SAN FRANCISCO, May 01, (THEWILL) – The Senate President, Bukola Saraki has explained that the All Progressives Congress, APC, leadership caused the emergence of PDP’s Ike Ekweremadu as the deputy senate president by holding a meeting with senators at a time the eight Senate should be proclaimed.
This was as he denied going into an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, so the opposition party can produce the deputy senate president while he is helped into becoming the number three citizen.
THEWILL recalls that circumstance that surrounded the election of the presiding officers of the upper legislative chamber was steeped in controversy.
The ruling APC had endorsed
Ahmad Lawan for the senate presidency seat but Saraki had the backing of the PDP lawmakers in the Senate.
He was elected unanimously by 57 senators on June 9, 2015 while the
remaining 51 lawmakers, all from the APC, went for a meeting called by the APC leadership at the international conference centre, Abuja, during the election.
On Monday, a Twitter user alleged that Saraki’s action truncated the Change agenda of the APC, but the Senate President responded to this by denying striking any deal with members of the opposition party.
He went further to state that he never thought that APC lawmakers would absent themselves from the first day of their sitting.
Saraki’s tweets read, “I did not do any deal with @OfficialPDPNig. I did not have to because even before they took group decision, 22 or them already endorsed me.
“I didn’t envisage some @APCNigeria members been
absent from @NGRSenate especially when clerk already
received a proclamation from President.
“If a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match &
was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame
the team that turned up?
“Those that made it possible for PDP to claim DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting when senators ought to be in the chambers.”
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