Impeachment: Akpabio plotting to create issues between northern Senators and Our Southern Colleagues — Northern Senator reveals

Impeachment: Akpabio plotting to create issues between northern Senators and Our Southern Colleagues — Northern Senator reveals

 

.….Senate Stable, Harmonious –Eyiboh

 

The Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Senator Ishaku Eli- sha Abbo, yesterday accused the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of plotting to pitch Northern Senators against their Southern counterparts and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

Abbo, who spoke with Sunday Telegraph on the telephone, said part of the plot was the story, which appeared in newspapers yesterday about a plot to remove the Senate President, when Senators resume from their recess. Abbo pointedly said that Akpabio’s agents planted the story in the media to create an impression that Northern Senators were not happy with him and Tinubu.

 

BREAKING: Plot To Impeach Akpabio Thickens As Top Northern Politicians Regroup In Saudi Arabia, Concludes plans to strike 

 

He wondered how there would be insinuations that Northern Senators wanted Akpabio removed without the collaboration of their Southern collagues, insisting that the Senate President knew pretty well that some senators were not happy with him.

 

According to the controversial Adamawa Senator, the Senate President was using the story to mask the disenchantment of Senators against him,“ Since he does not want to run the Senate fairly as Senator Ahmad Lawan did.” He said: “He knows there are issues between him and the senators.

 

For instance, the disqualification of former Governor Nasir El Rufai, Stella Okeitete and another ministerial nominee by the Senate, was it discussed at plenary? Was it referred to any committee for discussion? Was it discussed by the Committee of the whole house? He just returned from Aso Rock and said there were security reports against them. Did we see the report? We did not see any report.

 

Why are we on two-month recess instead of the usual one month? He knows there are questions waiting for him. That is why they are planting stories now in the media to pre-empt crisis. Even if we want to impeach him, will such sto- ries stop us? Why the North and why in Saudi Arabia?

 

He wants to cause a rift between us and the president and our Southern colleagues. That would not work but we know there are issues around him” Meanwhile, the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President of the Senate, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, yesterday, said that the 10th Senate under the leadership of Akpabio, was stable, harmonious and working for a greater and better Nigeria.

 

Eyiboh made this assertion in a statement he forwarded to journalists in Abuja, where he reacted to the alleged plot by some disgruntled Senators, to generate crisis in the apex legislative Chamber, in order to remove the incumbent President of the Senate.

 

According to the former member of the House of Representatives: “The Nigerian Senate under the leadership of His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is stable and harmonious and cannot be distracted by the innuendo of the merchants of political tar brush by what appears to be a syndicated media attack from outside the precincts of the National Assembly.

 

This was as Abbo, insisted that only Akpabio could man- age his colleagues well and maintain a harmonious Sen- ate, and not external forces. Reacting to syndicated reports in some weekend newspapers about plots to distabilise the Senate and its leadership, Eyiboh said that the reports were complete imaginations and sometimes laced with malice to achieve what Senators were yet to comprehend.

 

He noted that the Senate had since gone past the experience of the keenly contested leadership election, saying that the plot to drag in Senators, who initially did not support the emergence of the present leadership into a conspiracy that did not exist was uncharitable to the Senators and a needless umbrage.

 

His words: “Senators are presently concluding their holidays in their constituencies and other places they have chosen to spend their time after the rigours of the inauguration and ministerial screening and other constructive engagements.

 

“All senators are also refreshing themselves ahead of the resumption. Therefore, any suggestions that they are presently engaged in other subversive plots against the institution is rather uncharitable. “It is mostly uncharitable for those senators who initially did not support the emergence of the leadership but who have all unanimously endorsed the Senator Akpabio-led leadership.

 

Continuing to link these senators with needless conspiracy with barely disguised innuendo is rather unkind. “We call on the media not to give in to the conspiratorial tales, and not to give damage to the reputations that they have built over time,” Eyiboh stated.

 

However, reacting to the story on the alleged impeachment plot, the Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Ishaku Abbo, who spoke with Sunday Telegraph, expressed concerns on the way and manner the President of the Senate distributed the Standing Committees of the Senate vis-a-vis their leadership compositions, arguing that only Akpabio could manage his colleagues well and maintain a harmonious Senate, and not the Presidency.

 

His words: “I woke up today to see over 10 mainstream Nigerian newspapers, all carrying news of a plan to impeach Senator Akpabio by senators from Northern Nigeria. The Whistler Newspaper went ahead to mention Senator Yari, Senator Tambuwal, and Senator Onawo, among others, as the senators behind the move.

 

As a Northern Senator and an official of the Nothern Senators forum, I make it bold to say that this news is deliberately planted and syndicated by the ” camp” of Senator Akpabio just to set President Bola Tinubu against the North.

 

I call on Senator Akpabio to call his camp to order as the seed of discord and deep ethno-religious division they are sowing will not augur well for the country. “If Akpabio and his camp wanted a united Senate just like Ahmad Lawan, they could have known exactly what to do during Senate Standing Committees allocation and supplementary budget resources allocation.

 

“But the camp of the SP continued to treat the Senate as a conquered territory, where the winner goes home with the spoils of war; a classical example of a winner takes all. “How do you explain a situation where out of Category A Committees, only two went to his perceived rivals?

 

How will you explain a senate where 83.1% of those made Chairmen of Category A Committees are also Vice Chairmen of Category A? How do you explain a third time Senator denied the Chairmanship of a Committee? How do you explain leadership of the Senate are all Vice Chairmen of Category A Committees? “You cannot threat us like conquered people and come back to blackmail us with planted and paid newspaper reports setting us against the President.

 

“During the ministerial screening, where three minister designates were refused clearance by the Senate, which Committee looked into the petitions against them? Ethics and Previleges or Ad-hoc Committee or Committee of the whole? Was the report de- liberated and debated during plenary?

 

“The SP just absconded during Plenary and kept the Senate Was there any voting either, AYES or NOES? Waiting in the Chamber for over three hours while he was in the Villa? Something that never happened in the history of the Senate? Then came and read out names of those cleared and “waved” papers in his hand claiming security report from NSA or DSS as reason for not clearing some ministers.

 

“In my opinion, this is the lowest the Senate ever descended. Who gave NSA or DSS DG or IGP the power to write to the Senate? What do you call that communication? Executive communication or reckless communication? “Are we telling Nigerians that the Presidency and the Security agencies did not do diligent work before sending the list to the senate or the senate is used as a cannon fodder for Presidential aides power play?