The current crisis rocking the All
Progressives Congress, worsened on Saturday when senators loyal to
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, vowed to resist alleged moves by the
APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other party chieftains to
impose Senators Ahmad Lawan and George Akume as the Senate leader and
deputy, respectively.
Senators Ahmed Sani-Yerima and Danjuma
Goje, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, specifically declared that
the plans by the leadership of the APC to fill the remaining four
principal-officer positions with ranking members of the Senate Unity
Forum was totally unacceptable.
The Senators Unity Forum consists of loyalists of Lawan, who lost the Senate Presidency bid to Saraki.
The remaining leadership positions yet to
be filled in the senate include, Senate Leader; Deputy Senate Leader;
Senate Chief Whip; and Deputy Chief Whip.
Our
correspondent learnt that the APC leadership had allegedly been
perfecting an arrangement which would see Lawan emerging as the Senate
leader and Senator George Akume as his deputy.
The pro-Lawan group, which has the
backing of Tinubu, was also said to have picked Professor Olusola
Adeyeye (Osun) as the Senate Chief Whip, while Senator Abu Ibrahim from
Katsina State would be his deputy.
But Senator Sani-Yerima, a former Senate
Deputy Minority Leader, and Goje, a former governor of Gombe State,
insisted that the pro-Saraki Like Minds senators would resist imposition
of principal officers on the chamber.
Sani-Yerima maintained that the election
of the four principal officers was the exclusive right of the zonal
caucuses in the Senate.
He said the move by the APC leadership
was illegal, adding that “there can never be imposition of candidates on
the chamber by the party leadership”
He said, “As far as I’m concerned, the
party cannot impose leadership on us. It is unconstitutional and against
the rules of the Senate.
“The Senate Majority Leader; Deputy
Majority Leader; Senate Chief Whip; Deputy Chief Whip were elected by
their zonal caucuses in the Seventh Senate and the case of the Eighth
Senate cannot be different.
“The best thing the party can do, given
the circumstances, is to give us directives. Any attempt to impose will
be resisted and this will further divide the party.”
He also, insisted that the party must
follow due process, stressing that the Senate Presidency of Senator
Bukola Saraki was committed to protecting the interests of President
Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “We should follow due process.
Allowing the party to impose a leadership on the Senate President is to
make him to fail because he cannot be forced to work with his rivals.
“We are committed to giving President
Buhari protection in the Senate. What we are doing is definitely not
against the President.”
On his part, Goje warned the party
against imposition of candidates, adding that such a move would likely
further polarise the party.
He said, “By trying to impose another set
of leaders on the National Assembly is to cause further crisis in the
party. It will complicate matters and generate further crisis in the
National Assembly.”
Spokesperson for the pro-Lawan senators,
Kabir Marafa, described the argument of the pro-Saraki senators as
incorrect and argued that the choice of other principal officers who are
not elected on the floor of the Senate remained the sole business of
the party leadership.
He said, “It is not possible for the
executive of the party at the zonal levels to determine who will be made
the Senate Leader, the Deputy Senate Leader, Chief Whip, and the Deputy
Chief Whip. It has never happened and it won’t happen this time around.
“The party executive must determine all
the occupants of the four principal offices. The party will write the
Senate President. That is the tradition. It cannot be done at the zonal
level. We must follow due process.”
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