Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. It is a fact
that Senator Bukola Saraki seems to have learned as Senate President.
He, however, soldiers on with a determination to imprint a legacy
The year 2015 marked the transition of two Senates. The roller coaster years of the David Mark Senate came to a swift end following the failure of his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to produce the required majority in the Senate election of March 28.
However, the supposition that the end of the PDP hegemony would lead to the supremacy of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 8thSenate was soon dismissed following the failure of the APC to cobble the required unity. In the face of the crisis that engulfed the APC during the National Assembly leadership election, the PDP slipped in and worked out an alliance with a faction of APC senators loyal to Senator Bukola Saraki to enthrone Saraki as Senate President against the wish of the party leadership and reportedly, President Muhammadu Buhari.
As quid pro quo, the PDP got one of its own, in the person of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Saraki’s deputy.
Saraki, contested the position against Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe
North and emerged victorious against the will of his party, the APC,
which had directed all its senators to queue behind Lawan in the
contest.
Saraki, however, was elected the Senate President, after garnering the bloc support of PDP senators and receiving the support of some APC senators who broke ranks with their party, having earlier, shunned a 9 a.m. meeting allegedly summoned by President Muhammadu Buhari on the day of the election.
Mock election of the aspirants
Supporters of Lawan who had been bolstered by the endorsement of the party following a mock election of the aspirants, woke up on that fateful day to the news of PDP’s endorsement of Saraki. Even so, they still headed for the 9 a.m. meeting called by President Buhari. They were waiting for the presidential parley when Senator Saraki and some senators of the APC moved into the National Assembly complex, where the police had thrown a cordon to prevent workers and reporters from entering, for the election of principal officers.
While lawmakers loyal to Senator Lawan were at the ICC waiting for the president to arrive, they were hit with the news of Saraki’s election as Senate President.
He became the Senate President with the support of 57 senators , most of them PDP members, who unanimously elected him, after he was nominated by Senator Sanni Yerima, APC, Zamfara Central, and seconded by Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, respectively.
Shortly after the emergence of Saraki, the stage was set for election of a senator for the office of the Deputy Senate President. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, of the PDP and the immediate past holder of the office and Senator Ali Ndume of the APC emerged as the two contestants.
READ ALSO:No Discriminatory Fees In Sokoto Schools- Tambuwal
In the election that followed, Ekweremadu, PDP, Enugu West polled 54 votes to defeat Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South, who got 20 votes.
Vanguard gathered that getting Ekweremadu into such a key position was one reason the PDP threw its weight behind Saraki’s emergence as Senate President.
Supporters of Lawan were, however, seriously peeved with the development and for the first four months after the election, they made life uncomfortable for Saraki.
Either working on their own or in concert with outside interests, supporters of Lawan pulled every arsenal available to bring down Saraki and Ekweremadu. A petition was lodged with the police claiming that the Rule Book used for the election was forged, but the police at the end of their investigations could not produce a recommendation and subtly recommended a political solution.
A case of false declaration of assets was also lodged against Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The Senate President was docked at the tribunal on a 13-count charge.
Every day Saraki attended the trial the Senate was shut down mainly on the fact that almost all his supporters thronged the tribunal to give him solidarity.
Interestingly, while the Senate President’s case is being handled by the CCT, the Senate on its part has asked a committee of the Senate to in turn, investigate allegations of corruption against the CCT boss.
The development came following a petition by a Non Governmental Group, the Anti-Corruption Network, which alleged that Umar did not only err by not only receiving bribe in the course of his assignment but also engaged in other large-scale corruption acts.
Meanwhile, Saraki at the commencement of his stewardship had pledged to draw a line on issues that had brought bad name to the Senate.
One of those issues was the case of huge allowances paid to the senators.
A 10-man committee, chaired by Senator James Manager, PDP Delta South tasked with studying the allowances payable to senators in its report recommended a slight reduction of 10 per cent in the allowances and salaries of all senators.
Meanwhile, while the Senators were reportedly surrendering a fraction of their allowances, it emerged towards the end of the year that the Senate had made an elaborate arrangement for the purchase of state of the art vehicles for themselves against the spirit of the monetisation policy under which they were each given car loans amounting to 300% of their annual salary. As with the Mark Senate, the Saraki Senate was quick to defend the car purchases as being procured for committee work though everyone knows, the cars would be used by the senators.
Meanwhile, the election of Saraki seemed to have created a wall between the presidency and the Senate as President Buhari seemed to put off the customary rapport between the presidency and the Senate. It was not until about five months after the election that the president for the first time received the Senate leadership.
Indeed because of the tension created by the election of Ekweremadu from the PDP as DSP, there was much sensitivity to Ekweremadu presiding over the affairs of the Senate in the absence of Saraki as is expected of a deputy to a Senate President.
