From Fatima Bukar,Abuja.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, on Wednesday asked Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to resign from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in their own interest.
Ibrahim, a strong ally of President Muhammadu Buhari in the upper chamber, said that the failure of Saraki and Dogara to leave the party would lead to their immediate expulsion.
The Senator who represents Katsina South Senatorial District also said that they have it on good authority that the plot to impeach President Buhari would have commenced today (Thursday).
Ibrahim who appeared to have spoken the minds of other APC senators said that developments in and around the National Assembly have clearly shown that Saraki and Dogara could no longer be trusted in the fold of APC members.
The lawmaker, also chairman of Buhari Support Group, spoke in Abuja.
Speaking specifically about the defection of 13 senators and 37 House of Representative members from the APC, Ibrahim said that the defections were not only expected but did not come to him as a shock.
He said that he made the calculation and came to the conclusion that at least 13 senators will leave the APC.
He noted that the only defection he did not anticipate was the Sokoto State senator, Abdullahi Danbaba.
He said, “I know that those who take Saraki like god will go. This is because wherever Saraki goes they will go. But the mistake they have made is to realize that politics is local.
“Nobody will say Isa Misau and Suleiman Nazif (two Bauchi State senators) were voted because of Saraki. They were voted because of Buhari. They will lose their seats. Saraki will not save them. They can’t even go to their constituencies.”
On the speculation that some APC senators were quartered in a high profile hotel in Abuja on the night preceding Tuesdays Senate plenary to plot change of leadership in the Senate, Ibrahim said he was not quartered anywhere.
He said, “I slept in my house. I was here in my office and left by 2pm. I was not quartered anywhere.”
He was categorical that the alleged plot to impeach President Buhari “would have started on Thursday” (today)
He said, “The impeachment of the president should have started Thursday. Everybody was planning. We know they were planning.
“They realized and learnt that we know. They knew that if they had remained up till today (Wednesday) a lot of things would have happened.
“We were planning. This is the National Assembly the only place political parties meet. We were planning.
“Saraki and Dogara should resign today or the APC should send them away. They are no longer APC members.
“The only reason why Saraki and Dogara have not left the APC is that they know that if they leave they will lose their seats. But we will force them to leave.
‘Left to me, I will recommend to APC to expel them. They are no longer needed in the party. We will be cured of cancer if they leave.
“Me as Abu Ibrahim, I am asking Saraki and Dogara to leave APC today. I will meet Oshiomhole (Adams) to expel them. Let them leave APC, Saraki and Dogara should leave APC today.”
Ibrahim insisted that the departure of Saraki and Dogara will not affect the electoral chances of APC.
He noted that if Saraki leaves APC, the party may lose Kwara and Kogi States and no more.
He continued, “My position is that Saraki and Dogara should leave the APC. We can no longer trust or discuss APC issues with them again. We cannot afford to continue to habour moles in our mist.
“Let people be courageous enough and be honest to themselves. We will not miss them”.
Meanwhile, the polity is rife with speculations that President Buhari, APC and its governors may offer Saraki a juicy offer to keep him in the ruling party . This is the aftermath of the closed-door meeting Buhari earlier held with Saraki, Osinbajo and others .
A source who spoke in confidence listed about six offers the party may offer Saraki to avoid his defection to PDP There were strong speculations that President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and governors are considering juicy offers for Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, to prevent his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Neptune Prime gathers that some prominent leaders of the party, especially the coordinator of the reconciliation initiative, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, might be involved in the negotiation with Saraki. Tinubu was said to have been briefed about President Buhari’s interaction with Saraki and others but Saraki, who bowed well for the president after a meeting at the Presidential Villa, was frank in expressing his mind.
He allegedly said he felt humiliated by the party he co-founded and the government he jointly put in place with others. He was reportedly solemn in expressing his disappointment to the president and some APC governors.
