•Sideline him in settlement of party squabble
Aggrieved governorship aspirants in Benue State have been persuaded by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to withdraw their lawsuits against Governor Samuel Ortom.
But in doing this on Thursday, August 13, the party leadership displayed antagonism towards Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who would have headed the eight-man committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the crisis.
Both Senator Joseph Waku and House of Representatives member, Emmanuel Jime, who ran for governor went to court to challenge the APC leadership for ceding the ticket to Ortom, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a day after losing its primary in December 2014.
Although Ortom won the governorship vote on the platform of the APC, Waku and Jime continued the legal battle to wrestle power from him.
Sign of Buhari’s fury
Buhari sensed danger for his party if the two were not persuaded to apply the brakes.
He set up the peace committee at a meeting held behind closed doors with the protagonists in Abuja, where he told them how to reconcile with Ortom and others.
But instead of appointing Saraki, the highest political office holder in the North Central, to head the committee, Buhari went for House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, who hails from the North East.
Party sources interpreted it to mean that Buhari is still against Saraki as Senate President.
A source who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said Buhari “is still not happy with Saraki. He has not forgiven him for bending Senate rules to pave the way for Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a member of the PDP, to emerge as Deputy Senate President.
“The fact that Buhari preferred Dogara to Saraki to head this important committee, shows that Saraki is not in his good books.
“Ordinarily, one would have expected that Saraki, being the highest political office holder in the North Central, would be called upon to head this committee which is a party function though coming from the president.
“But he preferred Dogara who comes from North East. It is a clear signal that Saraki is not in his good books.”
Move against Saraki
He said the party will still move against Saraki who is facing possible legal battle for alleged forgery of the Senate Order Rule, and that plans are afoot to publish his name as one of the bank debtors.
Senators have been battling to sweep the probe of the forgery case under the carpet, but the police said they have a good case against Saraki, which borders on alleged criminality.
Damage control
APC leaders, led by National Vice Chairman (North), Shuaibu Lawan, had held a meeting in camera with Dogara and four APC Governors, Ortom (Benue), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Simon Lalong (Plateau), and Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto).
A source at APC secretariat disclosed the party leadership was getting worried that Ortom’s election might be cancelled, which would be a setback.
Dogara said: “Benue has always presented itself as a highly enlightened political community and I must say they have once again proved this action.”
He recalled that before APC took over Benue, the narrative from the state was always negative and no sacrifice is too much to ensure peace and progress.
“Jime and Waku have graciously agreed to withdraw and discontinue the case in court,” he said, stressing that he made the announcement “on behalf of” Buhari.
Dogara asked Ortom, Jime, and Waku to embrace one another, which they did.
It was learnt that, for agreeing to sheath their swords, both Waku and Jime will be compensated by Ortom probably through political appointments.
Buhari’s Media Assistant, Garba Shehu, could not be reached for comment at press time.
