The power play in the Senate, over
who succeeds Senate President, Dr
Bukola Saraki, if he is convicted by
the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT),
yesterday, took a new twist when one
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Senators, Matthew Urhoghide declared
that the ruling All Progressives
Congress ( APC) will be taught a bitter
lesson.
Last week, a PDP Senator from Delta
State, Peter Nwaoboshi boasted that
opposition lawmakers were poised to
produce Saraki’s replacement in the
event he loses his case at the CCT.
But, Senator Urhoghide, who spoke
with newsmen in his office in Abuja
yesterday, said with the current
configuration of the Red Chamber, the
PDP stands a better chance of
producing Saraki’s replacement.
He alleged the APC was naive by
allowing the CCT trial “drag on for too
long without any intervention. “
“I see this thing as a misplaced
priority. I see it as something strange
in our political history.
It is a slight on the National Assembly.
It is a pity that 109 Senators are not
allowed to make their own free
choices. What is going on in the court
is just drama.
“We in the PDP will support him till
the end. Since he became the Senate
president, Saraki has been able to
dignify the Senate.
The turning point has been made. We
must be able to choose our presiding
officers without anybody interfering.
Anybody thinking that they will have a
chance of making a replacement choice
when they remove Saraki is joking.”
Explaining the current configuration
and how PDP may likely produce the
next Senate President, Urhoghide said:
“The PDP will decide who will be the
president.” At present, PDP has 46
seats while the APC leads with 57
members. Six seats are still up for
grabs. He continues: “Anybody they
are thinking of will not succeed. The
number has not waned. Saraki is
getting more support from Nigerians.
“The APC must not be unmindful of
the fact that when we made Saraki
Senate President, the PDP had the
chance of producing the president.
But, the APC is pushing its luck too
far…”
Meanwhile, chairman of the APC in
Kwara State, Ishola Balogun- Fulani
yesterday cleared the air over
allegation that Saraki drew his salary
from the state government even after
the expiration of his tenure in 2011 as
governor.
Balogun- Fulani told newsmen in
Ilorin, the state capital that Saraki
only drew the pension constitutionally
approved for him and his erstwhile
deputy. The APC chairman said as the
majority leader of the Sixth legislature,
he anchored the bill on the approval
of pension and gratuity for former
governors and their deputies in the
state.
He said the Bill went thorough
legislative debate and public hearing
before it was passed into law.
According to him, the initiation and
the eventual passage of the Bill
followed the recommendation of
Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal
Commission( RMFAC) on pension and
gratuity for former governors and
their deputies.
They are being naive. With the
configuration that we have, the
demographics are in our favour if we
decide to take over the Senate. We
need only five people to join us and
we will take over the Senate. APC
must be mindful of the dangers of
removing Saraki.
“Once PDP takes over, the president
will find it difficult to have anything
passed. They have brought a lot of
things that are not OK. But we just
overlook some things. Some of the
ministerial nominees that were
brought were not qualified, but we
allowed it to pass.”
Daily Sun
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