₦airaland Forum

modelmike7:
It's appaling when the so called youth of the country reason this way.
His corrupt matter has been on going for more than 2 years, more of the reason he is running away, cos the chair is becoming hit for him.
So , if he leaves now, he shouldn't be interrogate anymore?
Cos of politics?
Talking to you two will be a waste of time for real.

Mgbadike80:
They would soon trace Dasuki loot to his bedroom.

modelmike7:
What happened to all the security vote money given to this guy that his citizens keep dying like chicken from the attacks of evil politicians?
We Benu e people need to know.

bedspread:
Some persons with Opinion will still tell us That EFCc is Working For Saraki....

abokibuhari:
I do bro, me just they vex ni

abokibuhari:
Damage control by BMC

Security operatives have vacated the National Assembly (NASS) after about 10 hours of blockade of the complex.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the operatives vacated the premises at exactly 2.46 p.m.

They opened the entrance to the National Assembly and left few hours after the news of the sack of Mr Lawal Daura, Director-General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) filtered in.

The atmosphere at the National Assembly earlier on Tuesday was charged as security operatives refused some lawmakers, newsmen and staff of the National Assembly entry into the complex.

The operatives, in their numbers, barricaded the entrance to the complex as early as 7 a.m. when workers were resuming work.

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, consequently directed the termination of Daura’s appointment some hours after his men blockaded the complex.

Osinbajo, in a statement by Mr Laolu Akande, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, directed him to hand over to the most senior officer of the Service until further notice.

Although no reason was given for his sack in Akande’s statement, it is believed to be connected with his role in the NASS blockade.

Daura retired from the SSS in 2013, having reached the statutory retirement age of 60 but was recalled by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the organisation on July 2, 2015.

Daura, the sixth director-general of the SSS, one of the three security agencies created out of the defunct National Security Organisation in 1986, succeeded Ita Ekpenyong.

Before the sack was announced, Osinbajo had summoned the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and Mr Daura, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

NAN gathered that the two security chiefs who arrived Aso Rock at different times, were to update the acting president on security developments, including the blockade of the NASS.

Meanwhile, staff members went agog as the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, arrived in the lobby of the NASS.

His supporters, including senators and House of Representatives members were seen cheering him as he sat with them for few minutes at the lobby.

The presidency Monday in Abuja warned that the refusal of the National Assembly to reconvene to approve presidential requests before it could result in imminent shutdown of government activities.

The presidency’s alarm was the fallout of a meeting among Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, behind closed doors in the Presidential Villa.

Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, Enang restated calls for the leadership of the National Assembly to reconvene and consider presidential communications, stating that only the reopening of the federal legislature could save the country from imminent shutdown.

According to him, the 2018 budget was conceived to be largely financed by foreign loans, pointing out that the exact amount to be borrowed to finance the budget was not clearly stated as stipulated by the extant law.

However, he argued that details were contained in the recent requests submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly before it proceeded on vacation, adding that the approval was necessary now to enable the government put the machinery in place to secure such loans.

He said: “We are still appealing to the National Assembly to reconvene. You remember that we passed the budget with understanding that the greater amount of it would be gotten by foreign loans.

“Although this was approved that there would be loans, the amount to be gotten was not approved. The Fiscal Responsibility Act requires that the president should specifically state the amount the government wants to get from foreign loans and present it before the National Assembly.

“That letter has been presented to the National Assembly and the National Assembly has to pass that amount before the money could be obtained from foreign financing institutions. This is what we are asking and if it didn’t happen in the next few months, we may have a complete government shutdown.

“What we are receiving from the Federation Accounts as the federal government share of the capital component is not enough to sustain even the 15 or 20 per cent of the budget. So, there may be a complete government shutdown and I know that Nigerians are not going to like it. That is why we are still appealing.”

On who is in control of the majority in the Senate, whether it is the All Progressives Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Enang echoed Lawan that more senators had defected from the PDP to APC, adding that the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, would join the league of senators who had defected from PDP to APC in recent times.

“Now the leader of the Senate has said that they are 53, but I want to assure him that the APC has harvested more people from the PDP and other political parties. The head of the PDP in the Senate is formally joining the APC family and that will be in a big ceremony on Wednesday, August 8 in Akwa Ibom State.

