Details of how Senate President
Bukola Saraki, fearing that he might be impeached by senators of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), plotted the blockade of the National Assembly on
Tuesday by officials of the Department of State Services have been released by
the presidency.
Lauretta Onochie, Special
Assistant to the President on New Media, posted on facebook that the blockade
of the National Assembly was masterminded by Saraki who, in the aftermath of his
defection to the PDP, feared that he might be impeached by the APC senators who
are in the majority in the senate.
Saraki was said to have called
his longtime friend in the presidency, Lawal Daura, the sacked boss of the DSS,
to send some of his men to the National Assembly to prevent APC legislators
from removing him.
At the same time, he sent a text
to PDP senators to arrive the complex by 7am on Tuesday to thwart the purported
plan by the APC senators to impeach him.
Meanwhile, there was no such plan
by the APC senators as none of them showed at the National Assembly complex on
the day. Only PDP senators mobilised by Saraki were present at the complex.
Thinking that the lawmakers
present were the ones planning to impeach Saraki, the DSS personnel prevented
them from going in.
Meanwhile, some senators and
aides of Saraki with cameras were allowed into the complex to post pictures and
broadcasts of DSS personnel preventing lawmakers from entering the National
Assembly.
Read more of Onochie’s posting
below:
Acting President Professor Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN), on Tuesday, gave orders for the immediate sack of the Director
General of the Department of State Security Service (DSS), Mr. Lawal Daura
following the invasion of the National Assembly by operatives of the DSS.
But contrary to the wildly held
belief that the sack of Daura was solely over the blockade of NASS yesterday,
there is more to it.
Senate President Bukola Saraki
had called for a Tuesday meeting of the leadership of the National Assembly to
discuss the request by the executive for the approval of virement for the
conduct of the 2019 general elections and consideration of the 2018 Supplementary
Bill.
With the defection of Senate
President Bukola Saraki from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the
opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the call for his resignation and
call by the presidency that the National Assembly be reconvened created
suspicions all over the air.
The suspicion was that, APC
senators will use the opportunity of the meeting called by Senator Saraki to
reconvene the Senate and carry out the immediate impeachment of the Senate
President. This suspicion is without consideration to the fact that the APC now
has a simple majority.
Saraki, not sure how events of
that day will plan out, plotted to be a step ahead of whatever plans the APC
senators might be putting together and so reportedly enlisted the help of HIS
FRIEND at the DSS, Lawal Daura
The fear was that with the
possible reconvening of the Senate, APC senators will find their way to the
National Assembly and carry out the rumoured impeachment plot of the Senate
President.
So, PDP senators were quickly
alerted and asked to report to the National Assembly as early as possible on
Tuesday so as to be able to check mate whatever the APC senators may have
planned for the day.
While the PDP Senators will be
there on one hand, DSS agents will also be drafted to ensure that nobody gained
access to the National Assembly complex so that the chance to reconvene does
not even occur.
To do this, the sacked DSS DG,
Lawal Daura sources said, provided 40 DSS operatives to carry out the blockade
at the National Assembly.
The order was not to allow any
legislator, whether APC or PDP access into the National Assembly, but the real
target was APC senators.
Incidentally, no APC senators
showed up at the National Assembly since they were on recess and the meeting
called by the Senate President was that of the leadership, scheduled for 12
noon while the text for the drama invited PDP lawmakers and the media said 7am.
Consequently, PDP senators
started arriving the National Assembly as early as 7am as directed and they met
the resistance of the DSS who had orders not to let anyone in.
Suffice it to add that some
persons including some aides of the Senate President were also already
stationed at the National Assembly in readiness to dish out messages and videos
of the blockade that PDP senators were denied access into the complex.
Working according to plan, the
DSS prevented PDP senators from gaining access into NASS premises, while the
men stationed to video began sending messages across social media platforms
reporting the event.
The videos soon got to the
mainstream media who also began to report the blockade with some of them using
the videos sent my the aide of the Senate President.
With the suspicion that the plot
was to impeach the Senate President, Senator Ben Bruce was quick to go on air
to say that APC senators were allowed entry into the NASS complex through an
alternate gate and are gathering at the chambers. It turned out to be false.
At the same time senator Ben
Bruce alleged that APC senators are already in the chamber, aides to the Senate
president were spreading messages in the social media that the same APC
senators are meeting inside Sheraton Hotels to impeach Saraki.
Many of those who had earlier
believed that APC senators were already on the chamber as alleged by Senator
Ben Bruce began to doubt the whole thing. But the question that remained on the
lips of many was, “What was the DSS doing at the National Assembly preventing
lawmakers from gaining access and who sent them on that mission?”
Sources revealed that they were
on a mission particularly to prevent what was rumoured and suspected to be
plans by APC senators to reconvene and impeach Senate President Bukola Saraki
and they were sent by the sacked DG, Lawal Daura, Saraki’s ally.
The National Intelligence Agency
(NIA) according to sources was detailed to track Daura’s move especially his
telephone conversation with Saraki. The outcome of the NIA findings sources said
was quickly communicated to President Buhari, who is on a 10 day working
holiday in London, following which approval for the sack of Daura was reached.
While Daura’s sack may have
happened nonetheless, the blockade of the National Assembly yesterday resulted
in the quick dispensation of his sack. Daura’s sack and reported arrest by
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is as a result of the
findings on him by the NIA.
Sources said the government is
desirous of ensuring that himself and all others involved in the act are
punished
Yes they the culprits MUST be punish.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhom shall we believe?
ReplyDeletePoliticians are known to lie glibly! Both sides presenting "alternative truths"!!! Please do not believe either of them.
ReplyDeleteLauretta onochie, so women also take tramadol... That's shocking oo.. .
ReplyDelete