Senators Plotting To Remove Bukola Saraki As Senate President

Reports have emerged that a group of senators are plotting to remove Senator Bukola Saraki as the president of the Nigerian Senate over his alleged resolve to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Guardian, citing a source, reports that the plot against the Saraki may be carried out on Tuesday, July 24, by some lawmakers who plan to install a new Senate president.

“There is plan for rival Senate group to sit and elect new principal officers today,” a source said.

The said move is to prevent the leadership of the Senate from falling into in the hands of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should the Saraki defect.

Bukola Saraki’s loyalty to the ruling party has been in doubt since members of the nPDP caucus of the APC accused the party of failing to honour its campaign promises. The group has since cut ties with the APC.

Saraki on Tuesday, July 17, said he will reveal to Nigerians when he is ready to dump the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Saraki said this at Ilorin International airport, in Kwara state. 

Asked by journalists what he will do over the pressure by some of his followers to lead them out of the APC, Saraki declined to comment and asked newsmen not to ‘worry’ or ‘push’ him over the matter.

When commenting on his trial for alleged false assets declaration, he described his three-year trial as tough but expressed satisfaction that his followers never doubted his innocence as he had told them on many occasions.

Meanwhile, the Senate is expected not to sit on Tuesday, July 24, following the siege on the homes of its principal officers, Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu.

The homes of both men were barricaded by security operatives from the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of State Security in conjunction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday morning, Punch reports.

In reaction to the development, an aide to Ekweremadu, who refused to be quoted, reportedly stated that the upper legislative chamber would not sit, as plenary was supposed to begin at 9am.