“So, the head of the PDP who holds all the documents of the PDP, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, is coming over with a great team and other minorities will join the APC family and we are good and strong,” Enang added.

Also speaking, Lawan appealed to the presiding officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly to reconvene the chambers immediately to pass the supplementary budget for the 2019 general election as well as the president’s virement request.

He said failing to pass the requests could hamper the preparation for both the elections as well as the smooth running of the government.

Lawan, who alleged that the failure to reconvene the legislative institution to approve the president’s requests could lead to sabotage, added that such approvals were also necessary for the provision of infrastructure for citizens’ need.

Lawan said: “You know that the budget for 2018 the capital aspect will be largely funded by foreign facilities, loans. Now we need to approve that. We also need to approve other important and essential requests especially that of INEC and other security agencies for our security to be improved.

“It is, therefore, very essential that we reconvene immediately to look into those issues because our government is almost stalled and I believe that if we are able to pass the supplementary budget and virement request from Mr. President, this will enable our administration to provide the various infrastructure that we have planned to provide for Nigerians and also all the other aspects of national development.

“To do otherwise will lead to sabotage this administration; will lead to sabotage democracy itself because if we cannot provide the essentials for Nigerians, if we cannot provide funds for INEC to plan for the 2019 elections, what do we call ourselves?

“Certainly, in the case of INEC for example, INEC could pick some items on the shelves but there are so many important and essential items that INEC will have to place order that could take about two to three months.

“So, it is very imperative that we do the needful, we should convene the National Assembly immediately and as legislators, as representatives of Nigerians, we will do what is best in the national interest.”

He challenged the PDP to publish the number of its senators, insisting that the APC remains in control of the majority in the Senate with 53.

Asked to confirm the allegation that APC senators were plotting to force their way into the parliament to execute their hidden plot, Lawan denied it, saying the information was strange to him.

Legislature’s Leadership Meets Tuesday, to Parley INEC Chairman

Apparently yielding to the clamour from the executive arm of government, the leadership of the National Assembly will meet Tuesday to deliberate on the possibility of reconvening to deliberate on the N242 billion budget proposal presented before it in July by President Muhammadu Buhari to finance the 2019 elections.

The meeting billed for 12 noon in Senate Room 301, sources told THISDAY, would be presided over by the Chairman of the National Assembly and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, in attendance.

The meeting is also expected to be attended by all the principal officers of both the Senate and the House of Representatives including Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuf; the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who in the last few days is said to be planning to defect to the ruling APC; and Chairmen of INEC Committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The meeting of the National Assembly leadership would be followed by another meeting by 1p.m. between the National Assembly leadership and the management team of INEC led by its Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu.

President Buhari had on July 17 written to the two chambers of the National Assembly, seeking the approval of a budget totalling N242 billion for the purpose of 2019 general election, while also seeking the virement of some projects already inserted into the 2018 budget.

According to the president’s letter, which came into the legislature barely a week to the scheduled annual recess, the National Assembly was being requested to approve the virement of the sum of N164 billion from the 2018 budget.

The president indicated that the total sum of N228 billion should be deducted from the N578 billion projects introduced into the budget by the National Assembly, which the presidency claimed were inserted into the 2018 budget by the National Assembly.

Lawmakers Give Condition for Reconvening

Meanwhile, a group of lawmakers in the lower chamber under the auspices of the Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG) Monday vowed that the call for reconvening of the National Assembly would not be heeded if the intention is to change the leadership of both chambers.

The group, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Hon. Timothy Golu, said although their leaders were meeting to consider the appeal from the presidency, the Senate and the House might consider the request only if there are assurances that no attempt would be made to unseat either the Senate president or the speaker and their deputies.

Golu said: “Our leaders are meeting to brief us on the appeal by the presidency for us to reconvene. There must be assurance that no illegality will be attempted to be done against any of our leaders.

“We are worried by the statements from some anti-Saraki senators like Adamu Abdullahi and Ali Ndume to the fact that the Senate president must be changed.”

