APC Senators Reject Senate Committee Chair

Some senators from the All Progressives Congress (APC) loyal to Senate president Bukola Saraki have reportedly denied heading committees to avoid what they defined as witch-hunt.

One of the APC senators, who pledged to be anonymous, told Vanguard that the cold war between Saraki and some leaders of the ruling party was all about 2019 presidential poll.
He said that some of the senators who backed the emergence of Saraki as the leader of Senate were being monitored by those who felt humiliated and defeated in the election for the Senate president. He added that Saraki’s opponents have decided to set trap for senators perceived to be loyal to the Senate president.

The source said many of the senators from the North have started having problems with their governors over 2019 elections, and that some of the governors have contributed to the crisis between Saraki and the APC bigwigs.
The senator said: “Some of us (senators) especially the APC Senators have decided not to accept Committee Chairmanship. Those who felt aggrieved over the election of Senate President have decided to embark on a witch haunt and they want to use the Committee to achieve their devilish plans.
“They have planned to use the oversight functions to blackmail us and you know when you are blackmailed whether rightly or wrongly, the public will have a negative impression about you and we don’t want to create that room at all.
“You can see what is happening between the Senators and the governors especially in the North. Some of the governors who have their eyes in 2019 have started fighting their senators.
“One particular governor alongside a former governor that lost the bid to become the APC presidential candidate and one person that arrogates to himself the position of the party leader have decided that the present senate leadership did not have peace and have blackmailed the leadership before the presidency.

“You know that Saraki made sure that the APC did not have a Muslim/Muslim ticket and the party leaders that did not benefit from that have been angry with him (Saraki). The other one felt disappointed that he was not supported during the APC presidential primaries after their alleged initial agreement before they dumped the Peoples Democratic Party.
“You also know that we have only one canonised person in this country who believes that every other person is corrupt. When you are even talking to him and explain your position, he will not talk but only to be watching you because he has already made up his conclusion.”
He stated that with the present composition of the APC, if President Muhammadu Buhari decides not to run for the 2019 presidential poll, there was the fear that Saraki has the opportunity to emerge, supposing that it was the contributing factor in the crisis.

Saraki who finally appeared before the Code of Conduct Tribunal last week pleaded not guilty to all 13 count charge after arguments between defense lawyers and the prosecution team.
The Senate president’s lawyers had denied calls by the prosecution for him to take a plea.