There are strong indications that members of the Like Minds Senators have perfected plans to silence Senator Kabiru Marafa, who is the arrow head of the opposition against the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who is currently facing trial of alleged false declaration of assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Marafa had in an interview with a national newspaper supported former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s comment on corruption in the National Assembly.
Marafa had in the interview said one aspect he agrees with Obasanjo on is about the allocation for lawmakers in the budget, adding: “Sharing money should not be the basis of the performance of legislators.
“Maybe the less they earn the better.
“I don’t know.
“But I think whatever he (Obasanjo) is saying is right and I support him that the National Assembly should lay bare their budget.”
Our correspondent gathered that the Like Minds Senators had in caucus meeting planned to stablize Saraki in the Senate.
A Senator from Bauchi, Senator Hamma Isa Misa, had raised a point of order, citing Order 14 and 16, while calling the attention of senators to the Interview Marafa had granted casting support for the allegation by Obasanjo against the Senate on corruption.
Misa said the interview by Marafa had misled the Nigerian public while bringing the image of the Senate into disrepute.
He said since the interview was published, he had received not less than 500 calls and text messages from his constituents who he said were demanding the true position of things in the Senate regarding the position by Marafa.
Misau urged the Senate to take a drastic action to caution Marafa, stating: “I will not allow anyone who enjoyed the 7th Senate to cause problem.
“It is not good that we allow someone to continue to tell lies against us.”
Supporting the point of order, Senator Mathew Urhohide (Edo) recommended sanction against Marafa, urging the Senate to take a drastic action against him based on his remarks.
Urhoide said Marafa deserved to be sanctioned because the remarks credited to him amounted to bringing the image of the Senate to disrepute and that his position should not be supported.
Saraki referred the issue canvassed against Marafa to the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee for investigation.
He said the Committee should report its finding to the plenary within the next one week.
However, members of the Unity Forum rose in support of Marafa, contending that the Senate was embarking on a witch-hunt rather than working to protect national interest.
Senator Ahmed Lawan, who once contested against Saraki for the Senate president’s seat, said: “As a Senate, as an institution, we should be more sensitive to the way we discharge our functions and mandates as provided for in the Constitution.
“That is to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in the utilization of public funds.
“We are to make good laws for the orderliness and good governance of this country.
“That we support the executive arm of government, that is the Presidency, in this regard to ensure that Nigeria moves out of the current quagmire that we have found ourselves.
“If we are able to achieve this or in fact if we become completely committed to doing this, our image before the Nigerian public will be such massive image that every Nigerian will support the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.
“I think at the moment, we are apprehensive to what the public feels about us because an individual senator bares his mind on an issue.
“So I will advice the Senate that instead of spending so much time on how an individual senator could say something and rubbish the entire institution, we should rather take the bull by the horn and focus on our fundamental functions and mandates.”
Also in his reaction, Senator Abu Ibrahim said: “My belief is that the Senate is such a very high institution in the democratic environment in Nigeria that we should not start limiting ourselves to the fundamental human rights of free speech.
“That’s my fear.
“The moment we start taking any small thing, any opinion and start investigating ourselves, we are going to shoot ourselves on the foot.
“Obviously, our main function requires independent vote, freedom of speech.
“The moment you start instilling fear among ourselves that whether the Senate will impute meanings to whatever we say, then we have to call ourselves to order.
“So I believe that our colleagues should be very careful in this kind of situation.
“We should consider statements according to their merits.
“What did Marafa say really that impinged on the integrity and the public image of the National Assembly?
“We have so many pressing problems in this country.
“We should concentrate on those issues that will move the nation forward.
“But here we are trying to cause more troubles for ourselves.
“If we are doing anything to our colleague, we are doing so to ourselves collectively.
“We will discuss the report when it is submitted.”
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