According to him, “Talks are ongoing and as long as there is no threat to our democratic peace, we can reconvene to attend to issues.

“We want peace and stability for our democracy to grow and produce more good fruits and if among ourselves we are found guilty of any form of sabotage for personal reasons, then we are not fair to the people.”

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity remains intact despite the allegation of certificate forgery preferred against his Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

He said the allegation against the minister was still being investigated, and that Buhari was only waiting for the conclusion before he would take any decision.

Mohammed said this on Monday when he paid an official visit to the Abuja office of The Authority newspaper.

Responding to a question from the editorial management of the paper on why Buhari was still keeping Adeosun in his cabinet, Mohammed said the case was still under investigation.

He said the appropriate agencies were still investigating the allegation against the finance minister and should be allowed to do their jobs.

Adeosun was alleged to have forged a National Youth Service Corps exemption certificate.

“Until when an allegation is proven, you do not expect the President to act.

“The appropriate agencies have spoken and they say they are investigating. The only thing we can do is to wait.

“By saying that the minister should resign or be sacked while investigation is still ongoing may also not be feasible in our clime because of the level of false accusations.

“How many times have they accused me of embezzlement? Even recently, they said my driver jumped out of the car, abandoned me and decamped to Peoples Democratic Party.



“People even made the allegation that President Buhari did not have certificate.’’

The minister insisted that the president will be usurping the powers of the investigating agencies if he sacked Adeosun before their report is submitted.

“For instance, people have come to me that so and so TV and Radio stations are spreading fake news and I should shut them down.

“I told them that I do not have the power to do so; it is the responsibility of the National Broadcasting Commission, even though it is an agency under my watch.

“We are as concerned as you are; but having spent some time in government, you will see that a lot of lies are being peddled about us.”

Mohammed gave an assurance that the government would not sweep the matter under the carpet.

A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot remove the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki without the required two-third majority of the entire members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has also justified the defection of Governors AbdulfatahAhmed, Samuel Ortom and Aminu Tambuwal of Kwara Sokoto, Benue and States from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing a precedent by the Supreme Court.

He canvassed these positions in a statement he issued yesterday, stressing that even though the defection of the Reformed APC (R-APC) lawmakers was illegal and unconstitutional, the APC “lacks the moral and political right to condemn their defection to the PDP.”

Due to irreconcilable differences that plagued the APC just after the 2015 elections, the last fortnight has witnessed the defection of Saraki, Ahmed, Ortom, Tambuwal and scores of lawmakers in the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to the PDP.

Consequently, the PDP alleged that the federal government and the APC had started shopping for “a fraudulent interim court order to declare vacant the seat of the Senate President following his defection from the APC to the PDP.

In a three-page statement, the senior advocate cautioned against the illegal plot to remove Saraki as the Senate President, lamenting that the crisis of misgovernance in the country “has been accentuated by the official impunity of members of the ruling class.”

He also lamented that the executive “is justifying disobedience of court orders while legislators regularly suspend their colleagues and carry out impeachment of governors outside the ambit of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

On the alleged plot to remove Saraki, Falana noted that section 52 of the 1999 Constitution provided the requirements for the impeachment of the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President, which should be fulfilled to remove Saraki.

Specifically, Falana explained that the section “provides that the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President can only be removed by the resolution supported by the votes of not less two- thirds majority of the entirety of the members of the Senate.”

The senior lawyer noted that since the APC legislators “cannot muster the required two-third majority of the votes of the entire members the plan to impeach Senator Saraki should be dropped forthwith.”

The human rights activist explained that the scenario playing out in the Senate was without precedent in our political history, though explained how the accord between the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) collapsed in the Second Republic.

Falana added that when the accord collapsed in the Second Republic, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ume Ezeoke of the NPP, a minority party in the lower chamber of the National was not forced to resign.

He explained that the election of Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives was made possible by the alliance of the APC and defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) legislators.

Falana added that when he decamped from the PDP to the APC, Tambuwal was not asked “to step down from the office of the Speaker. Therefore, the APC should stop from demanding the resignation of Saraki as Senate President.”

