*Pro-Buhari Senators; Ali Ndume, Remi Tinubu, Ahmed Lawan, Omo-Agege, Adeyeye, Abdullahi Adamu, 54 others to get N50m each – Report
…as North Central stakeholders kick
*Senate President visits sergeant-at-arms injured by ‘thugs’
By Mumini AbdulKareem
Plot to impeach the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki has reportedly reached an all-time high.
The plan is said to be orchestrated by some prominent senators in the upper chamber in collaboration with some high ranking government officials who perceived the Senate President as a threat to President Buhari’s re-election bid.
Listed in the grand scheme which is estimated to gulp N3billion for 60 senators are the Director-General of the Directorate of State Security, Mamman Daura, Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru,
The sum of N50million has been reportedly earmarked for each of the senators enlisted for ‘the impeachment project’.
According to an online news medium, LeadersNG, quoting a top source from the All Progressives Congress (APC), prominent senators in discussion with the officials of the executive on the issue include; Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, Senate Chief Whip, Olusola Adeyeye, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, former Senate leader, Ali Ndume and the currently suspended Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege amongst others.
The report said the plot was reportedly hatched when Abdullahi Adamu approached Baru after consultations with Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari, after the condolence visit paid to families of Senator Mustapha Bukar in Daura where President Buhari was also in attendance.
The Pro-Buhari senators have reportedly received part-funding from Baru to lobby about 60 senators for this purpose, the newspaper further revealed, adding that the plotters had met the NNPC boss over the project on two different locations.
The newspaper further claimed close to N2 billion has been released to the Senators through Abdullahi Adamu who alongside others present in Daura pledged their allegiance and solidarity to President Buhari during the visit on the latter’s second term bid.
The plot to impeach Saraki is not unconnected to the election time table rescheduling which has been widely perceived by Pro-Buhari senators as the Senate President’s attempt to resist the second term bid of President Buhari.
“The relationship between the President and the Senate President has been clouted with political machinations from both sides attempting to reduce the powers of the other,” the newspaper added.
It said, “Our source cannot confirm as at the time of this report if President Buhari sanctioned or is aware of the impeachment plot against Saraki or if it is wholly sponsored by Kanti Baru, Abba Kyari and Mamman Daura.
It said Senator Ali Ndume; the Borno South Senator whose membership of the house has been saddled with controversies is being suggested to replace Saraki after the impeachment has been carried out and that more senators are being approached on a daily basis over the plot “which is inevitable”.
LeadersNG also reported that a close aide to one of the Pro-Buhari Senators confirmed the impeachment plot adding that they have the full backing of the National Security Adviser, DG of SSS, and the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, the North-Central Stakeholders Forum has accused the Federal Government of persecuting senators supporting the Senate President, warning that unless this was discontinued, it may trigger a chain of reactions that could disintegrate the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Insisting that the invasion of the Senate by hoodlums, allegedly led by suspended Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, last week, was part of the grand plan to intimidate and discredit Saraki, the group condemned the attack on the upper chamber and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the culprits.
ThisDay newspaper quoted the statement of the group at the weekend in Abuja as the National Chairman, Adamu Aliyu, and the National Secretary, Paul Nsong condemned the FG position.
“We condemn in an unequivocal term, the assault and desecration of the hallow chambers of the Nigerian Senate by hired hoodlums, that resulted in the stealing of the mace, the symbol of authority of the Senate”, the paper quoted.
It said the invasion was intended to discredit Saraki and the entire leadership of the 8th Senate, noting that the sponsors of the attack never hid their hatred for the Senate President from the moment he mounted the saddle against their wishes.
The forum said as part of efforts to muzzle Saraki, they had subjected him to all forms of harassments, including putting him on trial on trumped up charges.
“We are not unmindful of the humiliation of Dr. Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal all in the bid to discredit, intimidate him and eventually isolate him and have his followers abandon and consequently leave him in the cold,” it said.
To weaken the Senate President, the group said, government had resorted to using its anti-corruption agencies to harass his supporters in the upper chambers.
