R-L, Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
*Lawan's group vows to fight on, may head to court.
*Na’Abba, others urge reconciliation with
Dogara.
*Former Kwara gov says he remains APC member.
*PDP insists ruling party is not ready for governance.
THE INSIDE STORY (RLB)
Olusegun Adeniyi, Chuks Okocha, Omololu Ogunmade, Muhammad Bello in Abuja and
Anayo Okoli in Lagos.
More facts have emerged on what transpired
on the eve of the National Assembly polls,
which threw up Senator Bukola Saraki as the
Senate president, Senator Ike Eweremadu as
his deputy, Hon. Yakubu Dogara as the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and
Hon. Suleiman Yusuf Lasun as the deputy
speaker.
Saraki, Dogara, Ekweremadu and Lasun had
beaten all the anointed candidates of the ruling
All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday,
in a high-stakes contest that was preceded by
political horse-trading, deception and
subterfuge on both sides of the divide.
Based on first hand accounts by some of the
dramatis personae involved in the late night
meetings and machinations before the
inauguration of the National Assembly,
THISDAY gathered, was that APC chieftains
made the mistake of using the police to shut
down the National Assembly as early as 5 am
on Tuesday to prevent members from gaining
entry into the complex and delaying the
legislature’s inauguration by an hour or two.
The plan by the ruling party, according to a
source, was to use President Muhammadu
Buhari’s name to convene a meeting at 9am
at the International Conference Centre (ICC),
Abuja, of all APC legislators-elect.
The intention was for the party’s leaders to
prevail on Saraki and Dogara to step down for
Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi
Gbajabiamila, the favoured candidates of the
party for Senate presidency and the post of
speaker, respectively.
But this turned out to be a major mistake on
the part of APC, as it was not the police it
needed to delay proceedings at the National
Assembly, but the Clerk of the National
Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, as by
virtue of his office, it was he who had been
notified in writing by Buhari of the legislature’s
inauguration by 10 am on Tuesday.
The source said that without another letter or
notification by the president to the clerk
informing him that the time of the inauguration
had been shifted by a few hours, he had no
option than to stick to the original time of 10
am.
According to a source, “To imagine that the
person you need to truncate a legally
convened legislative session is the police
rather than the Clerk of the National Assembly
was naive.”
However, it was what transpired on Monday
night during a meeting held by senators
elected on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and members of the
National Working Committee (NWC) of the
opposition party at the residence of the former
Senate President, David Mark, that sounded
the death knell on APC’s plan for the federal
legislature.
Giving details of what transpired, a PDP
senator, who was in attendance, said: “The
night before the election, 47 PDP senators
had gathered at the Apo Legislative Quarters
residence of the immediate past Senate
President David Mark to present to him three
options.
“Option one: Exploit the division within the
ranks of the APC by sponsoring Mark to
contest for the office of Senate president. The
argument was that by the Senate rule, all that
a winner needed was a simple majority and
since neither of the two APC contenders –
Lawan and Saraki – would likely step down for
the other, Mark would get more votes.
“The reasoning was that once that happened,
Mark could take the gavel. The only thing the
APC could do in such situation would be to go
to court. But Mark declined the offer.
“Option two: Conduct a poll among
themselves (the PDP senators in attendance)
on who between the two APC candidates
(Lawan and Saraki) they should back but with
the proviso that PDP would produce the
Deputy Senate President. That was something
they were not
prepared to negotiate.
“Option three: Nominate another senator in
APC and give him their bloc vote in what
would amount to divide and rule.”
He said since everyone in attendance zeroed in
on the second option, a disagreement arose
on which of the two senators the PDP should
support.
“But with 32 out of the 49 PDP senators
coming from the South-east and South-south,
there were strong sentiments expressed at the
meeting that Lawan, most favoured by Mark,
holds extreme views when it comes to the
issue of North and South.
“He is, in fact, seen as a northern irredentist.