On the governors’ defection, Falana observed that the 1999 Constitution “is silent on defection by the president and state governors from the political parties which sponsored their election.”

He, however, cited a decision of the Supreme Court in a case between Atiku Abubakar v Attorney General of the Federation (2007), which upheld that Abubakar’s defection from the PDP to the defunct ACN was not illegal and unconstitutional.

Contingent on this judicial precedent, Falana said the decision of governors “to dump the political parties which sponsored their elections was not challenged.

“I have therefore, canvassed the argument that the defection of Tambuwal, Ortom and Ahmed from the APC to the PDP cannot be said to be illegal or unconstitutional,” he added.

Also citing the decision of the Supreme Court in a case between Abegunde v Ondo State House of Assembly (2014), the senior advocate admitted that the defection of the R-APC legislators from the APC to the PDP and ADC “can be impugned under section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution.”

Since the APC had allowed legislators to decamp from the PDP to join its fold recently, Falana noted that the ruling APC “lacks the moral and political right to condemn the defection of the R-APC legislators”.

“But the crass opportunism of the APC cannot legitimise the prostitution of the political system,” he said.

“Having decamped from the APC, which sponsored their elections, the R-APC defectors ought to resign from the legislative houses and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate. In order to curb the dangerous trend, some aggrieved members of the constituencies of the defectors ought to contest the legal validity of the refusal to resign from the affected legislative houses,” Falana suggested.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo poured cold water on the presidential ambition of former deputy, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, saturday, refusing to back him in his quest to become president in 2019. Obasanjo stated that his refusal to support Atiku was in the national interest and was not personal.

The former president restated his opposition to Atiku to THISDAY through his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi. It followed an inquiry about Obasanjo’s earlier remarks in an interview with Premium Times, an online publication, where he was quoted as saying that Atiku “can never enjoy” his support for any political office.

The former president’s spokesman said if his boss had taken such a position on his ex-deputy, then there must be something “fundamentally wrong somewhere.”

Obasanjo had said in his comments published saturday that God will not forgive him if he supported Atiku’s presidential ambition, stressing that he had unknowingly backed the former vice president in the past.

Akinyemi said, “The differences between Atiku and Baba is not and cannot be personal. It is only based on national interest.”

He said Atiku, having served as vice president to Obasanjo for eight years, the former president “should be able to recommend him to Nigerians for his 2019 presidential ambition.

“But if Baba fails to do that, then something fundamentally must be wrong somewhere. And that is just it.”
Asked if Obasanjo will forgive Atiku if apologised for whatever wrong he might have done to him, Akinyemi told THISDAY, “Coming to beg Baba is far from it. To beg him for what? It is like saying, when you write stories badly and you say you want to come and beg me, as an editor, to recommend you for a higher and sensitive post, how is that possible?”

“It does not mean, when he wants personal assistance, and it is in Baba’s power to do it, he will surely do it.
“God will not forgive Baba if he fails to render such assistance. So, it is purely two different things; national interest and personal interest.”

Akinyemi said Obasanjo might never change his position on his former deputy, underscoring suggestions that the ex-president could shift his ground to a consideration of certain circumstances, like Atiku entreating him to support his ambition.

Atiku was vice president to Obasanjo during his two terms’ presidency from 1999 to 2007, though the former had sought to succeed his boss in 2003. They fell apart ahead of the 2007 presidential election, which Atiku contested on the platform of another political while still vice president. Their disagreement was exacerbated by Obasanjo’s alleged third term agenda, which Atiku fiercely opposed.

Obasanjo said in the interview that he had no personal hatred against Atiku but was only interested in working with anyone “working for the good of Nigeria.

“If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying.

He added, “It is not a question of working with or not working with an individual. If you are working for the good of Nigeria, I am working with you. If you are not working for the good of Nigeria, it does not matter who you are, I am not working with you.

“I do not have personal grudges with anyone. If you do not do well for Nigeria, you do not do well for all of us.”
He said his opposition to Atiku’s political ambition was only at the realm of politics.

