The Senators representing Bauchi Central and Kwara South respectively, Isa
Hama Misau and Rafiu Ibrahim have warned their counterpart from Katsina
South, Abu Ibrahim and his fellow travellers in the All Progressives
Congress (APC) not to foment any trouble when the Senate resumes on
September 25, as the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki will
never resign from the position.
Misau and Ibrahim, in a statement jointly signed by them in reaction to an
interview granted by the Katsina Senator to the Cable online newspaper,
stated that Abu Ibrahim and his colleagues will meet their match if they
tried anything illegal even with all the deployment of security forces
which they might have been assured of by the executive arm of government.
“It is obvious from the statements of Abu Ibrahim that he and his cohorts
are not democrats. They do not believe in rule of law, the provisions of
the constitution, the standing order of the Senate, parliamentary
procedure and the due process.
“How will a supposed democrat be threatening disruption of peace in the
parliament because his party lost members and lost its majority status?
His statements showed why one of them led thugs to disrupt the proceeding
of the Senate, steal the mace, the symbol of authority of the legislature,
and yet there is no consequence. Both the mastermind and his thugs have
been protected from being prosecuted. Now, Abu Ibrahim has given us an
insight into what they are planning and we will be ready for them. He has
also shown an indication of how he, as the chairman of the Police Affairs
Committee, has been misusing the police against other Senators.
“APC should note that they are now the minority party. PDP have more
members. When we resume, if they push us, we will move for a head count of
members and change some of our principal officers to reflect party
strength. Today, by the list paraded by APC themselves, they have only 48
Senators and PDP has 54, APGA has 2 and ADC has 2. There are two
vacancies. That is the distribution in the Senate. Let them continue to
deceive themselves.
“We will use our strength to defend the position of the present leadership
of the Senate under Dr. Saraki and Senator Ike Ekweremadu. We will defend
democracy and rule of law against the pretenders. We will show that every
Senator represent different constituencies in our country.
“Our colleague from Katsina State has equally demonstrated that even
though he has spent four terms in the legislature, he has not imbibed
parliamentary ethos. Even his knowledge of the provisions of the law and
the Senate rules is suspect. That is why he misrepresented the provisions
of Rule 12 order 1, 2 and 3 of the Senate about the process of reconvening
the Senate after it properly adjourned. By the provision, without all the
leaders of the four parties initiating the reconvening of the Senate
before the adjourned date, nothing can legally happen. Also without the
consent of the Senate President, nothing can happen.
“We urge him and his colleagues to know that if they tried anything
illegal and indecent, we will resist it through legal means. They saw an
instance with the way our colleagues in the House of Representatives
quickly gathered to foil their failed coup early this week.
“Abu Ibrahim and his cohorts have shown that they are desperate to win the
2019 elections at all cost by all means. We are surprised that this
defection is making APC so uncomfortable that they are ready to bring the
country down because some Senators left their party. We gave them all the
opportunities to make amends from their destructive, non-inclusive and
dictatorial ways. They did not take the chances and were behaving as if
nobody matters. They are running a government by cabals, serving selfish
interests and forgetting all the promises the party made to the people
before being elected into office.
“The APC government has always demonstrated serious contempt for the
legislature. That is why they have sent only a paltry 11 executive bills
to the National Assembly in 38 months despite their promise of reform in
various sectors of the country, The APC government came in 2015 and the
first proposal they put forward was to have emergency powers in a
democracy. Thank God we did not fall for their antics.
“We call on all Nigerians and the international community to take note of
the threat by Abu Ibrahim and know that if there is any illegal move to
reconvene the Senate or there is breakdown of law and order in the Senate,
the man has leaked their plan. The APC cabal in the Senate should be held
responsible. Nigerians and the global community should know the type of
people in charge of Nigeria now and how they seek to desecrate and destroy
democratic institutions at will”, Misau and Ibrahim stated.
Signed:
1. Senator Isa Hamma Misau, Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy
2. Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance
and Other Financial Institutions