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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor (1181 Views)
CCT: PDP Will Produce Saraki’s Successor If…- Senator Ordia / Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor / NASS: Saraki, Lawan’s Men Close Ranks (2) (3) (4)
Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by austentero: 6:21pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Following the failure to secure a safe landing for
Senate President Bukola Saraki at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal penultimate week, members of
the upper chamber of the National Assembly
appear to be closing in on a successor in case
the inevitable happens, SUNDAY ABORISAD E
reports
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his
army of supporters across the two main political
parties in the red chamber, the Peoples
Democratic Party and the All Progressives
Congress, would definitely had wished that the
cup of this week should pass over them. The
Code of Conduct Tribunal has fixed March 11 to
start the trial of the number three citizen of
Nigeria who is the head of the federal
parliament.
The Code of Conduct Bureau is prosecuting
Saraki for alleged false declaration of his assets.
Virtually all legal and political steps taken to
stop Saraki’s trial by the Danladi Umar-led trial
appeared to have hit the rocks.
For instance, a last-minute hope of securing a
judicial remedy through an Abuja Federal High
Court after a devastating blow from the Supreme
Court which allowed the CCT to continue with
the trial, was dashed penultimate week, when the
court failed to heed a fresh prayer seeking to
stop the trial.
The Senate President had sought an order
quashing his trial before the CCT on ground,
among others, that he was denied fair hearing in
the course of investigations leading to the
charges preferred against him.
While necessary judicial solutions were being
explored by the Saraki’s team of legal experts,
his friends and political associates within and
outside the National Assembly had equally
intensified efforts to lobby the presidency to
prevail on the CCT to stop the case.
Part of the thinking of Saraki’s lobby team was
that since an outright dismissal of the case
would generate serious public outcry, especially
when the case involved an alleged act of
corruption, a deliberate delay through long
adjournments of hearing dates could make
Nigerians and the international community lose
interest in it, while the Senate President enjoys
his tenure. But feelers from some heavyweight
politicians involved in the lobby showed that
major political actors in the presidency claimed
that their hands were tied on the matter because
all facts were already in the public domain.
A senator who claimed to be privy to the lobby
option told SUNDAY PUNCH on condition of
anonymity that Saraki’s emissary to the
presidency said attempting a political solution at
this stage would cause a setback for President
Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade.
A presidency source had said, “If Saraki’s hands
were not tied when he rejected the party’s
nominations for the principal offices of the
National Assembly, perhaps the rope would not
have been tied tightly on our own hands at this
moment too.”
Saraki’s loyalists in the Senate, however, saw an
opportunity to save their colleague when Umar
appeared before the Senate Committee on
Judiciary to defend the 2016 budget of his
tribunal penultimate week.
A senator, who would not want his name
mentioned, confided in our correspondent that
the Senate committee raised some issues in
Umar’s budget and gave him a date to come
back to defend the queries.
The senator however said the plan failed when
Umar refused to show up for the budget defence
until the deadline for the submission of
committee reports on MDAs budgets lapsed last
Monday.
Since the grand plot to bring Saraki and Umar
together at the upper chamber failed, Saraki’s
loyalists at both chambers are now allegedly
mounting pressure on the House of
Representatives’ Committee on Ethics and Public
Petitions to intensify its probe of the alleged
bribery allegation against Umar.
Both chambers of the federal parliament had
asked their ethics committees to investigate an
allegation contained in a petition by the Anti-
Corruption Network that the CCT boss allegedly
demanded and collected a N10m bribe.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics,
Privileges and Public Petitions, Sen. Samuel
Anyanwu, told our correspondent last week that
his panel would await the outcome of the House
committee, which had already started work on
the petition.
But the spokesperson for the camp loyal to Sen.
Ahmad Lawan, Saraki’s main opponent for the
senate presidency seat, Senate Unity Forum, Sen.
Kabir Marafa, said in an interview with our
correspondent that the trial of Umar was
politically motivated.
He therefore reiterated his call for the resignation
of the Senate President in order to enable him to
attend to his case.
It was learnt that part of the strategies of the
SUF members was to constantly attack Saraki’s
leadership, using the proposed purchase of exotic
cars at a time when the Federal Government was
finding it difficult to pay theN5, 000 meant for
jobless Nigerians.
But the Special Adviser to Saraki on Special
Duties and Intra-Parliamentary Affairs, Mr.
Moshood Mustapha, described the public outcry
over the reported purchase of some vehicles by
the National Assembly for security operatives in
the convoy of principal officers of both chambers
of the legislature as “unnecessary.”
Mustapha said critics of the project vehicles
were not being fair to the federal
parliamentarians, arguing that nobody was
raising eyebrows when the political office holders
in the executive arm of government were
allocated at least two vehicles each.
He said Saraki, for instance, had been using his
personal cars since he was inaugurated as
President of the Senate. He also cited instances
where some of the vehicles he inherited in the
convoy of his predecessor developed serious
mechanical faults.