“If my children are getting married, he has sent representatives. If his children are getting married, I have sent representatives. That is social. That is not political,” he said. “On political ground,” however, Obasanjo said, “My position has not changed. If I support Atiku for a political office other than the one I supported him in the past when I did not know him … God will not forgive me.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

tafabaloo:
I hope the church would not hand him over to the police but follow the footstep of jesus christ in dealing with his case .

" Go and sin more ...."

BOA is a political pressure group whose mandate is to canvass support for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It is sponsored by some aides and supporters of the President, including former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal and Senator Mohammed Abubakar Mo-Allahyidi.

madridguy:
I open mouth when the late guy friend told me this. Me of a person never taste any drug neither will I do by the grace of God. Anything I cannot do with my clear eyes means I cannot do. I no need any power from drug.

madridguy:
Na so I know one guy for my area that killed himself over the thing just last year. I later heard from one of his pal that the lady in question is a single mother of 3 kids. So guy think he can fill the canal and he go use tramadol 500 gram of man power which is meant for horse. Na so the guy kpoof

madridguy:
Do your best and leave the rest.

eodavids:
You really have a sense of humor

Save the thunder. Let's have a united Nigeria first

resurgent2019:
Maybe an Atiku?

Ebios:
what l want to know is how to use bold letters, underlining, crossing or cancelling words,etc that Nairalanders use that l don't know how to use.
Somebody should help out.

Sagay however faulted the situation where some lawmakers are trying to impeach the Benue governor. He said: “Obviously it is wrong; it is unconstitutional. I don’t know why people try such a desperate thing. Obasanjo was the one who introduced this into Nigeria. He did it in Bayelsa, did it in Plateau, did it in Oyo and did it to his good friend, Fayose in Ekiti, until the Supreme Court finally gave a judgement in which they laid down all the principles and procedures involved and that finally deflated the Obasanjo system, by which five people would suspend 19 people and then proceed to try to remove the governor.

“He did it in many states, that is what happened to Ladoja; that is what happened to Dariye. That Obasanjo’s ploy has ended. These people trying to resurrect it are simply not doing any good service to our democracy. The so-called Group or Eight trying to remove Governor Ortom are doing a disservice to this country. It should be firmly discouraged.”

In his reaction, the former Minister of Information, Chief Tony Momoh said a government in a democracy should be based on due process because what drives it (democracy) is the rule of law.

He said: “Our government must follow the constitution. The president swore to abide by the provision of the constitution. So, did all other operators in the system. And anything outside that due process is unconstitutional and unacceptable.

“One thing I know is that the president insists on due process in everything. That is why for instance, you can understand why he did not want to interfere in who becomes the Senate President when he was being pressurized to do so. He said he can work with anybody. The president that I know is a stickler for due process and I do not think the president would even sit down and start discussing how to destabilise the polity. I have been with him since 2003.”

He said however that politicians would use everything they have to ensure that they overcome obstacles adding that “and those things that they have that they use to overcome obstacles are well stipulated in the law. Anything outside it is criminal and should be punished.”

On whether Saraki should resign having left the APC, he added: “Yes he can if he so decides and he can also be removed according to due process.”

He explained: “There are three angles to removing him. A two third majority of the members(109) of the Senate. That is a total of 73 senators is required to remove him. And if that approach is not possible, he can resign on his own. He can also be removed through a provision in the constitution that says that if you leave your party, then you lose your seat. If the APC says this man left the party and according to the provision of the constitution, and so loses his seat and if he loses his seat, he cannot be senate president. So, he loses his seat if the party goes to court to say that Saraki left without the party being factionalised. So, he can lose his seat as a senator, resigning or him being impeached.”

Speaking on behalf of other APC senators, Senator Abu Ibrahim, who represents Katsina South, said Saraki’s continuous stay in office was slowing down activities of the APC led Federal Government and as such should be removed.

Ibrahim said: “I think it is commendable that he has left the party. He has chosen the path of survival because it is the issue of political survival not any thing for Nigeria. But next is for him to resign as Senate President because by all conventions all over the world the majority party produces the leadership; Senate President, the majority leader and others.

