...National Assembly Developments a Legislative Matter – APC
The planned impeachment of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekwremadu may have to wait because senators of the All Progressive Congress (APC) are not in agreement as to who should wear the cap.
The senators have been meeting with the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole since morning but their meeting is only producing disagreement as the senators are divided sharply along the line of Ahmed Lawan (Majority leader) and George Akume as Saraki’s successor.
Even the choice of Senator Hope Uzodinma from Imo is being mete with stiff opposition based on his alleged corrupt tendencies.
Uzodinma is being touted to replace Ekweremadu from the South East as a way of further wooing Ndigbo to the party.
At the meeting held in Oshiomhole’s office, sources said the senate needs 70 senators which is 2/3 majority to impeach Saraki. But the ruling party is finding it difficult to muster that number leaving it with the option of force.
The APC leadership was said o have contacted President Muhammadu Buhari and Oshiomhole is said to have assured that within 48 hours Saraki and Ekweremadu could be removed.
The siege in the national assembly was part of the game-plan, but it has not yielded the required result.
The greatest challenge now, our source said, is how to convince Lawan to step down for Akume and the other way round.
Lawan is said to come from the same state with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and cannot be Senate President. He (Lawan) said the agreement for him to be Senate President has been there before Saraki emerged.
The meeting was therefore stalemated and no one knows the next line of action as some of the senators were said to have suggested they allow the status quo to remain instead of heating the polity more and more.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has 50 senators while the APC also has 5o senators and for the APC to succeed in removing Saraki and Ekweremadu they will need to win over at least 20 PDP senators, and this is a hard nut to crack.
Ekwremadu had alleged that senators were being dangled $1million each to impeach Saraki.
National Assembly Developments a Legislative Matter – APC
Meanwhile, the APC said on Tuesday what was going on in the NASS is purely legislative.
In a statement signed by Yekini Nabena the APC wrote: “Our attention has been drawn to mischievous attempts in some partisan quarters to link Tuesday’s developments in the National Assembly to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
“While the Party is monitoring the developments in the National Assembly like every other concerned Nigerian and stakeholder, there is absolutely no basis for all the false allegations and attempt to blame the APC National Chairman for the development there. It is strictly a legislative matter.”