However, that sensitivity which lingered for four months after the election was finally buried on Wednesday November 11, when Saraki was unavoidably absent because of his presence in the Presidential Villa at the swearing in of ministers.
READ ALSO:No Discriminatory Fees In Sokoto Schools- Tambuwal
Recognition by the presidency
The invitation to Saraki for the inauguration of the ministers was perhaps the recognition by the presidency that it could no longer afford to disregard the Senate President.
Ekweremadu’s first ascension to the presiding officer’s seat in the Eight Senate was not without drama as some APC senators, under the aegis of Unity Forum walked out once Ekweremadu mounted the dais.
Following the invitation for the ministerial inauguration, Saraki subsequently led senators to a dinner with the president in November, a development that actually drew to a close suspicions that Buhari was determined to push Saraki from office.
The president had been impressed by the way and manner Saraki supervised the screening of ministerial nominees and confessed as much at the dinner that also had APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who met for the first time since the brawl started with Saraki and Ekweremadu.
The storm was further quietened after Saraki conceded strategic committee positions to supporters of Senator Lawan in the 65 Standing Senate Committees that were created in November. The proliferation of the committee system suspected to be for political expediency was flayed by many Nigerians.
Lawan was made Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence while his key lieutenant, Senator George Akume, APC Benue North, was given the committee on Army.
Some Lawan loyalists were, however, still not pleased. Two of them were Senators Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara South and Sulaiman Hunkuyi, APC, Kaduna Central. Despite their protests, Saraki has since inaugurated the committees successfully bringing mutters of rebellion in the Senate to an end.
As the tussle between the Saraki and Lawan factions eased, the Senate was brought into focus when it read for the second time a bill to curtail the liberty of social media.
The bill sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah, APC, Kebbi South, and tagged :A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith”, is seeking a two year jail term or a N2 million fine for social media offenders.
The Senate President has, however, at different fora assured that any part of the bill that does not conform to human rights will be removed.
Given the earlier opposition from Buhari and his party, the APC, it is not surprising that Saraki has almost always used his influence not to exacerbate tensions especially in several areas where the president has erred.
The Senate under Saraki has overlooked executive pronouncements framed in illegality such as direct appointments made without Senate approval.
READ ALSO:Obasanjo urge Nigerians to develop their communities
The president appointed chairmen of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, without regard to the right of the Senate to confirm such appointments before the appointees resumed duty. However, these were treated as no issues.
Source:vanguard
The year 2015 marked the transition of two Senates. The roller coaster years of the David Mark Senate came to a swift end following the failure of his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to produce the required majority in the Senate election of March 28.
However, the supposition that the end of the PDP hegemony would lead to the supremacy of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 8thSenate was soon dismissed following the failure of the APC to cobble the required unity. In the face of the crisis that engulfed the APC during the National Assembly leadership election, the PDP slipped in and worked out an alliance with a faction of APC senators loyal to Senator Bukola Saraki to enthrone Saraki as Senate President against the wish of the party leadership and reportedly, President Muhammadu Buhari.
As quid pro quo, the PDP got one of its own, in the person of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Saraki’s deputy.
FILE: SENATE CHAMBER DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE 8TH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (9/6/15).
Saraki, however, was elected the Senate President, after garnering the bloc support of PDP senators and receiving the support of some APC senators who broke ranks with their party, having earlier, shunned a 9 a.m. meeting allegedly summoned by President Muhammadu Buhari on the day of the election.
Mock election of the aspirants
Supporters of Lawan who had been bolstered by the endorsement of the party following a mock election of the aspirants, woke up on that fateful day to the news of PDP’s endorsement of Saraki. Even so, they still headed for the 9 a.m. meeting called by President Buhari. They were waiting for the presidential parley when Senator Saraki and some senators of the APC moved into the National Assembly complex, where the police had thrown a cordon to prevent workers and reporters from entering, for the election of principal officers.
While lawmakers loyal to Senator Lawan were at the ICC waiting for the president to arrive, they were hit with the news of Saraki’s election as Senate President.
He became the Senate President with the support of 57 senators , most of them PDP members, who unanimously elected him, after he was nominated by Senator Sanni Yerima, APC, Zamfara Central, and seconded by Senator Dino Melaye, APC, Kogi West, respectively.
Shortly after the emergence of Saraki, the stage was set for election of a senator for the office of the Deputy Senate President. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, of the PDP and the immediate past holder of the office and Senator Ali Ndume of the APC emerged as the two contestants.
READ ALSO:No Discriminatory Fees In Sokoto Schools- Tambuwal
In the election that followed, Ekweremadu, PDP, Enugu West polled 54 votes to defeat Senator Ali Ndume, APC, Borno South, who got 20 votes.
Vanguard gathered that getting Ekweremadu into such a key position was one reason the PDP threw its weight behind Saraki’s emergence as Senate President.
