Senators of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Wednesday, threatened a showdown with their colleagues
of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, over the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki.
They warned the APC that “they
will meet a match in those of us in PDP if they try to foment trouble in the
Senate whenever we resume.
“They have made many attempts to
subvert this Senate, including stealing of our mace, brutalizing of members of
staff of the Senate, invasion of the Senate complex with hooded and masked
security agents, refusal to sign important bills, using security agents and
anti-corruption agencies to intimidate members and the leadership as well as
initiating malicious prosecution against members.”
This came in a statement jointly
made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy,
Senator Isah Hamma Misau and his counterpart in the Committee on Banking,
Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim.
The duo affirmed that the manner
in which the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) left all issues
which should get serious attention from the ruling party and focused on
attacking Saraki had made the Senate President the issue in Nigerian politics.
The lawmakers also queried
whether the APC was being fair to Nigeria by focusing on one individual and
making him the subject of all discussions instead of telling Nigerians what the
party had done in the last 38 months that it had been in power.
Part of the statement read: “This
is the first time in the history of the country that the ruling party will
leave the issue of its achievements and start blaming its failure on just one
individual, no matter who the individual is. It is also the first time a ruling
party will plan to hoodwink Nigerians by saying everything wrong under its
watch is due to the action and inaction of one man.
“APC has devoted all the time and
knowledge of their national chairman, national leader, publicity Secretary,
four senators and two presidential aides to the daily abuse of Saraki, such
that it appears as if Saraki is the only politician in Nigeria today. They have
made Saraki the issue in Nigerian politics today.
“If these individuals devote the energy
they are exerting on Saraki to finding solutions to the security problem,
economic crisis and collapse of infrastructure, among them, they will come out
with some action plan, except they are only skillful in mischief making.
“We can see through this plot.
The plan is to get Saraki so engrossed in the battle for survival in the Senate
and the pummeling from the APC cabal such that he will have no time to pursue
his aspiration for 2019. However, this is a short time strategy. It will not
work. That is why the man remains unfazed by the antics.
“We are surprised that all the
decisions that the Senate took as an institution is now blamed on Saraki.
“Are we also going to give the
credit of all the achievements of the Senate to Saraki as well? The laws that
have been signed by the President and which led to the World Bank improving the
rating of Nigeria in the Ease of Doing Business Report, the Petroleum Industry
Governance Bills which broke the jinx of over 14 years on the law, the
progressive constitution amendment bills, the five anti-corruption laws, and
many others, as well as the fact that the 8th Senate has done better than the
previous ones in terms of number of bills passed, the petitions successfully
treated and the various interventions: will all these be credited to Saraki and
not the entire Senate?
“You blame a man for what an
institution lawfully did. Is this not dishonest? Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan who
moved the motion for our adjournment till September 25 and the Minority Leader,
Senator Godswill Akpabio who seconded the motion are in APC, yet they kept
quiet when all the falsehood are being peddled now that Saraki “unilaterally
and hurriedly adjourn the Senate.
“These Senators kept quiet about
their roles simply because they want to be good boys. When the motion for
adjournment was carried by voice vote, no dissenting voice was heard.
“Many people who are
grandstanding now do not care how history will record their roles. How can
those who play key roles in the Senate now turn round and be blaming everything
on one man? Is Saraki now a superman?
“Is he not just one Senator like
each and every one of us? Let us play back all the tape records of the Senate
proceedings. Which of the decisions that are now being criticized did the APC
pretenders in the Senate oppose? Of the ten- man Senate leadership, five of
them are in APC. Those who enjoy privileges in the Senate now look the other
way when the Presidency is complaining.
“We abide by the principle of
collective responsibility. This Eighth Senate under Saraki has done well. It
has set a standard that the legislature should not be an appendage of the
executive. It is an independent arm of government. Both arms need to extend the
hands of fellowship to each other and the duty to work for co-operation does
not lie on just one of them”.
Hmmm, some one who cannot able to go to his constituency and celebrate his defection to PDP, just remained here at ABUJA making mouth. I will see how some people will go to their constituency and campaign
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