From the PIB debate to confirmation of
appointments, to the state of emergency and
insurgency debates, Lawan employs hurtful,
arrogant, and clearly divisive dictions,” said
the returning senator. Based on this argument,
this gave Saraki a huge advantage.
In order to reach an accord on who to back,
the PDP senators then decided to conduct a
poll, THISDAY was informed.
However, the major snag with Saraki,
THISDAY learnt, was that there was no love
lost between the former Kwara governor and
Mark, who considered him arrogant and
disrespectful.
Another bone of contention was that
supporting Saraki by PDP would have
amounted to rewarding bad behaviour since
he was one of the people who brought the
party down.
However, the senator said Ekweremadu made
a strong case for Saraki, arguing that he was
more cosmopolitan and nationalistic in his
approach to issues.
“A PDP senator also told Mark that even if
Saraki was a prodigal son, he was at least
once a member of the family, hence it would
be easier to work with him than with Lawan
who had never been a member of PDP in 16
years of his membership of the National
Assembly – eight years in the House and eight
in the Senate,” said the senator.
“So even before the PDP senators began to
cast their mock ballots, it had been concluded
that with Lawan being the choice of the APC,
it was more pragmatic to go with Saraki who
had been sounded out and had agreed to run
with a PDP senator for the office of Deputy
Senate President.
“The choice of Ekweremadu was also strategic
because, being very close to Mark, that
helped to douse whatever ill-feeling the former
Senate president may habour against Saraki,”
the senator said.
He added that many at the meeting were also
galvanised by a strong anti-Bola Tinubu
sentiment, as many of the senators had
argued that a vote for Lawan would be a vote
for the APC National Leader.
He said: “It was the same sentiment that was
employed against Gbajabiamila in the House of
Representatives,” he explained.
With the mock poll conducted among the PDP
senators while Mark and Ekweremadu
abstained, Saraki polled 28 votes and Lawan
secured 17 votes.
“By this time, the acting PDP National
Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus and Metuh,
who were practically in Mark’s house
throughout Monday, had entered the fray to
seal the decision of the senators as that of the
party. And Saraki was brought into the
meeting where he agreed to offer the position
of Deputy Senate President to the PDP,
specifically to Ekweremadu,” he added.
Another source said that it was the outcome of
the PDP meeting and its announcement in the
wee hours of Tuesday morning enjoining its
members in the National Assembly to vote en
masse for Saraki and Dogara that prompted
the APC to convene a meeting at the ICC on
Tuesday.
“The name of the president was used to
convene the meeting, even though nobody
can say with any degree of certainty that he
gave such directive, especially considering
that he only arrived the country from Germany
at about 2 that morning,” the source said.
However, since the president had already
transmitted to the Clerk of the National
Assembly the proclamation order and did not
withdraw it, Mark and Ekweremadu, who are
experienced in such matters and wield
sufficient clout to put pressure on the clerk,
knew the APC senators were misreading the
rules of the game by staying away from their
inaugural session on the pretext of holding a
party meeting elsewhere, said the source.
“To worsen matters, attempts were made to
use the police to prevent the National
Assembly members from entering the
premises. Who gave the directive is still a
matter of speculation.
“But it only infuriated the PDP senators who
rallied behind Saraki and who had also got
some of his APC senate colleagues to attend
the session. By 6am, Saraki was already
inside the National Assembly premises.
“So by 10 am on the dot, the Clerk of the
National Assembly commenced the session for
the election of principal officers in the Senate.
With Lawan and several of his APC colleagues
still marooned at the ICC, Saraki was
nominated for the post of Senate president
and since he was unopposed, and there were
enough senators to make a simple majority,
there was no contest.
“By the time the APC leaders and the senators
who were still expecting the president to arrive
the ICC realised the futility of their action, it
was all over. Many rushed back to the
National Assembly only to meet Saraki holding
the gavel as the Senate president,” the source
said.
