Drama over alleged plot to impeach Senate President

THERE were confusion, claims and counter claims at the weekend over an alleged plot by certain aggrieved senators to impeach President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

Some national dailies have reported moves by some aggrieved lawmakers who lost out in the lobby for juicy Senate Committees as masterminds of the plot.

The reports also alleged that two former governors from North-West who are serving senators are arrowheads of the plan to oust the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-West from his exalted seat as Senate president once the lawmakers returned from their annual vacation.

But reacting through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, Honourable Es-eme Eyiboh, Akpabio, who said he was not bothered, further claimed that the re-
ports” appears to be a syndicated media attack from outside the precincts of the National Assembly.”

Restating his conviction that the reports were mere complete imaginations laced with malice, Akpabio noted that “the Senate has since moved on after the leadership contest. The plot to drag in senators who initially did not support the emergence of the present leadership into a conspiracy that does not exist was uncharitable to the senators”.

“Senators are presently concluding their holidays in their constituencies and other places they have chosen to spend their time after the rigours of the inauguration and ministerial screening.

“All senators are also refreshing themselves ahead of resumption and suggestions that they are presently engaged in other subversive plots against the institution is rather uncharitable. It is especially uncharitable for those Senators who initially did not support the emergence of the leadership, but who have all unanimously endorsed the Senator Акра-bio-led leadership.

“Continuing to link these senators with one conspiracy or the other with barely disguised innuendo is rather unkind. We call on the media not to give in to the conspiratorial tales and to please not give damage to the reputations that they have built over time,” he concluded.

Don’t instigate Tinubu against the North, Abbo cautions Akpabio

But in his reaction on the heels of the allegation, senator representing Adamawa North, Ishaku Abbo, accused Senate President Akpabio of an alleged sinister plot to instigate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against the federal lawmakers from the North.

Abbo alleged that the allegation of impeachment was unfounded and planted in the national dailies by those he described as “camp of Senator Akpabio just to set President Bola Tinubu against the North.

Accusing Akpabio of alienating lawmakers who did not support his ambition to lead the Senate in the distribution of juicy Committees of the Red Chamber, Senator Abbo, who incidentally is a member of the Northern Senators Forum, further accused the Senate president of turning the parliament into a mere appendage of the Executive arm of government.

His statement reads in part: “I woke up today to see over 10 mainstream Nigerian newspapers, all carrying news of a plan to impeach Senator Akpabio by senators from Northern Nigeria. The Whistler Newspaper went ahead to mention Senator Yari, Senator Tambuwal, and Senator Onawo, among oth-ers, as the senators behind the move.

As a Northern senator and an official of the Northern Senators forum, I make bold to say that this news is deliberately planted and syndicated by the ” camp” of Senator Akpabio just to set President Bola Tinubu against the North. I call on Senator Akpa-bio to call his camp to order as the seed of discord and deep ethno-religious division they are sowing will not augur well for the country.

“Why the North? Why in Saudi Arabia?
“If Akpabio and his camp wanted a united Senate just like Ahmed Lawan, they could have known exactly what to do during Senate Standing Committees allocation and supplementary budget resources allocation.

“But the camp of the SP continued to treat the senate as a conquered territory where the winner goes home with the spoils of war. A classical example of a winner takes all.

“How do you explain a situation where out of Category A Committees only 2 went to his perceived rivals?

How will you explain a senate where 83.1% of those made Chairmen of Category A Committees are also Vice Chairmen of Category A?

How do you explain a third time Senator denied the Chairmanship of a Commit-tee? How do you explain leadership of the Senate are all Vice Chairmen of Category A Committees?

“You cannot threaten Us like conquered people and come back to blackmail us with planted and paid newspaper reports setting us against the President.

“Let me ask this question?

“During the ministerial screening where three minis-ters-designates were refused clearance by the senate, which committee looked into the petitions against them?
Ethics and Privileges or adhoc Committee or committee of the whole? Was the report deliberated and debated during plenary? Was there any voting either, AYES or NOES?

“The SP just absconded during Plenary and kept the Senate waiting in the Chamber for over three hours while he was in the Villa — Something that never happened in the history of the Senate– then came and read out names of those cleared and “waved” papers in his hand claiming security report from NSA or DSS as reason for not clearing some ministers.

“In my opinion this is the lowest the Senate ever de-scended. Who gave NSA or DSS DG or IGP the power to write to the Senate? What do vou call that communica-tion? Executive communication or reckless communica-tion?

“Are we telling Nigerians that the Presidency and the security agencies did not do diligent work before sending the list to the Senate or the Senate is used as a cannon fodder for presidential aides’ power play?

“The SP knows what to do to have a peaceful Senate like Ahmed Lawal and not blackmailing Senate from Nothern region and using newspaper report to hoodwink the Presi-dent.

“President Bola Tinubu worked hard to make Senator Akpabio SP, but it’s only senator Akpabio that can manage his colleagues well and not Tinubu managing them for him.”

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