The Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) has blown the lid off a purported plot by the presidency to remove Senate President Bukola Saraki from his seat.
According to the splinter group, the presidency plans to work with APC senators and some PDP senators with corruption cases hanging on their necks.
In a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary of R-APC, Kassim Afegbua, the presidency plans to give the PDP senators a clean bill of health in exchange for helping to impeach the senate president.
However, the PDP senators, according to the statement, were mandated to defect to the APC.
But the APC has vehemently denied the existence of such a plot.
In a counter-statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Yekini Nabena, the party described R-APC’s statement as a ploy to whip up sentiments in its favour.
The party however confirmed that the APC senators would not allow Saraki, who is from a minority party, preside over them.
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The statement read, “It is a cry of a drowning man. Kassim Afegbua and his cohorts are trying to elicit sentiment and to make futile attempt to dent the integrity of the APC-led government. The reason why most of them are defecting is because the President Buhari-led administration is not sharing money which is the PDP philosophy.
“So this administration cannot inject tax payers money into impeaching the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives. This is a serious government and not a dead party called the PDP.
“What PDP is doing is to whip up sentiment before their final burial in 2019. National Assembly members have procedures on how a Speaker or President of the Senate can be impeached. And we believe that the APC lawmakers know their rules and they will apply it accordingly.
“The hierarchy of the APC have no business spending money to impeach these people because APC still commands the majority in both houses.
“Since Saraki has gone back to where he came from, he cannot preside over majority APC lawmakers. Therefore, we will use our numerical strength to remove him following the rule of law.
“So, let the PDP propaganda machine continue to raise false alarm. We will remain focused and ensure that President Buhari is not distracted by charlatans. Very soon, we shall separate the men from the boys.”
The R-APC also replied the APC, insisting that there was an “illegal” plot to reconvene the Assembly before its September 25 due resumption date.
The group also stated that efforts were being made by the APC to secure a “Jankara” court order to validate its plot to take over the National Assembly and forcefully remove Saraki from office.
Afegbua said, “The rumour making the rounds that Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, would be impeached by crook or hook has remained unabated in the last few days. We can bring you news that the disputed leadership of the APC, working in cahoots with the Attorney General and Minister of Justice coupled with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation have perfected their plans to apply Gestapo methods to forcefully unseat the Senate President.
“A high-powered meeting of these persons was held at the Maitama residence of the disputed chairman of the APC on Thursday, 2nd August, 2018 where they brainstormed on the possible ways to carry out their illegality. The meeting, which lasted for three hours, insider source confirmed to us at the R-APC, explored both legal and illegal approach to execute the assignment of ensuring that Dr. Bukola Saraki ceases to be the Senate President.
“Having met a brickwall going by the legal processes involved before the Senate can be reopened, the disputed APC leadership is toiling with the barbaric idea of forcefully opening the National Assembly, reconvene the Senate and use the senators of the APC to preside over the planned impeachment.
Senator Abdullahi Adamu has been penciled down to succeed Distinguished Senator Bukola Saraki, amidst a host of other changes in the Senate’s principal officers.
“Once the Senate leadership is overthrown in a coup d’etat manner, the Senate will immediately consider the virement budget of the INEC and also approve the pending nominations in the Senate. Part of the plot was to reach out to some PDP senators, especially those who have EFCC queries in order to give them a clean bill of health once they defect to the APC.
“We are by this statement alerting the nation and the international community of these barbaric, gangsteristic, primitive and rebarbative plots aimed at deliberately overheating the system and undermine law and order by sheer use of brute force.
“We are raising alarm because of the dangers this portends for democracy, especially in an already fragile political atmosphere that has played host to several fluctuations and militarisation in the last two weeks.
“Part of the plot is to seek out what they called a “friendly Judge” where they could procure either a blackmarket injunction or “Jankara” Court order that would be used as alibi for the planned impeachment and takeover of the National Assembly. We find all these plots as burdensome for a system that was already undergoing storm and stress, thus making us object of ridicule in the eyes of the world.
“It is benumbing to note that those who usually occupy the front seats when democracy is being discussed are the architects of these orchestrated plots peculiar with military regimes. Even when we understand that they could be carryover effects of military regime, we never knew they have assumed this frightening dimension.”