The ongoing trial of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), over alleged false, anticipated and non-declaration of assets has thrown both the leadership and the Senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) into a palpable confusion as to losing grip.
Although the verdict of the court on the case has not been delivered, Saturday Telegraph learnt from political and legal experts, who spoke on the condition of confidentiality that “Saraki is like a valiant general in the war front, who has exhausted his weapons of defence and is surrounded completely by enemies, with no escape route left for him other than to be captured and treated as a captive.”
Inquiries conducted so far by our correspondent indicate that the judgement of the CCT in the trial of the embattled senate president was obvious. This is as a result of the body of evidence and witnesses stalked against him coupled with the quantum and strength of political heavyweights in the APC, who Saraki has stepped on their toes when he emerged as the President of the Senate, contrary to the party’s calculation.
Analysts, who commented on the issue said that Saraki appeared to have had a fore knowledge of the verdict of the CCT on his case, and that was why he made a last ditch effort to stop the trial but unfortunately without success. With the inclement of the political atmosphere in the camp of Saraki, the APC has started shopping for a replacement even as it is facing threat of losing control of power to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Senate if they mismanage the situation.
It was learnt that in spite of lending their support to the Kwara-born politician, the PDP Senators are also angling to take over power from the ruling party if the court eventually convict Saraki or if he willingly resigns his position to face his trial.
Saturday Telegraph learnt that immediately the full trial of Saraki commenced on Tuesday, Senators from both the APC and the PDP started holding meetings independently, preparatory to the proper action to be taken in case of any untoward development arising from the trial.
When the trial entered the second day on Wednesday, a division emerged in the camp of the APC Senators, as they were sharply divided on whether or not Saraki should resign from office while facing his trial. It was learnt that the APC Senators met at different locations in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday to brainstorm on how to give the Senate President a soft landing.
Our correspondent further gathered that some of the lawmakers were of the view that the best option for Saraki was to resign but some others thought otherwise, promising to continue to support till judgement was delivered. Sources said the lingering leadership strife was occasioned by selfish struggle for dominance by various interest groups in the ruling party, who would not subject their parochial interests to public interest.
A concerned Senator, who spoke to our correspondent said that Saraki’s saga was now to APC like a “tumor that developed in the brain of a child; which if you carry out surgery on it, you risk rupturing the brain of the helpless child, and if you leave it unattended to, it can also rot the brain.”
He said if they remove Saraki from the exalted office by convicting him in the CCT trial, the ruling party would likely lose control of power in the Upper Chamber to the opposition party. The source, however, said the APC was not willing to allow such to happen to it because it would have a lot of negative consequences on the party’s future political fortunes as members of the Senate constitute a strong political base and backbone for any political party to make meaningful impact during elections.
Revealing the plot by the PDP to take over power in the Senate, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaboshi, two weeks ago said that the PDP caucus would not support the emergence of another APC senator as the next President of the Senate if Saraki lost at the CCT.
He said the PDP would capitalise on Saraki’s ouster (if it happens), to produce the next President of the Senate, noting that the opposition party would like to replicate the current United States’ scenario in Nigeria where opposition controls the parliament.
Supporting this position, Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, disclosed that nobody was shopping for a replacement for the President of the Senate at the moment.
He argued that the fact that the CCT assumed jurisdiction in the on-going trial of the President of the Senate did not mean that the Senate boss would be removed. Anyanwu claimed that the Senators of the PDP are not shopping for Saraki’s removal or replacement, stressing that he had proven himself a competent and worthy leader in the Eight Senate.
Similarly, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji (PDP, Ebonyi South), in his response to questions from our correspondent, said that the PDP was waiting for the APC to commit political suicide by removing Saraki from office, then the opposition would step in and take over the leadership of the Senate.
