Some APC senators led by Senators Abu Ibrahim and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State) are championing the crusade for Senator Saraki to vacate the position of the President of the Senate or should be ready to face the consequence of the action of the ruling party.

However, some of the Senators that defected from the APC to the PDP namely Senator Isa Hama Misau (Bauchi Central) and Senator Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara South) on Saturday warned Senator Abu Ibrahim and his co-travellers in the APC to as a matter of urgency retrace their steps or get consumes in the war they are trying to ignite.

Senators Misau and Ibrahim in a joint statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, pointedly said that Senator Saraki would not resign as the President of the Senate when the Senate resumes on September 25, 2018.

The duo while responding to the statement credited to Senator Abu by the Cable online newspaper, said the Katsina born senator and his co-planners would definitely will meet equal and possible more devastating force if per chance they attempt to carry out any illegal act irrespective of the security forces that may give them backing with the support of the executive arm of government.

The former APC senators expressed surprise why the defection of Senators to the PDP is making the ruling party so uncomfortable that they are ready to bring the country down simply because some Senators left their party.

The said the APC cabal in the Senate should be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order and called on Nigerians and the global community to take cognizance of the type of people presently in-charge of Nigeria and how they seek to desecrate and destroy democratic institutions at will.

According to Misau and Ibrahim; “We gave them all the opportunities to make amends from their destructive, non-inclusive and dictatorial ways. They did not take the chances and were behaving as if nobody matters. They are running a government by cabals, serving selfish interests and forgetting all the promises the party made to the people before being elected into office.

“It is obvious from the statements of Senator Abu Ibrahim that he and his cohorts are not democrats. They do not believe in rule of law, the provisions of the constitution, the standing order of the Senate, parliamentary procedure and the due process.

“How will a supposed democrat be threatening disruption of peace in the parliament because his party lost members and lost its majority status? His statements showed why one of them led thugs to disrupt the proceeding of the Senate, stole the mace, the symbol of authority of the legislature, and yet there is no consequence.

“Both the mastermind and his thugs have been protected from being prosecuted. Now, Abu Ibrahim has given us an insight into what they are planning and we will be ready for them. He has also shown an indication of how he, as the chairman of the Police Affairs Committee, has been misusing the police against other Senators.

“APC should note that they are now the minority party. PDP have more members. When we resume, if they push us, we will move for a head count of members and change some of our principal officers to reflect party strength.

“Today, by the list paraded by APC themselves, they have only 48 Senators and PDP has 54, APGA has 2 and ADC has 2. There are two vacancies. That is the distribution in the Senate. Let them continue to deceive themselves. 

“We will use our strength to defend the position of the present leadership of the Senate under Dr. Saraki and Senator Ike Ekweremadu. We will defend democracy and rule of law against the pretenders. We will show that every Senator represent different constituencies in our country.

“Our colleague from Katsina State has equally demonstrated that even though he has spent four terms in the legislature, he has not imbibed parliamentary ethos. Even his knowledge of the provisions of the law and the Senate rules is suspect.

“That is why he misrepresented the provisions of Rule 12 order 1, 2 and 3 of the Senate about the process of reconvening the Senate after it properly adjourned.

“By the provision, without all the leaders of the four parties initiating the reconvening of the Senate before the adjourned date, nothing can legally happen. Also without the consent of the Senate President, nothing can happen.

“We urge him and his colleagues to know that if they tried anything illegal and indecent, we will resist it through legal means. They saw an instance with the way our colleagues in the House of Representatives quickly gathered to foil their failed coup early this week.

“The APC government has always demonstrated serious contempt for the legislature. That is why they have sent only a paltry 11 executive bills to the National Assembly in 38 months despite their promise of reform in various sectors of the country.

“The APC government came in 2015 and the first proposal they put forward was to have emergency powers in a democracy. Thank God we did not fall for their antics,” Misau and Ibrahim jointly stated.