Saraki: APC, PDP Senators Draw Battle Lines as National Assembly Reconvenes on Tuesday

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– APC senators and the PDP lawmakers at the National Assembly have drawn a battle line over calls for Saraki’s resignation

– The ruling party had called on Saraki to resign, following his defection and 13 other senators from the APC to the PDP,

– But the PDP senators said that Saraki would remain the Senate president

Strong indications have emerged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators and their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts are heading for a showdown as the National Assembly reconvenes on Tuesday, August 14.

According to Saturday Punch, the bone of contention bordered on what should be discussed at the plenary on Tuesday, August 14.

Naija Live Tv gathered that the senators, who are loyal to the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, were insisting that the only agenda would be the consideration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s budget for the 2019 elections.

The anti-Saraki lawmakers on the other hand, said nothing was sacrosanct, adding that they could raise the issue of the leadership of the Senate.

Following the defection of the Senate president and 13 other senators from the APC to the PDP, the ruling party had called on Saraki to resign.

But the Senate president on Wednesday, August 8, said he would resign only if two-thirds of senators passed a vote of no confidence in him.

A pro-Saraki senator, who confided in Saturday Punch, said: “On Tuesday our focus will be INEC budget. Those who think we will debate majority and leadership issues are wasting their time.”

But another senator, who is opposed to Saraki, said, “No issue is sacrosanct. Saraki’s issue will come up on Tuesday.”

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who is a member of the Parliamentary Support Group (PSG), a group of President Muhammadu Buhari’s loyalists in the National Assembly, said the APC senators would use every opportunity to seek Saraki’s exit from the Senate presidency.

According to him, there are legal and moral reasons for Saraki to quit the Senate presidency.

Omo-Agege, in an interview with Saturday Punch said, “The moment Saraki defected from the APC to the minority party, PDP, he no longer has the moral, political and legal rights to remain as the Senate president.

“We have requested of him to step down. We have requested of him to do the honourable thing, to do the needful by stepping down. It is a request we are going to continue to make and any opportunity we have, we are going to insist that he must step down.”

But one of those who defected from the APC to the PDP, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, dared anti-Saraki lawmakers to come to the Senate and impeach the Senate president.

He stated that only two-thirds majority of anti-Saraki lawmakers could effect his impeachment.

He recalled that the Senate president had at the press conference on Wednesday, August 8, said he was ready to leave the seat once the constitutional requirement was met.

Ibrahim, in an interview said: “Let them come to the chamber when we open and let them come and carry out the impeachment. All they need for the impeachment is about 74. If they can get the signatures of 74 members and they will be there; if they can stand up for division and we can see them, then they will have their way. That is the beauty of democracy.”

In her submission, the deputy minority whip, Senator Biodun Olujimi, argued that the APC had lost its majority status in the chamber, noting that the PDP had the same number with the ruling party.

The Senate principal officer dismissed the calls by the APC, its national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and Prof. Itse Sagay for Saraki’s resignation on moral grounds.

She recalled that PDP senators voted more for Saraki to become the Senate president than the APC.

Olujimi said: “I don’t understand what they are saying because they need two-thirds majority to remove him. They should bring the numbers, that is all. They don’t need to talk on the pages of newspapers. They don’t even have a simple

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