The clock is gradually ticking against the embattled president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki as some of his loyalists cutting across the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
have begun withdrawing their support for him for the fear of being perceived by the public as advocates of lawlessness and impunity.
It was also learnt that the senators are also of the view that as distinguished lawmakers elected to represent their senatorial districts, their integrity, national interest and strict adherence to the provisions of the statue books must be paramount and above any personal interest.
It would be recalled that Saraki is currently facing charges of false declaration of assets amongst other charges and was docked by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, becoming the first sitting presiding officer in the history of the National Assembly to stand trial by a competent court.
All former presiding officers of the National Assembly, who were faced with similar charges, first resigned their positions in order to protect the integrity and sanctity of the highest lawmaking body in the country, and biggest in Africa.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the ranks of the ‘Like Minds Senators’, a group of senators that worked for the emergence of Saraki as President of Senate, has come falling naturally, a fall anchored on the need to defend and protect their individual names as well as the institution of National Assembly, “not the interest of Saraki or any other individual”, our source declared.
Our source, an APC member and Senator from one of the North Central state, who preferred anonymity, in view of the critical role he played in Saraki’s emergence, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that, “I am personally not surprised at what is happening because I knew that Saraki will have problems but I was not expecting it soon. Secondly, I did not honestly look in the direction of any cases of alleged corruption when I was supporting him.
“My fear was how he will manage his colleagues because of his seeming and perceived arrogance, because I remember that the President did say he will work with anybody, provided the person is not corrupt. So I became involved in his project because I believed he could use his experience and complement the president, particularly in the fight against corruption. But seriously, I am ashamed of myself to see these charges, yes it is an allegation but you can see that they are solid and appear true as far as a layman can see. And then his efforts to stop that process were just admittance of guilt as far as I’m concerned.”
Continuing, the Senator said, “I don’t see myself being viewed on national television defending that kind of thing. What will my constituents think about me? I cannot do that so I believe he should just step aside and clear his name, which is the most honourable thing to do. You journalists have put the matter out in the public and the public reaction is not favourable and if we are not careful, we will be overwhelmed by the public and further lose respect in the eyes of the public.
“I’m not alone, many will back out and many have spoken to me about their displeasure. Maybe we should support Senator George Akume or Barnabas Gemade for the position. Gemade for instance is a perfect choice if you ask me.”
On the possibility of the emergence of a Senate president from the PDP, the source said, “that cannot happen, it is not possible. This time, you will see that we have a president who will be interested and will be right, it was because he refused to intervene that it led to emergence of Saraki and even Ekweremadu. That will not happen again I assure you. PDP senators cannot emerge Senate President, no way,” he said.
Meanwhile, following the arraignment of Saraki before the CCT last week, Senators elected on the platform of the opposition PDP appear to have perfected plans to replace him with one of their own in case of his eventual removal from office.
An impeccable source within the PDP last night confided in LEADERSHIP Sunday that the permutation of the PDP lawmakers is that if the governing APC of which Saraki is a member, uses the court or other means to remove him, the PDP should reach out to the Senate President’s core supporters in the APC, who are already endangered and aggrieved with the way and manner Saraki was last week humiliated by being dragged to the tribunal without previous invitation.
He stated that if this is achieved, the PDP will then try to get the needed number to make the balance and present either former Senate President David Mark or the incumbent Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, as new Senate President.
Indications at the weekend revealed that PDP senators have also realised that they need to stay together as a united team to be able to assert themselves and get what they need, hence their recent meetings in different parts of Abuja to be able to present a common front when the need arises.
The source added that “one of the problems Buhari and others have with Saraki is the emergence of Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President and that if Saraki is removed, the APC will not be satisfied until Ekweremadu is also removed. So, if it is David Mark that emerges, the job is easier. He is still respected among ranking Senators.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari in his ongoing visit to New York for the UN General Assembly got the clear impression that the international community is not seeing Saraki’s trial as an anti-corruption issue.
A US diplomat was said to have told members of the Nigerian delegation that the US respects separation of powers as an inherent part of its presidential system of government and that politicizing the campaign against corruption will not help Nigeria.
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