The Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) has raised alarm that some cabinet members of the executive in collaboration with the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have perfected plans to allegedly bribe some senators with 50 million each to impeach the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.
A statement issued on Sunday by the Publicity Secretary of the R-APC, Kassim Afegbua, entitled “Senator Saraki’s planned impeachment: Matters arising,” alleged that the leadership of the APC, working in cahoot with the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, have perfected plans to apply Gestapo methods to forcefully unseat the President of the Senate. It stated that part of the plan is to impose a new leadership that will do the bidding of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
The R-APC expressed dismay that each time that President Buhari travels for medical attention, something dramatic often takes place, warning that the latest trip of the President will unfurl already plotted schemes aimed at removing Senate President, Benue state Governor, and other perceived persons opposed to the re-election of the President and those who have defected from the APC to other parties.
The statement added that a high-powered meeting of these persons was held at the Maitama residence of the ‘disputed’ Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday, 2nd August, 2018, where they brainstormed on the possible ways to carry out their illegality. The meeting, Afegbua said lasted for three hours, as confirmed by an inside source to the R-APC, adding that the plotters explored both legal and illegal approach to execute the assignment of ensuring that Bukola Saraki ceases to be the President of the Senate.
“Having met a brick wall going by the legal processes involved before the Senate can be re-opened, the disputed APC leadership is toiling with the barbaric idea of forcefully opening the National Assembly, reconvene the Senate and use the Senators of the APC to preside over the planned impeachment. Senator Abdullahi Adamu has been penciled down to succeed Distinguished Senator Bukola Saraki, amidst a host of other changes in the Senate’s principal officers.
“Once the Senate leadership is overthrown in a coup d’etat manner, the Senate will immediately consider the virement budget of the INEC and also approve the pending nominations in the Senate. Part of the plot was to reach out to some PDP Senators especially those who have EFCC queries in order to give them a clean bill of health once they defect to the APC. They also agreed to woo some senators with the sum of fifty million naira each (N50m),” the statement said.
The R-APC called all Nigerians and the international community to take note of the “barbaric, gangsteristic, primitive and rebarbative plots, aimed at deliberately over-heating the system and undermine law and order by sheer use of brute force.”
“We are raising alarm because of the dangers this portends for democracy especially in an already fragile political atmosphere that has played host to several fluctuations and militarization in the last two weeks. Part of the plot is to seek out what they called a “friendly Judge” where they could procure either a black-market injunction or “Jankara” Court order that would be used as alibi for the planned impeachment and take-over of the National Assembly.
“We find all these plots as burdensome for a system that was already undergoing storm and stress, thus making us object of ridicule in the eyes of the world. It is benumbing to note that those who usually occupy the front seats when democracy is being discussed, are the architects of these orchestrated plots peculiar with military regimes. Even when we understand that they could be carry-over effects of military regime, we never knew they have assumed this frightening dimension,” the statement said.
The R-APC therefore called on the Acting President, Yemi Osibanjo, a Professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to call the plotters to order to avoid a needless breakdown of law and order adding that any civilized democracy, rule of law and not rule of man is usually the common denominator to engage the democratic process.
The R-APC also condemned the use of the Nigeria Police Force against the people they were meant to protect, which it said has made Nigeria mere object of ridicule in the eyes of the world.
“The provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) stipulates in no ambiguous terms procedure to follow in electing a Senate President and removal of same. All the armtwisting methods and trying to be clever by half approach will only further compound an already compounded situation,” the statement said.
It urged members of the international community to withdraw the Visas that were earlier issued to the undemocratic elements amongst who have continued to unleash mayhem on statutory authorities for less than altruistic motives. It said that names of those undemocratic persons have been compiled for onward transmission to all embassies and foreign missions to either withdraw their Visas or refuse them fresh Visas.
It condemned the APC for its double standard, saying “while the APC on the one hand condemns the PDP and the defectors as inconsequential politicians, it is curious on the other hand to note that the APC has devoted consolidated interest in ensuring that it gets some PDP stalwarts into its fold. This double-faced conduct is suggestive of APC’s identity crisis, pretentiousness and sanctimoniousness.
“At the risk of sounding superfluous, APC could be likened to the Chichidodo bird that feeds on maggots but hates the smell of faeces; such curious irony that typifies the true reflection of a party in search of its true identity. While it celebrates her members, no matter how questionable their characters, it demonizes other members of political parties who are not in agreement with its present desperate re-election peregrination,” the statement said.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
