The crisis set off by the recent election of the principal officers of the National Assembly may be far from over despite the All Progressives Congress’ recent assurance that it has put its house in order.

Aggrieved APC senators, on Saturday, demanded for the immediate resignation of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

The senators, who are loyal to Senator Ahmad Lawan, the party’s candidate for the Senate presidency, insisted that Ekweremadu’s resignation was one of the conditions that would make the faction to recognise Senator Bukola Saraki as President of the Senate.

The aggrieved lawmakers, under the auspices of the Senate Unity Forum, however, stated that they had nothing personal against Saraki and Ekweremadu.

APC senators had been divided over the leadership of the National Assembly since the controversial elections. The ruling party had chosen Lawan for the Senate presidency and Femi Gbajabiamila as its candidate for the House of Representatives’ speakership in the aftermath of a mock intra-party election conducted on June 6.

But Saraki and Yakubu Dogara had defied the ruling party, allied with the opposition parties, and emerged as the heads of the upper and lower chambers, respectively.

The alliance had led to the return of Ekweremadu, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, as the Deputy Senate President, the position he held in the last administration.

Initially, the APC had rejected the result of the election, insisting that Saraki, Dogara and their supporters would be sanctioned for defying the position of the party. But a few days later, the National Chairman of the the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, said the party had accepted Saraki as the President of the Senate. “Of course, he (Sakari) has been duly elected by his colleagues. We have a reality and we must live with it,” he said.

However, the spokesperson of the SUF, Senator Kabir Marafa, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday night, said the pro-Saraki senators must explain why they disregarded all the arrangements put in place by the leaders of the APC to produce consensus candidates for post of Senate President and Deputy Senate President.

The senator called for thorough investigations into why the Clerk of the National Assembly was in a hurry to conduct the election of the senate president and the deputy without following the normal procedure as contained in the Senate Standing Order.

He said, “We demand that Senator Ike Ekweremadu must resign his position because he needed at least 55 senators to emerge as deputy senate president. Ekweremadu is a lawyer and an experienced lawmaker. He knows he is not qualified to win the election with 54 votes.”

Marafa further said the pro-Saraki lawmakers should tell the party leadership why they rushed to the chamber on June 9 and hurriedly conducted the election, while the rest of the APC lawmakers were at the International Conference Centre, expecting the arrival of President Mohammadu Buhari.

The leadership of the APC had called a truce meeting with all lawmakers on its platform at the ICC for 9am ahead of the 10am scheduled for the inauguration of the eighth assembly.

Marafa further said, “Our colleagues, the Like Minds Senators, on three occasions failed to honour the directive of the party for an arrangement to produce consensus candidates for the senate president and deputy senate president.

“They refused to take part in the mock election when 35 APC senators elected Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume as the party’s consensus candidates for the two top positions in the Senate.

“They also refused to honour the invitation extended to all of us to attend a meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on June 8, and another meeting called by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 9.”



Similarly, another prominent member of the Senate Unity Forum from the South-West, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the requests of the group had been forwarded to the party leadership.

He said, “The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was not properly elected. He requires a simple majority vote of 55 to win the election but he got 54, so he did not win and we cannot recognise him. We refuse to. Our party has asked us not to talk to the press but we will not keep quiet internally.

“Apart from Ekeweremadu resigning, we are also demanding thorough investigations into the decision of the Clerk of the National Assembly to conduct the election when he was aware that the President had summoned us to a meeting.”

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Ekweremadu, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, declined comments, when contacted on the telephone on Saturday to respond to the demands of the Unity Forum.

He said, “I don’t want to react to the issue.”

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalo, however objected to the demands of the pro-Lawan senators. According to Jalo, Ekweremadu would remain deputy senate president.

“To ask distinguished Senator Ike Ekweremadu to relinquish a mandate freely given to him by his colleagues, will be a disservice not only to the Senate but to this country. What everybody should be concerned about now, is how to move forward because the issue of election in the Senate has come and gone.