He said the outcome of what had happened in
the Senate had a bandwagon effect on the
election in the House as Gbajabiamila, who
actually had a slight edge over Dogara prior to
the content, failed to clinch the post of
speaker by a whisker.
But in spite of the emergence of Saraki as
Senate president, the Senate Unity Forum, a
group of senators who supported the
aspiration of Lawan for the top post, on
Wednesday held the view that the election of
presiding officers of the parliament on Tuesday
was illegitimate and unconstitutional.
They threatened to fight it through legal and
constitutional means.
This happened even as Saraki, swore in
Lawan, Senator George Akume and other
members of his group who were not present
at the inauguration of the Eighth Senate on
Tuesday.
Lawan and his men said their privileges had
been breached by the election of presiding
officers while they were away for a scheduled
meeting with the president at the ICC. The
meeting never took place.
At the commencement of the plenary
yesterday, members of the group, notably
Senators Kabir Marafa (Zamfara Central) and
Barnabas Gemade (Benue North-east) raised
points of order in protest of Saraki's
emergence, saying their privileges had been
breached.
Marafa cited Orders 15 and 43 to express the
alleged breach of his privileges. But he was
ruled out of order by the Senate president who
said he should have briefed him before raising
Order 43.
Marafa claimed that they were shut out of the
election while they were away to honour the
invitation of Buhari to a meeting.
However, Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe
Central), who is one of the staunch supporters
of Saraki, countered the claim through a
constitutional point of order, citing Section
64(3) of the constitution on the president's
power to proclaim the Senate into existence.
According to him, the claim that the senators
went to attend a scheduled meeting with the
president was untenable, recalling that the
Clerk of the National Assembly had read the
proclamation letter from the president in
accordance with provisions of the constitution.
Goje said inasmuch as the president had
ordered the inauguration of the Eighth Senate,
“whoever decided to go for another meeting
had himself to blame”. His point of order was
sustained by Saraki.
Dissatisfied, Gemade who is the spokesman
for Senate Unity Forum again cited Order 15 of
the Senate Rules, emphasising that his
privilege along with his colleagues’ were
breached by the election conducted in their
absence.
Gemade argued that the previous leaderships
of the parliament had always forged a united
Senate, which according to him, had provided
the platform for senators to care for one
another.
He stated that the president had called APC
senators to a meeting and simultaneously
asked the clerk to delay the proclamation
while the meeting lasted.
He said it was unfortunate that the clerk chose
to exhibit a measure of disrespect for the
president by ignoring such a plea and instead,
went ahead to proclaim the Eighth National
Assembly into existence.
“In the seventh Senate, the need to foster a
united Senate was found to be vital. There
were no intricacies about the desire to care for
one another. We were requested to be at a
meeting with the president who also gave a
letter of proclamation.
“We were told in clear terms that the clerk was
approached to give a reasonable delay of the
proclamation. We have always cooperated
with the president of this nation. The president
sought a slight delay to be able to meet with
senators. Respect begets respect.
“We expected the clerk to be reasonable.
Unfortunately, this was not done. While we
were at the meeting, the television was
showing the exercise going on. This was a
breach of our privileges,” he maintained.
Gemade then pointed out that the unity of the
Senate should be sacrosanct for both the
leadership of the chamber as well as the
nation, threatening that if pursued otherwise,
Saraki should be prepared to lead a divided
Senate.
“Driving the unity of the Senate is in the
interest of this country. But if you want to use
power maximally, then you should know that
you are heading for a divided Senate that will
not be good for your leadership; that will not
also be good for this country,” he warned.
Responding, Saraki cited Order 53 of the
Senate Rules, which according to him,
provides that any matter that has been
concluded cannot be reopened.
He said the matter that Gemade referred to
had already been concluded and hence should
be a forgone conclusion, adding:
"Unfortunately, I have to rule you out of
order.”
In apparent indifference to ongoing
controversies in the chamber, Ekweremadu
moved a motion that following the election of
the presiding officers of the Senate on
Tuesday, a letter should be sent to the
president informing him of the development.