Supporters of Lawan were, however, seriously peeved with the development and for the first four months after the election, they made life uncomfortable for Saraki.
Either working on their own or in concert with outside interests, supporters of Lawan pulled every arsenal available to bring down Saraki and Ekweremadu. A petition was lodged with the police claiming that the Rule Book used for the election was forged, but the police at the end of their investigations could not produce a recommendation and subtly recommended a political solution.
A case of false declaration of assets was also lodged against Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The Senate President was docked at the tribunal on a 13-count charge.
Every day Saraki attended the trial the Senate was shut down mainly on the fact that almost all his supporters thronged the tribunal to give him solidarity.
Interestingly, while the Senate President’s case is being handled by the CCT, the Senate on its part has asked a committee of the Senate to in turn, investigate allegations of corruption against the CCT boss.
The development came following a petition by a Non Governmental Group, the Anti-Corruption Network, which alleged that Umar did not only err by not only receiving bribe in the course of his assignment but also engaged in other large-scale corruption acts.
Meanwhile, Saraki at the commencement of his stewardship had pledged to draw a line on issues that had brought bad name to the Senate.
One of those issues was the case of huge allowances paid to the senators.
A 10-man committee, chaired by Senator James Manager, PDP Delta South tasked with studying the allowances payable to senators in its report recommended a slight reduction of 10 per cent in the allowances and salaries of all senators.
Meanwhile, while the Senators were reportedly surrendering a fraction of their allowances, it emerged towards the end of the year that the Senate had made an elaborate arrangement for the purchase of state of the art vehicles for themselves against the spirit of the monetisation policy under which they were each given car loans amounting to 300% of their annual salary. As with the Mark Senate, the Saraki Senate was quick to defend the car purchases as being procured for committee work though everyone knows, the cars would be used by the senators.
Meanwhile, the election of Saraki seemed to have created a wall between the presidency and the Senate as President Buhari seemed to put off the customary rapport between the presidency and the Senate. It was not until about five months after the election that the president for the first time received the Senate leadership.
Indeed because of the tension created by the election of Ekweremadu from the PDP as DSP, there was much sensitivity to Ekweremadu presiding over the affairs of the Senate in the absence of Saraki as is expected of a deputy to a Senate President.
However, that sensitivity which lingered for four months after the election was finally buried on Wednesday November 11, when Saraki was unavoidably absent because of his presence in the Presidential Villa at the swearing in of ministers.
READ ALSO:No Discriminatory Fees In Sokoto Schools- Tambuwal
Recognition by the presidency
The invitation to Saraki for the inauguration of the ministers was perhaps the recognition by the presidency that it could no longer afford to disregard the Senate President.
Ekweremadu’s first ascension to the presiding officer’s seat in the Eight Senate was not without drama as some APC senators, under the aegis of Unity Forum walked out once Ekweremadu mounted the dais.
Following the invitation for the ministerial inauguration, Saraki subsequently led senators to a dinner with the president in November, a development that actually drew to a close suspicions that Buhari was determined to push Saraki from office.
The president had been impressed by the way and manner Saraki supervised the screening of ministerial nominees and confessed as much at the dinner that also had APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who met for the first time since the brawl started with Saraki and Ekweremadu.
The storm was further quietened after Saraki conceded strategic committee positions to supporters of Senator Lawan in the 65 Standing Senate Committees that were created in November. The proliferation of the committee system suspected to be for political expediency was flayed by many Nigerians.
Lawan was made Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence while his key lieutenant, Senator George Akume, APC Benue North, was given the committee on Army.
Some Lawan loyalists were, however, still not pleased. Two of them were Senators Kabiru Marafa, APC, Zamfara South and Sulaiman Hunkuyi, APC, Kaduna Central. Despite their protests, Saraki has since inaugurated the committees successfully bringing mutters of rebellion in the Senate to an end.
As the tussle between the Saraki and Lawan factions eased, the Senate was brought into focus when it read for the second time a bill to curtail the liberty of social media.
The bill sponsored by Senator Ibn Na’Allah, APC, Kebbi South, and tagged :A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith”, is seeking a two year jail term or a N2 million fine for social media offenders.
The Senate President has, however, at different fora assured that any part of the bill that does not conform to human rights will be removed.
Given the earlier opposition from Buhari and his party, the APC, it is not surprising that Saraki has almost always used his influence not to exacerbate tensions especially in several areas where the president has erred.
The Senate under Saraki has overlooked executive pronouncements framed in illegality such as direct appointments made without Senate approval.
READ ALSO:Obasanjo urge Nigerians to develop their communities
The president appointed chairmen of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, without regard to the right of the Senate to confirm such appointments before the appointees resumed duty. However, these were treated as no issues.
Source:vanguard
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