There are strong indications that the Peoples Democratic Party senators and their All Progressives Congress counterparts will, on Tuesday, clash over the Senate leadership’s continued frustration of the intention of 11 PDP senators to defect to the APC.
Sunday PUNCH’s investigations in Abuja on Friday showed that the APC senators would on Tuesday insist that the President of the Senate, David Mark, should read the letter written to him by the defecting senators.
But it was gathered that the PDP caucus in the Senate had concluded plans to prevent Mark from reading the letter.
The APC Interim National Publicity Secretary Mr. Lai Mohammed, had on Tuesday said the 11 senators had defected to the party from the PDP.
The senators said to have defected are Bukola Saraki, Adamu Abdulahi, Shaba Lafiagi, Ibrahim Gobir, Aisha Al-Hassan, Magnus Abe, Wilson Ake, Jibrilla Mohammed Bindowo, Danjuma Goje, Ali Ndume and Umar Dahiru.
Mark did not read the letter on Wednesday, and the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who stood in for him on Thursday also failed to do so despite the insistence of some of the 11 senators.
One of the APC senators from the South-West, who gave a hint into what the APC Senate caucus would do, said, “We are aware that the Senate President is doing everything possible to stop the defection but we are also up to the task.
“We will ensure that the first business in the next legislative day, which is Tuesday, will be the reading of the letter.
“We have all the necessary laws within the Senate and in the constitution of Nigeria to support our action.”
A PDP senator however insisted that his members would frustrate all means to make Mark to read the letter of the defectors.
Pleading anonymity, he said, “We hope that the Senate President will have a fruitful deliberation with our aggrieved colleagues on Monday.
“However, if they insist on defection, we will ensure that such a thing will not happen on the floor.”
Asked why they were desperate to stop the defection at all costs, the PDP senator said it was to prevent chaos in the upper chamber.
He said, “If the senators are allowed to go, there are fears that there would be pressure on us to declare their seats vacant and the Senate President is empowered constitutionally to do that.
“When this happens, there will be crisis and this may slow down legislative business. We are doing all these in the best interest of the Nigeria masses.”
Another member of the PDP Senate caucus told one of our correspondents in confidence that the outcome of the meeting between the Senate President and the aggrieved senators would however determine the execution of their strategies.
SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the PDP caucus would rely on Order 53 (5) of the Senate Standing Orders (2011, as amended) to stop the defection process.
The section of the Order states, “Reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending, in such a way as might in the opinion of the President of the Senate prejudice the interest of parties thereto.”
The Interim Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ondo State, Rotimi Fashakin, however said the refusal of the Senate leadership to read the letter of the defecting Senators was a ploy to bide for time.
He said, “They (Senate leadership) are only postponing the evil day because these men have made up their minds to go the progressives.
“The Senate leadership is just trying to bide for time to see if they can get our members to change their minds; it is too late in the day for that to happen. They have defected; it is only a matter of time.”
But the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, said Senate President, David Mark, would read letters written by senators planning to defect if such letters existed.
Abaribe, who stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents, also said the Deputy Senate President did not deliberately refuse to read the ‘purported letters’ during plenary on Thursday.
Copyright PUNCH.
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