“Again, let him be gentleman enough and resign as Senate President. If he doesn’t (resign) we will never have peace in that Senate because it is absolutely clear that APC has majority to produce the leadership. I hear the PDP claiming majority but it is crystal clear that APC has majority. We will have more members. We will have elections. We will have the two members. We also have some alliance with APGA. It is clear that APC has majority. APC with majority should produce the leadership in the Senate. 49 cannot produce the leadership. Saraki should go the whole hog and resign as Senate President.”

On the allegation that some senators attempted to break into the Senate chamber on Wednesday to reconvene plenary, he said: “How do you break into the chamber? If we like we can reconvene legally because it is legal for us to reconvene. We don’t need to break into the chamber when we have the number. I will never subscribe to that.

“We can reconvene, the rules are there that if we are up to 30 we can reconvene. Why should we break into the chamber when we can reconvene legally and do what we want to do. It is legal. I don’t see why anybody should contemplate that we can break into the chamber. I don’t know about it and even if I know about it I will say it is unwise. Like I said, the rules are there that if we are 30 we can reconvene and do what we want to do. If the leadership does not ask for peace, it will not get peace. Peace is a function of leadership.

“I have been in the Senate for about four times. I can’t allow anybody to manipulate me. I can’t take it. Nobody was elected as Senate President. We all came here as Senators. So we have equal footing. We gave you leadership. If you fail to give us the right leadership and if majority of us don’t want you any more, you have to leave. Saraki was elected by us. At any time majority of us say he should go he has to go.”

On the effect of the gale of defections hitting the APC, he said: “There are some losses that will give you sleepless night. There are others that will not give you sleepless night. We have made our calculation, I am confident that that we will not lose. For the past two years, Saraki has undermined the government. He has allowed frivolous motions to attack the President and the government. His continued stay as Senate President does not augur well for the APC government.

Somebody in the same party and the same government he has never seen any thing good in the President.”

Asked if it is only change of leadership that will bring peace to the Senate, he said: “How can we 53 allow a renegade to control us? No, we cannot allow that.”

Following the recent gale of defections by some prominent members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), indications emerged at the weekend that President Muhammadu Buhari’s allies have declared a ‘political war’ on the dramatis personae.

The three major actors among others on the radar of the presidency include the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal.

A high ranking member of the APC told Saturday Sun that even though the presidency feigned indifference to the defections, it is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure it clips the wings of the actors in the ensuing power game.

It was learnt that even as President Buhari and the ruling party are careful not to adopt undemocratic tactics to achieve their aims, they are determined to curtail the damages the actors’ actions can cause to the fortunes of the APC in next year’s elections.

The Senate President, our source said, would be the first target as President Buhari’s hatchet men are working round the clock to effect his impeachment immediately the red chamber resumes from break.

Saturday Sun also learnt that part of the plan by the presidency is also to penerate the ranks of the lawmakers in both Benue and Sokoto states to see the possibility of impeaching their governors to create room for the APC to reclaim their states.

On Thursday, the PDP had alleged that the presidency and some senators of the APC had perfected a plot to impeach the Senate President, Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. The national publicity secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement alleged that part of the plot was for President Buhari to embark on a two-week vacation in London as an alibi to exonerate him from the plan to forcefully remove the two presiding officers from the National Assembly.

The PDP claimed the plot was hatched in a meeting, on Wednesday night, August 1, between the presidency and some APC senators bent on taking control of the National Assembly. The opposition party said it had got information that APC senators, especially members of the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group (BPSG), have been provided with huge sums of money to carry out the plot. “It is clear that President Buhari and the APC are hugely terrified and distressed by the gale of defections from their fold and have resorted to underhand methods, threats and intimidation, irrespective of the damage being inflicted on the polity,” the PDP said.

Last week, 14 senators defected from the ruling APC and the House of Representatives where 37 members also jumped ship.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s inspired African Democratic Congress (ADC) received two senators and four representatives who defected from the APC while others went to the PDP. On Wednesday last week, the governor of Benue state, Samuel Ortom, following the footsteps of the National Assembly members defected from the APC to the PDP with ten of the 18 APC members in the State House of Assembly, 13 of the 24 local government chairmen and 276 councilors. He now has 22 members of the 30-member house behind him. After Ortom’s defection, Governors Tambuwal of Sokoto state and Abdulahmed Fatah of Kwara state followed suit and joined the opposition party.