He also said messages should be sent to
other affected individuals and groups such as
the African Union (AU), Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association (CPA), Inter-
parliamentary Union (IPU), ECOWAS
Parliament and Pan-African Union about the
situation. The motion was adopted and
consequently passed.
Thereafter, senators under the Senate Unity
Forum walked out of the chamber and
assembled in Hearing Room One to address
the press. At the briefing, Gemade denied the
speculations that Tuesday’s inauguration was
boycotted, describing such reports as
unfounded.
He stated that as loyal party members, they
would explore political and legal means to
strengthen democracy.
He reiterated that the inauguration was done
while they were away, implying that the
process which threw up the Senate president
was unconstitutional and illegitimate.
He also said with only 57 senators in
attendance, the Senate did not possess the
required quorum of two-thirds majority for the
election of presiding officers when Saraki was
elected.
“This process which remains unconstitutional
cannot confer legitimacy to the elected Senate
president. Our right to participate in the
election of the Senate president is a
constitutional right which cannot be taken by
any person or group of persons.
“The clerk of the National Assembly knowing
fully well that the quorum for the election of
the Senate president had not been met, went
ahead to conduct an election that shuts the
door to about 53 other senators which would
remain unacceptable until what would meet
democratic parameters is done,” Gemade
said.
But in a counter-press briefing, the convener
of Senators of Like Mind, the group, which
worked for Saraki’s emergence, Senator Dino
Melaye, said the Senate under Saraki's
leadership would reach out to the aggrieved
senators.
Giving reasons why his group would reach out
to them, Melaye said: “You cannot beat a
child and expect him not to cry.”
He also faulted the claim by the unity forum
that a meeting was called by Buhari, arguing
that the president could not have issued a
proclamation letter and simultaneously called
for a meeting.
He also said if the meeting had been called by
the president, it would have been scheduled
to hold either at the Presidential Villa or
Defence House and not at the ICC.
He further alleged that a similar kite was flown
on Monday when it was said that Vice-
President Yemi Osinbajo had invited them to a
meeting in ICC, only to get there to discover
that he was not available.
He said they ignored the call for Tuesday’s
meeting having been once deceived.
He also faulted the claim that two-thirds
majority were required to elect presiding
officers, disclosing that Order 10(1) of Senate
Standing Rules makes it clear that only one-
third of 109 senators constitute the quorum for
any meeting and not two-thirds.
In the House, nonetheless, past presiding and
principal officers of the House yesterday
appealed to the APC not to rock the boat by
maintaining the status quo.
This was as the House Wednesday held its
first sitting after Tuesday's inauguration under
the Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Afterwards it
adjourned till June 23.
The call for reconciliation was made by Hon.
Ghali Umar Na’Abba on behalf of other former
Speakers of the House, who led the group on
a courtesy call to Dogara.
Among the former Speakers in attendance
were Hon. Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, Hon.
Agunwa Anaekwe, and Hon. Aminu Waziri
Tambuwal. Also present were former deputy
speakers: Babangida Nguroje and Emeka
Ihedioha.
Other former principal officers in attendance
included the immediate past Leader of the
House, Mulikat Akande-Adeola and her
deputy, Leo Okuweh Ogor, immediate past
Chief Whip, Mohammed Ishaka Bawa, his
deputy, Hon. Muhammed Mukhtar, and the
immediate past Deputy Minority Leader,
Suleiman Abdulrahman Kawu, among others.
Na'aba called on APC to view the election of
Dogara from the prism that the legislature all
over the world is at its optimum best when it
is independent.
He said: “Lawmakers yesterday (Tuesday)
achieved another democratic revolution
against the imposition of leaders by political
parties.
“This has happened not to spite our party but
that the legislature under a democratic setting
must be independent.
“What happened yesterday was an effort by
lawmakers of both the APC and the PDP to
ensure their independence as lawmakers.
