Tension in APC: Buhari plots Saraki’s removal as Senate President

Tuesday, July 24, 2018, has become an extremely busy day for President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as members of the Reformed APC in the national Assembly threaten to defect from the ruling party today. The President appears to have mobilized the coercive executive agencies in his behest to intimidate and oppress opposition democratic forces.

There were disturbing concerns in Abuja early Tuesday that the President is plotting the removal of the President of the Senate and the Deputy to be replaced with loyal APC lawmakers. The security operatives were assigned to ensure that the two Presiding Officers are not allowed participation at the legislative proceedings on Tuesday.

Thus, the Police issued an invitation to Senate President Saraki to report to the Headquarters at 8.00am, the time the National Assembly members would be preparing for the day’s sitting, in relation to the Offa robbery in Kwara State.

The residence of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was also cordoned by security operatives to restrict his movement.

A source from Abuja decried that: “Available information at 1.28am of 24^th of July 2018 has it that President Buhari has given directive to mobilize Police, DSS to National Assembly to prevent R-APC legislators from gaining access to the chambers to make way for possible change of leadership.”  

Saraki in a statement on Monday declared: “I have been reliably informed that the police invitation was planned by the IG as a ploy to stop an alleged plan by some Senators and House of Representatives members from defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC). It was also said that if I was detained between Tuesday and Wednesday, that will abort the so-called defection plan.

“While I continue to maintain that the issue of my position on the 2019 elections is not a personal decision for me alone to make, it should be noted that all these concoctions and evil plots cannot deter me.

“Those behind this fresh assault will fail as I have nothing to do with the robbery incident or any criminal matter for that matter.

“I am aware that following a request made by the Police on June 13, 2018 to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation had written a legal advice dated June 22, 2018, in which he stated on page 5, paragraph (f) that “For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged office and the suspects.”

“The Police have obviously corrupted and politicized their investigations into the Offa robbery incident. They have turned it into an instrument for the party in power to suppress perceived opponents, witch hunt issue for blackmailing people from freely choosing which platform on which they want to pursue their ambitions and a matter for harassing the people whose exit from APC would harm the chances of the party in the forthcoming elections.

“I want to make it apparent that I have no hand in either the robbery incident or any criminal acitivity. The Police in their haste to embarrass me sent the invitation to me at 8pm and requested that I report to the station by 8am tomorrow morning. This obviously demonstrated their desperation as I do not see why they are now in a hurry.

“They also stated in today’s letter that because in my response of June 7, 2018 to their own letter written on June 4, 2018, I stated that I was responding simply to the contents of the letter and that the full text of the statement made by the arrested suspects which they claimed indicted me was not made available to me, they were now including the suspects statements in the current letter. Yet, instead of including the suspects’ statements, they only attached two copies of my own letter to the invitation. No suspects statement was made available.

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“This plot aimed at compelling me and my associates to stay in a party where members are criminalised without just cause, where injustice is perpetrated at the highest level and where there is no respect for constitutionalism is an exercise in futility and it will fail.

“Once again, my confidence in God and our judicial system remains intact and unshaken. The truth shall also prevail in this case.”