“We are just waiting for them (APC) to close in on Saraki more than they have done now and we will just go in and take over the place; there is no argument about that. That is all I can tell you now”, he said. Saturday Telegraph, however, learnt that the APC Senators both of the pro and anti – Saraki camps have started cementing the cracks between them in order to stop the PDP from taking over the leadership structure in the Senate.
The Like Minds Senators are those who have been supporting Saraki in his Senate Presidency project while the Senate Unity Forum is made up of those opposed to his emergence as the President of the Senate. Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, (APC, Taraba Central), while affirming that the APC would never allow the PDP to replace Saraki, told our correspondent that no reasonable and responsible APC senator would align with the PDP to take over the leadership of the Senate.
He said: “I don’t want to comment on the substantive case in the court but if we are going by the speculation going round, should the court not favour the Senate President, PDP may likely become the leadership of the senate, well, this is just speculation.
“I don’t think there is any reasonable APC senator who came on the platform of the APC will sit down in the Senate and relinquish the position of leadership in the senate to PDP by aligning with PDP to vote PDP to become the Senate President. It will be unreasonable and backstabbing.
“In the event the unexpected happens, I don’t see us as senators losing our heads by wanting to lose the position of senate president in the senate. We are going to align ourselves according to party loyalty.” … APC’s strategy to stop PDP A member of the Senate Unity Forum (SUF), who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said that the two opposing camps had resolved to bury their differences in order to secure the Senate for the ruling party.
He said they had agreed to work together as members of one political family to be able to ward off the perceived encroachment of the PDP in the political territory of the APC. The source further said it was not possible for the opposition party to take over power in the Senate because the ruling party would use all weapons at its disposal to frustrate the PDP.
He said even the Senators from the PDP themselves know that they would not be able to take over power because the anticipated anti-party behaviour and protest votes from the pro-Saraki group would not come forth, claiming that the two camps had settled their differences.
One of the strategies being adopted to unite the Like Minds Senators and their SUF counterparts, Saturday Telegraph learnt, is to allow Saraki to choose his replacement, and for all of them to support such candidate to emerge as President of the Senate. Another factor working against the PDP Senators in their bid to take over the leadership of the Senate is the use of anti-corruption crusade by the Executive to hunt members of the opposition party.
A source close to the APC said that once the PDP presents a candidate to contest for Senate Presidency, the anti-corruption agencies will be sent immediately to make corruption charges against the person and subject him to prosecution.
The source said it was for that reason that the immediate past President of the Senate, David Mark, was mentioned in the recent Panama leaks, which alleged that he operated eight offshore companies managed by Mossack Fonseca law firm.
According to the source, mentioning Mark’s name in the scandal was a warning signal to the PDP that anybody from the party aspiring to take over from Saraki would immediately be hunted and humiliated out of office by the government of the APC.
It was further learnt that the fear of political witchhunt by the APC-led central government would not allow the PDP to boldly take over power in the Senate; rather they would prefer to vote for the person Saraki might choose to replace him, as their mark of solidarity with the President of the Senate.
Again, it was learnt that the PDP was also afraid that the Executive arm might starve the Senate of funds if it snatched power from the ruling party, thereby subjecting the lawmakers to untold hardship. On this basis, political analysts have argued that the politicians would not like to experience such difficulty after spending so much money to come to the Senate.
A source said Senators would not prefer to face financial starvation in defence of national interest, arguing that in Nigeria, people seek political offices primarily for self aggrandisement. Possible contenders if Saraki is ousted: Our correspondent learnt that Senators Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West) and Shaba Lafiaji (Kwara North) were the two people being considered by the APC as possible replacement for Saraki, if he either resigns or gets convicted by the CCT.
However, an insider in the APC Senate Caucus told our correspondent that Senator Lafiaji was more acceptable to both the Unity Forum, the Like Minds Senators and the leadership of the party. Senator George Akume, who was initially considered was however, disqualified by religious consideration.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, is a Christian and they would want a Muslim to lead the Senate for a balance in power sharing in the National Assembly.