It expressed worry that this was happening towards the 2019 general elections and warned that its members from all the states in the North-central zone of the country would resist the intimidation of Saraki by the powers that be.
Warning the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to be mindful of the implication of its action for the unity of the APC, it referred to the pre-2015 general election experience of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying it was the attempt to muzzle internal opposition that split it and eventual led to its loss of power.
Senators listed by LeadersNG that have already been spoken to by the engineers of the plot
AHMAD ABUBAKAR
BINTA GARBA
NYAKO ABDUL-AZIZ
MALAM WAKILI
SULEIMAN NAZIF
ISAH MISAU
BARNABAS GEMADE
GEORGE AKUME
ABUBAKAR KYARI
BABA GARBA
NAFADA BAYERO
JOSHUA MOLJOBOK
MOHAMMED GOJE
BENJAMIN UWAJUMOGU
MOHAMMED SABO
MUHAMMAD SHITU
ABDULLAHI GUMEL
JIBRIN BARAU
KABIRU GAYA
MUSTAPHA BUKAR
BALA NAALLAH
YAHAYA ABDULLAHI
MUHAMMAD ADAMU
ATAI USMAN
OLUREMI TINUBU
OLAMILEKAN ADEOLA
BAREEHU ASHAFA
ABDULLAHI ADAMU
DAVID UMARU
SANI MOHAMMED
ALIYU ABDULLAHI
JOSEPH DADA
OLANREWAJU TEJUOSO
OMOTAYO DONALD
ROBERT BOROFFICE
OLUSOLA ADEYEYE
OMOWORARE BABAJIDE
MONSURAT SUNMONU
ABDULFATAI BUHARI
RILWAN AKANBI
ANDREW UCHENDU
IBRAHIM GOBIR
ABDULLAHI IBRAHIM
ALIYU WAMAKKO
AHMAD LAWAN
BUKAR IBRAHIM
TIJJANI KAURA
KABIR GARBA
…Senate President visits sergeant-at-arms injured by ‘thugs’
The Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, yesterday, visited a female Sergeant-At-Arms, Mrs. Sandra Davou who was injured last Wednesday as she and her colleagues struggled to stop thugs who invaded the Senate and stole its mace.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, Mrs. Davou who lives in Bwari Area Council of Abuja, is presently recuperating after she was treated and discharged from the hospital.
Saraki who was accompanied on the visit by his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senator Isa Hamma Misau and Senator Baba Kaka Garbai, commended Mrs. Davou and her colleagues who had put up a spirited fight to prevent the invaders from gaining access to the Senate Chambers.
He also commended his deputy, Ekweremadu and all his colleagues who successfully took charge and safeguarded the National Assembly and the nation’s democracy.
He said that the visit was meant to thank and show appreciation to Mrs Davou and her colleagues for their hard work, commitment and courage.
Answering questions from reporters during the visit, Saraki who was away in Washington on official assignment at the time the incident occurred, said: “I was told that few of our staff were injured during the invasion of the Senate last Wednesday, including Mrs. Sandra, who is very committed and hardworking.
“She was taken to the hospital and discharged and we felt that for the sacrifice they made by putting their lives at stake beyond the call of duty for our democracy, we have to come and appreciate her.
“I keep on emphasizing that what really defines a democratic nation is the parliament and the moment the parliament is not there, democracy does not exist.
“So what she and her colleagues have done, fills us all with gratitude and therefore we have come here to thank her and show that we really appreciate what she and her colleagues did,” he stated.
Saraki described last Wednesday, the day of the invasion, as a “sad day” and “disgrace” for the nation’s democracy and called for unity and firmness to eliminate all such undemocratic tendencies.
“My colleagues and I have said that the day of the unfortunate invasion was a sad day for democracy. It was a disgrace to our country at large and that such things should not be associated with our country. We must ensure we stand firm as a country to nip all those kind of undemocratic acts that exist in the bud,” Saraki said.