“Whatever must have happened, the new
leadership must not be castigated and
scorned but should be seen as a means of
charting a new legislative course for the
benefit of all Nigerians.”
The ex-speaker, who is also a member of the
Board of Trustees (BoT) of the APC,
admonished Dogara to reach out with his
team to the party and his aggrieved colleagues
with a view to mending fences.
He urged the speaker to imbibe the spirit of
tolerance, consideration and acceptance as
his watchword.
In his response, Dogara expressed
appreciation to the delegation, saying that he
felt humbled and honoured to receive them.
He assured them of his commitment to work
for the peace and stability of the House with a
view to attaining set legislative agenda that
would complement the efforts of the executive
in trying the bring about the change Nigerians
voted for.
During plenary, Dogara had read two
messages listed on the Order Paper to his
colleagues.
The first was a letter to be conveyed to the
Senate informing it that he and Lasun had
been elected as speaker and deputy speaker
respectively.
The second message was a similar letter to be
sent to Buhari that they were ready to receive
any message he may wish to transmit to them.
Meanwhile, Saraki yesterday commended
Buhari for the role he played before and after
the National Assembly elections, saying it was
a great mark of leadership and a
demonstration of the president's commitment
to democracy.
In a statement issued by his media office,
Saraki commended the president for remaining
steadfast in his commitment to the principle of
non-interference in National Assembly politics
even in the face of great pressure on him to
act otherwise.
“This shows that Mr. President is a man of
great conviction who, in his own words,
belongs to everyone and belongs to no one,"
he said.
Saraki also denied the speculations that he
had plans to rejoin the PDP, describing the
insinuation as “absurd and laughable”.
“It is just cheap blackmail by political
adversaries who want to call a dog a bad
name in order to hang it. And those making
such desperate allegations should remember
that I willingly left the PDP on matters of
principles when the party was in power.
“Is it now that the party is out of government
and in opposition that I will now return, having
worked so hard for my party in the last general
election?” he queried.
He stressed his commitment to the APC,
saying he remained a loyal party member and
a leader of the party, committed to
contributing his quota to building the party
and helping it to deliver its promise of change
to the Nigerian people.
He urged all members of the National
Assembly to put politicking behind them and
settle down for the proper business of
legislating.
The Senate president also promised to
embrace every member of the Senate
regardless of their political leanings in the
leadership election.
But as Saraki reached out to those unhappy
about his emergence as the Senate president,
the PDP yesterday continued to take a dig at
APC and dismissed its threats against the new
leaders of the National Assembly as empty
boasts aimed at covering its “naivety,
inexperience and unpreparedness for
governance”.
The PDP also admonished the APC to shed its
arrogance, eat the humble pie and get more
organised for governance, adding that it
lacked the capacity, capability and means to
sanction duly elected leaders of the National
Assembly.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa
Metuh, in a statement, said the crass
inexperience so far displayed by the APC was
a pointer that “it is not adequately equipped to
handle the affairs of government at the
centre”, noting that events would continue to
prove the PDP right in this regard.
“Nothing can be more astonishing than the
whining by the APC that the PDP, at the last
minute, expressed its preference for Senator
Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as
Senate President and Speaker of the House of
Representatives, respectively, after it had
earlier stated that it was not interested in the
positions.
“This calls to question the capacity,
experience and skills of APC leaders on
political matters and we have no apology
whatsoever for their naivety.
“The APC is merely suffering the
consequences of the greed, lust for power and
inordinate ambitions of their leaders. They
should note that Nigerians have since moved
ahead with the new leaders in the National
Assembly and should stop wasting their
energy on propaganda and blackmails to heat
up the polity,” the opposition party said.
The PDP further condemned Tuesday’s
botched attempts by the APC to close the
National Assembly and stop lawmakers from
carrying out their constitutional duties, as well
as the threats to the newly elected leaders,
describing the acts as “totally against the
tenets of democracy, the principles of
separation of powers and independence of the
legislature as enshrined in the constitution”.
Credit: Thisday Live.
