Barely 24 hours after the arraignment of
Senate President Bukola Saraki, some of his loyalists and Peoples
Democratic Party(PDP) senators are planning to fight back, according toThe Nation newspapers has learnt.
They are said to be working on a plan
which will lead to the election of a new Senate President from the
opposition party, should Saraki be convicted by the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT) – the “worst case scenario”.
Security agencies already know about the plot, it was learnt.
Besides, there were signs yesterday that
pro-Saraki senators may have “laid an ambush” for President Muhammadu
Buhari’s ministerial list, which is being expected at the Senate “any
moment from now”.
They may reject the list and all appointments made so far by the President in protest against Saraki’s trial, a source said.
But the Presidency is unruffled.
A source, who spoke in confidence, said
last night: “Some loyalists of Saraki and PDP senators have been meeting
on the options available and how to tackle President Muhammadu Buhari.
“At the meeting in Abuja, they resolved
to stand by Saraki but if he is convicted, they will make sure that the
next president of the Senate is from the PDP.
“They are really aggrieved and have
vowed to stop the candidate of the Unity Forum, Sen. Ahmed Lawan, from
emerging as Saraki’s successor.
“From the way PDP and its senators are
rallying around Saraki, no one needs a soothsayer to know that a bigger
conspiracy is in the offing.
“The PDP has not come to terms with the fact that it lost the last general elections.”
Part of the plot is to reject Buhari’s ministerial list and all appointments so far made by the President, it was learnt.
These appointments include those of the
Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC), Nigerian Customs Service(NCS) and Assets Management Company of
Nigeria (AMCON), among others.
The source went on: “They know that the
President will not present imposed candidates as ministerial nominees
and they are out for a pound of flesh as from September 29 because the
Code of Conduct Bureau( CCB) dragged the President of the Senate to the
Code of Conduct Tribunal(CCT)”
It was gathered that security agencies have smashed the plot.
A government source said: “The whole plot is aimed at frustrating the President and cause a political crisis in the country.
“They have this feeling that they must
pull down the house due to the arraignment of Saraki by CCT. In spite of
denial, they are pointing accusing fingers at the Presidency for
Saraki’s travails.”
Attempts to make loyalists of tHouse of
Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, to pitch their tent with Saraki
appear to have suffered a setback.
It was learnt that although Saraki backed Dogara to become the Speaker, the “template has changed”.
Dogara and his loyalists would prefer to
“facilitate reconciliation between the Presidency and the Senate
leadership than taking sides”.
A Dogara supporter said: “There is
pressure on our camp to take a hard line position on the trial of Saraki
but we will rather broker peace than compound the situation.
“We are not betraying anyone but we
believe the challenge at hand is resolvable. If we compound the
situation to team up against the Presidency, we will all fail.
“To take sides is to set the House on fire all over. This will not augur well for the new National Assembly.”
Sourced from http://thenationonlineng.net/sarakis-trial-pdp-plots-to-pick-senate-president/
No comments:
Post a Comment