In what could be described as the perfect coup d’etat, Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara yesterday defied all the odds and hurdles placed in their way by their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), by emerging Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives in a contest that was characterised by subterfuge and skillful guile.

Saraki beat his rival, Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was not even present on the floor of the Senate, to clinch the presidency unopposed, while Dogara floored his rival, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in a close contest that was won by a mere eight votes.

But their victory would not have been achieved without the assistance of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which by its decision to adopt both men and pair Saraki with Senator Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy, enabled PDP to get its comeuppance over the APC.

The PDP had suffered a similar fate when in 2011 lawmakers on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) helped Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha to defy the zoning formula of the PDP to emerge speaker and deputy speaker in the House.

That act of defiance by its members was later to haunt the PDP, resulted in the eventual defection of Tambuwal along with several other PDP lawmakers to the APC, and was one of the factors that led to PDP’s woeful performance at the 2015 polls.

The stage was set for the epic battle when Saraki and Dogara rejected APC’s adoption of Lawan and Gbajabiamila as the choice of the ruling party for the leadership posts in the National Assembly.

However, the party’s decision to throw up Lawan and Gbajabiamila led to a schism among APC lawmakers, enabling the PDP to captilise on the division and determine the outcome of yesterday’s election.

The outcome of the parliamentary election also handed the National Leader of the party Bola Tinubu a bloody nose after his attempt to foist his preferred choice of candidates to lead the National Assembly failed.

In the Senate, Saraki was elected unopposed as its 13th president, following a proclamation letter from President Muhammadu Buhari ordering the inauguration, which was read out by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa.
The inauguration, which took off at exactly 10.02 am, was attended by 57 senators-elect. Thereafter, the clerk called for nominations from senators. By the Senate Rules, only 38 senators need to be present to form a quorum.

Consequently, Senator Ahmad Sani (Zamfara Central) nominated Saraki as a candidate for the office of the Senate president.
The nomination was seconded by Hon. Dino Melaiye (Kogi West) after which the clerk called for further nominations but to the surprise of many, there was absolute silence as his rival in the race, Senator Lawan, and nearly all his supporters were absent.

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http://monitor9ja.com/2015/06/nassembly-saraki-becomes-senate-president-dogara-speaker-with-the-perfect-coup-detat/