Speaking with Saturday Sun on the development, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay, said no power can cripple or frustrate President Buhari’s government. The Law Professor, noted the defectors earlier made the ruling party sick, stressing that the Buhari government was going to be stronger now.

His words: “There is nothing much. Everybody is truly going to where he belongs; there are too many odd fellows both in APC and the PDP; too many people who do not belong, who are ideologically different, whose social and moral obligations were different; those who do not care for the country, for the populace, but only care for their pockets and progress.

“They were all mixed up and that created a lot of tension and crises. Those who were indiscipline and totally uncontrollable were in a party headed by Buhari, who is a man of discipline and integrity. The whole thing was a mixture of odd fellows, which sparked off so many crises, so now that they have gone, there is going to be peace and progress and productivity.”

On the perception that the development might cripple the government, he said: “It is not possible to cripple or frustrate Buhari’s government. He was elected until May 29, 2019. Nothing on earth anybody can do about it; he will be in power until that day for certain. So, how are they going to cripple the government?

“When you have a mole; an internal enemy, who is gradually eating inside of your party out and making it sick, finally crawls out because some injection has been given to you, which destroys it or forces it out, I think it is a positive thing. In fact, Buhari’s government is going to be stronger now.”

Asked whether ex-Generals like Obasanjo, IBB, Danjuma, Gusau, are fuelling the crises from behind, Sagay stated: “I don’t know about all those people, but certainly Obasanjo has a hand, and open about it. He is not hiding it that his greatest objective now is to stop Buhari from being re-elected. He has not hidden it. So, he, I can confirm, but the other names, I have no evidence about them on this.”

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday reiterated that the ruling party under President Muhammadu Buhari would adjust the style in the running of affairs of the nation towards fighting the odds confronting the country and her citizens.

He also called on Nigerians to support President Buhari and the ruling APC in their resolve to remove all the “thieves” and “looters who believe it is their birthright to continue to loot; those who say that their purpose in government is for juicy positions not for the welfare of the people”. The pledge emerged on a day Benin City, the ancient capital town of Edo State, stood still with APC leaders, elders, youths and markets shut to welcome Oshiomhole at the Benin International Airport, following his election as the chairman of APC.

The APC faithful had converged on the airport as early as 7:30am yesterday after been mobilised in over 60 commercial buses and eight luxurious buses, in solidarity for the former governor of the state.

It would be recalled that youths and groups loyal to the APC in the state had in their thousands on Thursday stormed the Benin airport for over nine hours in wait for the National chairman of the party but left home after it was learnt that his movement was diverted to Bauchi State for a political rally. Oshiomhole, who addressed the mammoth crowd, assured them that the APC, “will not borrow the style of other people, particularly, that of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), rather the party and government would jointly deploy those viable “values into the leadership and management of the APC”, for a better Nigeria with hope and improved condition for the masses.

He also pledged that he would also, “ensure that working together with President Buhari, that government focuses on the people; that government will not focus on the welfare of the few at the expense of the majority; that government must do everything possible to ensure that those who work have something to show for their labour.”

Oshiomhole said: “I am very, very grateful and humbled. I want to make a promise to you, that I will represent the feelings, the aspirations and I will meet your expectations as far as the running of the All Progressives Congress is concerned.

“At this point I am very clear, we will have to fight odds on the basis of our conviction and we will adjust our style; we will not borrow other people’s style. I am very proud of my working class background and we will bring those values into the leadership and management of the APC.”

“I will ensure working together with President Buhari that government focuses on the people; that government will not focus on the welfare of the few at the expense of the majority; that government must do everything possible to ensure that those who work have something to show for their labour.

“We must support the President and the APC to remove all those thieves, all those looters who believe it is their birthright to continue to loot; those who say that their purpose in government is for juicy not for the welfare of the people.

“For a party that is committed to the people which I have agreed to lead, we must engage and engage and proattack whether they call me attack dog. I will rather be an attack dog than be a mushroom eater.”

sarrki:
High Chief wailer

You should rather be

You support too much impunity