Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President Bukola Saraki met late Thursday night as the crisis between the presidency and the National Assembly over the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as the substantial chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) threatened to boil over.
The crisis between the two arms of government worsened during the week as the Senate announced its decision to stop approving all nominations for posts from the presidency until its rejection of the EFCC chairman is effected.
The meeting between the acting president and Senator Saraki, which was held in the Villa, it was reliably learnt, was at the instance of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a source told Saturday Tribune that it lasted several hours.
“The two of them met last night (Thursday) and the discussions were frank and fruitful. It was agreed that both sides should soften their hard stance on the matter and work out a solution that would permanently remove avoidable frictions such as this.
“The leadership of the party (APC) which brokered the peace parley also reminded both sides that they should remember that the party should not be in opposition with itself, given its clear majority status in the National Assembly”, the source said.
A fine-tuning of the decisions reached at the meeting was being worked out from both sides, on Friday, it was further learnt.
Rule of law must prevail —Senate
However, the Senate has said that it was committed to the rule of law on the acting chairman of the EFCC.
Senate spokesman, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, who reacted to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s declaration that Magu would remain on the seat in acting capacity until the end of the administration, said the Senate would stand by the rule of law.
Abdullahi, who spoke in a chat with Saturday Tribune and on a Ray Power Radio Programme, on Friday, said the Red Chamber would stick to the rule of law on this matter, noting that what the Senate is concerned about is to build institutions, rather than individuals.
Senator Abdullahi said, in a democracy, the rule of law must always prevail, declaring that the Senate would not be engaged in any ‘back and forth’, having adopted a resolution on the matter.
“We have said what we needed to say on this matter. We don’t want to be involved in any back and forth on this matter. What we are saying is that let’s stick to the rule of law. That is what the Senate is saying. And we are not saying anything more than that.
“We are also saying that let us build institutions and not strengthen individuals because no individual is greater than the nation. We are running a constitutional democracy and we must stick to the dictates of the law. What we are saying is let’s stick to the rule of law.
“We are saying no individual is greater than the country. We have said what we have to say and we have issued our resolution yesterday (Thursday). This is what we have to say and let’s leave it at that,” he said.
PDP wants presidency to clarify decision on Magu
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the presidency to clarify whatever its decision on the status of Magu as the substantive chairman of the EFCC.
National Vice-Chairman (South-South) of the party, Mr Emmanuel Ogidi, made the call in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Friday, saying the clarification was important following a declaration credited to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo that Magu would continue to head the EFCC in spite of Senate’s rejection of his nomination, two times.
The vice president, represented by Governor Nasir el-Rufai at the inauguration of the zonal office of EFCC in Kaduna, during the week, had said Magu would remain the EFCC chairman for as long as the present administration remained in government.
Ogidi however urged Nigerians to discountenance the statement, saying that it was believed to be el-Rufai’s and not that of the acting president or the presidency.
“Was el-Rufai reading Osinbajo’s speech when he made the statement? We believe that the statement was for el-Rufai and he cannot speak for the presidency. There is therefore the need for the presidency to clarify its stands or decision on the status of Magu; this will enable Nigerians to properly comment on the matter,” he said.
The PDP stalwart also described the disagreement between the executive and legislative at the national level as “a reflection of the internal crisis within the APC”.
According to him, it showed that the party was not prepared for power and it was also another means being used to divert the attention of Nigerians from its lapses.
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