The Senators representing Bauchi
Central and Kwara South respectively, Isa Hama Misau and Rafiu Ibrahim, have
warned their counterpart from Katsina South, Abu Ibrahim “and his fellow
travellers in the All Progressives Congress (APC)” against fomenting any trouble
when the Nigerian Senate resumes on September 25.
They declared that Senate
President Bukola Saraki will never resign from the position despite the calls
from some quarters.
Saraki recently returned to the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari
have been asking him to resign.
Misau and Ibrahim, in a statement
jointly signed on Saturday in reaction to a comment by Katsina Senator Abu Ibrahim,
said he and his colleagues will meet their match if they tried anything illegal
even with all the deployment of security forces which they might have been
assured of by the executive arm of government.
The statement reads, “It is
obvious from the statements of Abu Ibrahim that he and his cohorts are not
democrats. They do not believe in the rule of law, the provisions of the
constitution, the standing order of the Senate, parliamentary procedure and the
due process.
“How will a supposed democrat be
threatening disruption of peace in the parliament because his party lost
members and lost its majority status? His statements showed why one of them led
thugs to disrupt the proceeding of the Senate, steal the mace, the symbol of
authority of the legislature, and yet there is no consequence.
“Both the mastermind and his
thugs have been protected from being prosecuted. Now, Abu Ibrahim has given us
an insight into what they are planning and we will be ready for them. He has
also shown an indication of how he, as the chairman of the Police Affairs
Committee, has been misusing the police against other Senators.
“APC should note that they are
now the minority party. PDP has more members. When we resume, if they push us,
we will move for a head count of members and change some of our principal
officers to reflect party strength. Today, by the list paraded by APC
themselves, they have only 48 Senators and PDP has 54, APGA has 2 and ADC has
2. There are two vacancies. That is the distribution in the Senate. Let them
continue to deceive themselves.
“We will use our strength to
defend the position of the present leadership of the Senate under Dr. Saraki
and Senator Ike Ekweremadu. We will defend democracy and rule of law against
the pretenders. We will show that every Senator represent different
constituencies in our country.
“Our colleague from Katsina State
has equally demonstrated that even though he has spent four terms in the
legislature, he has not imbibed parliamentary ethos. Even his knowledge of the
provisions of the law and the Senate rules is suspect.
“That is why he misrepresented
the provisions of Rule 12 order 1, 2 and 3 of the Senate about the process of
reconvening the Senate after it properly adjourned. By the provision, without
all the leaders of the four parties initiating the reconvening of the Senate
before the adjourned date, nothing can legally happen. Also without the consent
of the Senate President, nothing can happen.
“We urge him and his colleagues
to know that if they tried anything illegal and indecent, we will resist it
through legal means. They saw an instance with the way our colleagues in the
House of Representatives quickly gathered to foil their failed coup early this
week.
“Abu Ibrahim and his cohorts have
shown that they are desperate to win the 2019 elections at all cost by all
means. We are surprised that this defection is making APC so uncomfortable that
they are ready to bring the country down because some Senators left their
party.
“We gave them all the
opportunities to make amends from their destructive, non-inclusive and
dictatorial ways. They did not take the chances and were behaving as if nobody
matters. They are running a government by cabals, serving selfish interests and
forgetting all the promises the party made to the people before being elected
into office.
“The APC government has always
demonstrated serious contempt for the legislature. That is why they have sent
only a paltry 11 executive bills to the National Assembly in 38 months despite
their promise of reform in various sectors of the country, The APC government
came in 2015 and the first proposal they put forward was to have emergency
powers in a democracy. Thank God we did not fall for their antics.
“We call on all Nigerians and the
international community to take note of the threat by Abu Ibrahim and know that
if there is any illegal move to reconvene the Senate or there is breakdown of
law and order in the Senate, the man has leaked their plan.”
I am sure hundred percent someone cannot able to go to his constituency and spent three days moving around from one local government to another, surely they will show him how they love him
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