Senate may soon erupt in fresh crisis if the outcome of the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged false declaration of assets finally consumes him, writes Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU
ince the inauguration of the 8th Senate on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 and the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as its President, there has been recurrence of crises in the Red Chambers.
The reason is simple: Saraki was never accepted as the candidate of the party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), by its leadership. He clinched the post essentially with support of senators on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Against that background, he has had to contend with several obstacles since his inauguration.
At the moment, Saraki is fighting a political battle of his life, as he is standing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over alleged false declaration of assets.
Although a greater number of senators have shown unusual solidarity with him, there seems to be so much unfinished intrigue, as all efforts are being made by his party to ensure he goes down.
APC plots beyond Saraki
Envisaging that Saraki may not survive the onslaught, APC senators have vowed to resist any attempt by their PDP colleagues to take over the Red Chamber from them.
The party, it was learnt, held a meeting last week in the house of a former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aliyu Wammako, in Abuja to perfect their strategy.
Although the meeting was initially said to have been called with a motive to get all senators of the APC to unite behind Saraki, which political observers doubted, it was later learnt that senators at the meeting were more concerned about the embarrassment disunity was causing the ruling party in the Senate.
Sources close to the meeting disclosed that the lawmakers wanted a situation in which the interests of government would be promoted at all times in the Senate.
The meeting was said to have resolved to work in the interest of the party to ensure that the opposition party never had its way on any matter.
TheNiche however learnt that on the issue of Saraki’s leadership, the APC was sharply divided in the Senate along the lines of those supporting him and those against him.
The Unity Forum senators, for instance, had worked against Saraki after he emerged the Senate President in a controversial election; but the Like-minded senators were on his side. That division persists, almost a year after the Saraki’s inauguration as Senate President.
Unity Forum elements believe some of them are marginalised in the formation of committees, stressing that the issue can only be properly addressed if APC is fully in charge of Senate leadership.
Spokesperson for the Forum, Senator Kabir Marafa, confirmed that the two factions of the APC in the Senate met last week to close ranks and resist any attempt by the PDP to call the shots in the Red Chamber.
Said Mafara: “We sat for four days last week, brainstormed, agreed and at the end of the day, we came out with a three-point agenda. We felt if they are agreed upon, the APC caucus in the National Assembly can become one.
“Number one issue is the illegality of our committees. Number two is that the APC members, especially the Unity Forum elements, who are marginalised in the formation of the committees, should be accommodated. Number three is the issue of leadership and how it affects our party.
“We have a government in place and we are senators elected with that government. We are under the same canopy. We have a moral duty to support our government, President and our party.”
A party in crisis
The Saraki issue is not the only problem facing APC. The reality, rather, is that the party is buffeted by pockets of crises, especially with the multifarious blocs within its fold. It is even embroiled in leadership crisis, in a way.
While some of its blocs seem to be kicking against its national leadership, some are expressing serious disappointment with the President Muhammadu Buhari leadership.
The emerging impasse in the party comes against the backdrop of the biting economic realities in the land that have left critical Nigerians to wonder if this is the change they clamoured for.
Some political commentators have linked some of the recent APC’s abysmal outings at the polls to its poor performance so far. The party was, for instance, roundly beaten in Bayelsa State governorship election late last year by the PDP. Against initial media blitz, its candidate, Timipre Sylva, was dealt a crushing defeat by the incumbent, Governor Seriake Dickson, at the poll.
The party also suffered bloody nose in re-run legislative election in Rivers State, early March, going by results so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
There is also the issue of the chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT), which has not been agreed upon by its leading figures. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and erstwhile Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, are rumoured to have interest in the post. Following their speculated interest in the office, there has been sharp division among key chieftains of the party on who between the two to pick. On two occasions in recent time, meetings summoned by the party to look into the issue had been postponed on account of the contending interests from the two leading figures.
Placing the PDP scheme
PDP, it is gathered, is waiting on the wings to reap from the envisaged implosion in APC.
There are fresh indications that party members in the upper chamber have perfected strategies to produce a successor to Saraki if he finally quits.
TheNiche learnt that the PDP senators met for several hours last Monday night to take a decision on the issue.
Confirming the development on Wednesday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Peter Nwaoboshi, sounded optimistic that the PDP would produce the next Senate President.
He said: “Should the incumbent, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, be forced to vacate the office, we have perfected necessary arrangements to take over the upper chamber.”
He said the PDP was ready to replicate the current system in the United States of America (U.S.A.), where the Republicans are in charge of the Congress, while the Democrats are in control of the Executive.
“In any case, in my party, the PDP, we have resolved to support him (Saraki). So, there is no basis for him to resign,” Nwaoboshi stressed.
How far can PDP go?
Going by Nwaoboshi’s declaration, there could be the temptation to see PDP as putting the garb of a government-in-waiting. This is especially with the cocktail of crisis in APC. But how far the party is prepared to go in the exercise remains to be seen. The party has its own dose of uncertainties. It is, for instance, obvious that PDP is yet to recover from the shock and political setback it suffered from its crushing defeat in the hands of APC in the 2015 general elections.
The party is currently under huge stress over its choice of national leadership. There is a running contention among its members on the emergence of former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, as its national chairman. A section of members, including its BOT, are not comfortable with Sheriff steering its affairs. The grouse against him is the allegation in some quarters that he had links with the murderous Boko Haram Islamic sect. Though Sheriff has vigorously denied the charge, the impression remains thick that with him at the saddle, public acceptance profile of the party will continue to be on the decline.
There are even fears that the party’s national convention scheduled for May may not after all hold, on account of the divisive tendencies in its fold.
Given the crude political scheming by different interests within the party, PDP is faced with uncertainty of its survival and total revival. This, it is insinuated, may even work against the cohesion of its members in the Senate in the event of even one of them succeeding Saraki.
