Senators from across the political divide on Sunday night resolved to defend the Senate under the leadership of Saraki from incursion from what they call \u201ca cabal\u201d in the All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/p>\n
To demonstrate their resolve to \u201cride the tide, rise and fall with Saraki,\u201d no fewer than 50 Senators met in a location in Jahi District in the Fed\u00aderal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in a marathon meeting which started on Saturday and ended on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
The meeting, which alleg\u00adedly involved conference calls from other Senators out of the country in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America vowed \u201cto protect the institu\u00adtion of the Senate from a gang of cabals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daily Sun gathered that the meeting, which was presided over by a member of the Sen\u00adate leadership, saw angry Sen\u00adators point accusing fingers in the direction of \u201csome cabals in the APC with no regard for due process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe met on Saturday and at the meeting, we discov\u00adered that the legal war against Saraki was not done with re\u00adspect for the rule of law. There was no due process in the charges leveled against him at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided that everything must be done to deal deci\u00adsively with the cabal. I had cause to explain to them that President Buhari had no hand in the war against the Senate President.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted to embarrass the Senate but we will let them know that we will sink or swim with Saraki\u2026He will be our president, even in jail. There will be no leadership change; if that is what they are expecting\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The meeting ended yester\u00adday night with moves to pass a confidence vote on Saraki when the Senate resumes in plenary, it was gathered.<\/p>\n
Regardless, it also emerged yesterday some Senators met last Wednesday, immediately the perjury charges levelled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) be\u00adcame public.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, some of the PDP Senators said they should re\u00adspond by convening an emer\u00adgency session where a mo\u00adtion would be sponsored by a member from the opposition to alert Nigerians to the fact that the charges against Saraki was a witch hunt. But, wise counsel prevailed because some thought the move could boomerang on the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides, some ranking Sen\u00adators may have decided not to wade into the matter officially because \u201csome of us have anti-corruption cases in court. This is not the best time to be seen shouting about Saraki\u2019s travails.\u201d Another set of Sena\u00adtors reiterated that they are \u201cbusinessmen and any noise now may jeopardise such business interests. \u201cYou don\u2019t fight government and win,\u201d another member from the South said.<\/p>\n
In a related development, some Senators are expected to prevail on Saraki to discard \u201cthe winner-takes-all attitude\u201d and implement the composi\u00adtion of Senate leadership let\u00adter sent to him by the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the mood of the party; they want some Sena\u00adtors in the leadership\u2026It\u2019s time to allow party supremacy in some areas,\u201d a Senator dis\u00adclosed.<\/p>\n
A meeting to that effect, it was learnt, held at a house in the Jahi District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) last week. A source said Senators mulled another confidence vote \u201cto show that Senators are with Saraki\u2026We will not allow anyone or cabal think they can rubbish the Senate as an institution and get away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a related development, Saraki, it was gathered, is reportedly looking to the Ju\u00addiciary as the last resort to evade arrest and prosecution today.<\/p>\n
Daily Sun gathered that last Friday, soon after the CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar, issued a bench warrant for his arrest, a flustered Senate President immediately left his office in the new Senate wing of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n
A ranking Senator, how\u00adever, disclosed on Sunday evening that \u201cSaraki may not even show up in the CCT today. I got to know that the appeal against his arrest may have been served on the CCT chairman same day (on Friday); even though Daudu promised to personally show up with him at the tribunal today\u2026\u201d More revelations, however, indicate that Sara\u00adki\u2019s legal counsels, M. A. Mahmud and Joseph Daudu, former President of the Ni\u00adgeria Bar Association (NBA) were prepared for \u201cany even\u00adtuality\u201d during the hearing at the CCT last Friday. A source privy to the arrangement dis\u00adclosed that,\u201don Friday, when they were in court, both counsels to the Senate Presi\u00addent, \u201chaving read the body language of the CCT chair\u00adman, immediately went into action. They approached the Appeal Court and got an ap\u00adpeal against his arrest ready\u2026 in fact, between 2:30pm and 3:00pm on Friday, the ap\u00adpeal was ready, filed imme\u00addiately and the Chief Regis\u00adtrar signed and took it to the Court of Appeal where it was stamped and possession was taken of the Certified True Copy (CTC). \u201cThat was why it was difficult to carry out the bench warrant issued on him by the CCT chairman.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Septem\u00adber 16, the Federal Govern\u00adment, through the CCB, filed a 13-count charge against Saraki, accusing him of false declaration of assets includ\u00ading failure to declare some properties in the highbrow Maitama district of Abuja and Ikoyi, Lagos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senators from across the political divide on Sunday night resolved to defend the Senate under the leadership of Saraki from incursion from what they call \u201ca cabal\u201d in the All…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n