“Remember, it is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and it belongs to all Nigerian Senators who are duly elected.”



http://www.punchng.com/news/anti-saraki-senators-demand-ekweremadus-resignation/

#team Ekweremadu, resign say wetin happen, If na dem, dem for resign?

These guys are a punch of amateur fools that are unfocussed.

The anti saraki senators should go and die...Yeye dey smell

They better face their business...

This senators no get job...all of them are criminals and selfish...both APC and PDP.

Nigerians this is the time to focus our searchlight into the activities of this senators and scrutinize all their moves especially in this administration.

This is where intelligent TANOIDS should focus all their rants on and allow Buhari to settle down and focus on other issues.

If pressure is diverted on them, Buhari will be given the chance to perform and they will all buckle up.

They are acting like children, PDP should have even gone for the Senate president so they can do their worst, fools.

Cock and bull story...
You think you can win a core Igbo man??
Go try your luck then...
Rubbish
Anti saraki lol
Yoruba's are useless and worthless...
They are the core problems we have in Nigeria In this 21st century... Gawd

hmph, yoruba

Why are they asking for the impossible?

They fail to understand that that ship has sailed. If they like they should not settle down and start carrying out their sworn duties. So now the National Assembly Clerk is expected to be bound by political party summons in carrying out his statutory duties when he clearly ought to be non-partisan. Did the same President not issue a letter to the clerk directing him to proclaim the 8th Assembly open and proceed with the inauguration? They better wake up from their sleep. When they were supposed to be at the NASS Complex, they were going for party meeting so what about Senators not elected on the APC platform? So they expect their party activities to superscede national functions? Jokers!

chai, they should dream on. foolish people, is ekweremadu not legally elected?

i dnt blame dem,its 3:23 n i know dey r sleeping n dreaming. imitate baba otuoke. accept defeat!!!. move d country forward.

Chai, e pain them o

How the "sophisticated ones" were deceived by a.boki mercenary. Hahaha

Call the fools out for a meeting and conduct elections jor, in Atiku and buhari's voice.

Sorry baba slept off and you all were awake and watched it on TV.

Is it the same number of senators that elected both the SP and his deputy? Or different numbers.

Better accept defeat and move on, life is not all about having hbp.
Next time una go get sense.

Sorry guys is too late,

Thunder fire anyone who wants Ekweremadu to resign.

They don't need to give Saraki any condition before they can recognise him as SP because they have already done so the moment they accepted to be sworn in by him. The most interesting thing is that you even need 2/3 majority to impeach him which is almost impossible. So they can live with the present fact that Sen Ekeremadu is the DSP at least for now.

So they crying because of 1 vote, he received 54 votes so that means he was really wanted. If anti-sakari politicians do not like him they can go and die

If 55 is the actual number by law, then senator Ndume who called for an election of the deputy senate president as opposed to the consensus gift giving to Saraki must have played a fast one on the PDP Senators. I know the least the APC will be comfortable with is to throw away the deputy senate president seat. At the end of it all, I see the PDP senators facing serious embarrassment.

ghost mode de no go c me
ekweremadu all d way

They can't touch saraki cos he's too powerful for them, so they go after the igbo..classic yoruba coward move

Book

I dey fear, d way dem no wan accept defeat 4 common senate president election, imagine wetin go happen if dey lose d presidency!

Time to hit the ground running

It is all story story.



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Not just possible. They should move on instead of causing more troubles.

https://www.nairaland.com/2374160/mtn-data-plan-1gb-n1100#34749418

Tia good to dream sha..... Let them keep dreaming before you it the Daura President might even defect to PDP. No wonder everyone is treating them like lepers

Wsdm:
If 55 is the actual number by law, then senator Ndume who called for an election of the deputy senate president as opposed to the consensus gift giving to Saraki must have played a fast one on the PDP Senators. I know the least the APC will be comfortable with is to throw away the deputy senate president seat. At the end of it all, I see the PDP senators facing serious embarrassment.

For your mumu mind, abii...

Pdp now playing ludo with apc.......

Taa

d earlier dey forget dis nonsence and face wat pple voted dem for d better bunch of yeye.