Why the anti-Saraki Adopts
Judicial Coup Plot
…and why it may fail
The on-going ordeal of the senate
president, Senator Bukola Saraki has exposed the weaknesses of the ruling party,
APC and by implication, the problem of having strange bed fellows locked up in
a political party.
In the beginning, the opposition
APC grew out of the leading opposition parties,the CPC led by Buhari, the ANPP
led by Ogbonaiya Onu, the ACN led by Bola Tinubu, then a faction of APGA and that
of the DPP. It was later on that the rebels in the then ruling PDP joined them
haven tried in vain to hijack the PDP leadership from the then President,
Goodluck Jonathan.
But from all indications, the APC
did not believe they could defeat the PDP, at least, their thought was that the
PDP would use the state power to rig the poll and declare self the winner. So,
instead of planning how to rule, they were planning how to fight the PDP
government and that was when the likes of Rotimi Amaechi was mauling a parallel
government.
Fortunately for them, they won
and the PDP led government did not reject the poll or stay put in power as
envisaged but the APC, from all indications, did not set down for the task ahead.
For example, they failed to share the key offices among the six geo-political
zones and this was largely responsible for the on-going crises in the National
Assembly.
President Buhari himself made a
tacit reference to this in his Independence Day Broadcast but as usual, he
passed the buck to the Jonathan Presidency which handed over to him, four days
to the handing over date!
His words: “Fellow Nigerians,
there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in
announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set
out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes
from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently,
the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of
Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes. It would have
been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the
number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance”.
The so called newPDP which felt
short-changed with the sharing of the booties among the CPC and the ACN would
not accept defeat and they resolved to take over the leadership of the National
Assembly and that was successfully done.
While that of the lower chamber
could be said to have been resolved, as Femi Gbajabiamila has been accommodated
as the House Leader under the speakership of Hon Yakubu, that of the Senate did
not follow that part for some reasons and the ground standing of the APC
leadership compounded the problem.
To remove Saraki thru impeachment
is a tall order as majority of the members are solidly behind him. And this
what I mean: APC has 59 Senators while PDP has 49 Senators. All the PDP
Senators are behind Saraki since of them, Ike Ekweremadu is the Deputy to
Saraki. Even out of the 49 APC senators, not fewer than 20 of them are with
Saraki.
Pro-Saraki APC Senators:
Kwara: Senator Saraki and 2
others
Sokoto: 3 Senators led by former Gov
Wamakko
Gombe: 3 senators led by Gov
Danjuma Goje
Kogi: The 2 APC Senators (Dino Menaiye
and Ohiare
Kano: Kwankaso, Kabiru Gaya and
the third one
Ondo: Tayo Alasoadura : the
rebelious APC senator
Bauchi: Hamma Missau
Zamfara: Sani Yerima and Tijjani Kaura
Niger: Senator David Umaru
20 APC Senators + 49 PDP Senators
This is why those opposed to
Saraki leadership has to run to the Code of Conduct Tribunal. But if what the
legal giants like Dr Tunji Braithwaite said is anything to go by, the CCT trial
is just an attempt to just whip Saraki to the line and not to enforce the full
sanction of the law against him.
According to him, “Saraki’s
arraignment before the CCT will die a natural death. The charges that I heard
read against Saraki were criminal, why take him to the CCT, which is like a
bull dog without teeth? The CCT has not got criminal power. He should have been
taken to a court with criminal power to send people to jail if found guilty.
The CCT cannot jail. You will find that this circus show will die a natural
death”.
But if the judicial coup
succeeded, the APC would still have itself to blame as the PDP and the APC
senators loyal to Saraki cold still dictate who become their president and if
they wanted to pay the APC back in its own coin, a PDP senator could be elected
as successor to Saraki. The only way out is for the party to swallow its pride
and let Saraki be. All those calling for his head because of 2019 should wait
till that time comes or get ready for the balkanisation of the party.
EDITOR'S NOTE
This piece was sent by a Nigerian
who does not want his name in print, for strategic reasons. He lives in Abuja. Reactions are welcome.
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