The pro-Saraki lawmaker said the car
transaction was purely between the National
Assembly management and the beneficiaries of
the vehicles who are not even lawmakers.
Mustapha said Saraki was entitled to two
vehicles but that only one was replaced in his
convoy and that he chose so, on his own,
because of the economic situation of the country
and to minimise government expenses.
Mustapha also said Saraki saved the country
N5bn when he rejected the N6bn put in the
budget of the Federal Capital Territory to build
his official residence and reduced it to N1bn just
to exhibit prudence.
“Left to other people, they would have allowed it
to go. As an individual, he doesn’t believe in that
project but because a lot of money had gone into
it; he believed that having N6bn in his official
residence is a waste and decided on his own to
take away N5bn from this project and put only
N1bn.
“So, what is the N200m used to buy vehicles for
security personnel and protocol compared to the
N5bn he had saved the nation. I wonder why
people are talking as if the vehicles are his
personal property or for his children.”
He also said no form of bribery took place at the
upper chamber during the screening of the
ministers, contrary to insinuations in certain
quarters. He added that no form of corrupt
practice took place during the recently concluded
budget defence by federal government agencies.
Mustapha said, “Bukola Saraki had created the
most democratised, participatory and rigorous
budgeting process as we have all seen, this is
perhaps the most disciplined senate since 1999.
We have ministerial screening and budget
approval process without bribery and other forms
of corruption. It is a scandal free budget
process. Nobody has ever said anybody brought
money or anything.
“Everybody has been busy doing his work and it
was through this painstaking process that we
were able to discover errors in the budget and
even the president himself had said it that there
are errors and that he would hold the culprits
responsible.”
Neverthless, having considered the sensitive
nature of the case before the CCT, some
senators were said to have been making frantic
efforts to shop for Saraki’s successor.
Findings by our correspondent showed that
members of both the SUF and pro-Saraki
senators under the aegis of Like Minds Senators
had started making contacts on how to agree on
an acceptable candidate.
Some senators were also said to have agreed
that the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike
Ekweremadu, would not be affected by the
change as he would be allowed to continue in
office.
“However, senators from the anti-Saraki’s SUF
group were advocating the change of the
principal officers to reflect the position of the
leadership of APC,” one of those privy to the plan
had told SUNDAY PUNCH .
If the SUF members should have their way, the
implication is that Lawan would take over from
Sen. Ali Ndume as Senate Leader, while Sen.
Bala Ibn N’Allah might lose his Deputy Leader
seat to Sen. George Akume, who has not been
attending activities in the Senate for some time.
The newcomer from Edo State, Sen. Francis
Alimikhena, might also be asked to vacate his
seat as Deputy Whip for Sen. Abu Ibrahim.
It is still not clear how the issue of principal
officers would be resolved but one of the Like
Minds Senators said Saraki’s successor might
come from his state or from the neighbouring
Nasarawa State.
He said, “Both the SUF and Like Minds Senators
had agreed to support the emergence of
somebody from the North-Central geopolitical
zone, a Muslim, who will be a bridge builder and
acceptable to every senator.”
He also said the Saraki loyalists, who were in
the majority at the upper chamber, had insisted
that his successor must also be a member of the
‘New PDP’, a breakaway faction of the PDP
which joined the APC at its formation.
The lawmaker said, “This issue had gone beyond
SUF or LMS. We are coming together as one to
ensure a rancour free arrangement that would
lead to the emergence of a new senate president.
Most of the people that we have consulted
agreed that another senator from Kwara North
should take over the mantle of leadership.
“It has been agreed that with this, the people of
Kwara would not feel too bad, while the current
arrangement in the red chamber will remain as it
is. ”
Close watchers of the development at the senate
were of the opinion that the resumption of
Saraki’s trial at the CCT this week will obviously
shape the nation’s political history. http://www.punchng.com/senators-close-ranks-for-sarakis-successor/ 1 Like |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by aare07(m): 6:40pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
the most challenging thing in life is defending the indefensible, Saraki may not survive this on going trial. 2 Likes |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by chriskosherbal(m): 6:42pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Bukola Saraki hmmmmm 1 Like |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by emerged01(m): 6:55pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Hmmm |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by omenka(m): 7:14pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Crooks from both sides of the aisle closing ranks. Their business. 1 Like |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by pedel: 7:26pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Corruption is fighting Saraki using his ambition as a cane. May all corrupt politicians loose sleeps and appetite like Saraki. Amen 2 Likes |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by omowolewa: 7:35pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
Saraki is a cat with 9lives, 9ja politics has a way of surprising us. |
Re: Senators Close Ranks For Saraki’s Successor by calobinna(m): 8:24pm On Mar 06, 2016 |
This is Nigeria and in Nigerian politics anything can happen... Our judiciary has been used as soccer ball to play out opponents! lol... I tire! |
(1) (Reply)
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