It is said that President Buhari and some APC governors met with the Senate President as a follow-up to the talks with New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) caucus of APC being coordinated in the past few months by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
It was gathered that most APC leaders, governors and other members were unhappy that the party was on the verge of losing Saraki to PDP. They believed that the defection of such a
“political heavyweight” to the opposition might affect cohesion in APC for the 2019 poll.
The consequences of a depleted APC allegedly impelled some governors and party leaders to broker understanding between the President and Saraki. A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “At least, for the first time, there was a frank session between the president and Saraki.
“He expressed disappointment with his humiliation by the government he fought hard to put in place. “We were all sober while he relived his travails because none of us would pray to be in such a situation.
“We understood with him but we felt it was time to forgive and forget in order to move forward. “As part of preventing Saraki’s defection, we may offer him juicy terms including:
1.” Automatic return as the president of the Senate in 2019 ”
2″. More consultation and inclusiveness in key decisions henceforth ”
3.” Mutual Executive-Legislature relationship ”
4.” Revisiting all issues raised by nPDP Caucus which formed the basis of talks in the past few months ”
5. “Reconciling with all aggrieved leaders of nPDP ”
6. “Avoiding a repeat of past mistakes which led to his humiliation. “
We also appeal to Saraki to shelve moves to defect to PDP or any other party. We agreed that he has a better stake in APC than any other party.” Asked if Saraki made any commitment, the source added: “There was none yet, but the atmosphere was cordial and hopeful.
“After the meeting, he even bowed well to the president. “The session was the climax of talks in the past few months. As one of our leaders, we leave the final decision to Saraki to take. “But one thing was clear from Saraki: he will want all commitments put into writing and documented in case of any breach in the future.
“To some of us who have been wooing him, such a demand is in order. It is a case of once bitten, twice shy.” Responding to a question, the source said: “The final stage of talks with Saraki will still involve some of our leaders, like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is coordinating the reconciliation in the party. “In fact, Tinubu has been briefed on the outcome of the meeting at the Villa and why he has to play a key role too.” Some of the major complaints on nPDP are grudges on the conduct of state congresses, lack of significant patronage and appointments to executive positions, harassment and intimidation, etc.
A senator in anti-Saraki camp who asked not to be named, says that the plot against the Senate president failed because of too much hypocrisy and selfishness – A report says Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara decided to remain in APC to bid for time Reports have emerged on how an alleged plan by a group of All Progressives Congress (APC) senators to remove Bukola Saraki from his office as Senate president failed.
Faced with the looming defection of lawmakers from the APC, some loyalist in party allegedly hatched a plan to create vacancy in the presiding officer post by taking out the two presiding officers from the Senate on the same day.
In carrying out the plan, the police allegedly kept silent on its investigation of the Offa incident for over a month, but later mobilised to revisit the Offa robbery matter by inviting Saraki and allegedly planned to detain him pending the execution of the take-over plot at the Senate.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was also supposed to arrest the deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, thereby leaving the Senate without a presiding officer. In the absence of the two presiding officer, sources claimed the plotters led by the Senate majority leader, Ahmed Lawan, had planned to use the vacuum created to invoke the Senate rules to appoint Senate president pro-tempo, paving the way for the removal of the two principal officers.
A senator in the anti-Saraki camp who asked not to be named said that part of the reason the plan failed was because of the inability of the plotters to select who would succeed Saraki in the event the plot succeeded.“There is too much hypocrisy and selfishness. Those who planned it wanted to be the sole beneficiaries of the leadership change,” the senator said. Sources claimed Senator Lawan, who was leading the plot, and Ali Ndume, a former Senate leader who was removed from his post and suspended, were tipped to replace the Senate president had the plan succeeded.
“Some of us told them that it would be illogical and it amounted to insensitivity to take the Senate president slot to the North-east, the same zone as the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” another APC aware of the alleged plot explained “And since the speaker Yakubu Dogara is very strong at the House of Representatives and there is nothing we could do about him, the best thing was to keep the Senate President position in the North-Central
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