The President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has raised the alarm over an alleged midnight meeting between the Director General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, and about 30 senators.
The meeting, said to be on at about 12:21am on Tuesday, came on a day Saraki’s office announced the emergency reconvening of the leadership of the National Assembly for consideration of urgent national issues.
The Senate and the House of Representatives had on July 24, 2018 proceeded on recess, announcing September 26, 2018 as resumption date.
They however left several burning issues unattended to, especially the supplementary budget sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Senate for next year’s election, which affects the Independent National Electoral Commission and the DSS.
According to a highly placed aide of the Senate president, the meeting between the senators and Daura was to perfect the removal of Saraki and the Deputy President of the Senate, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, on Tuesday as the leadership of the Senate reconvenes.
The source said the meeting had also agreed that the Senate Majority Leader, Ahmad Lawan, is to replace Saraki as the President of the Senate, while Hope Uzodinma will emerge as the Deputy President of the Senate.
However, Lawan, who earlier met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, alongside the Presidential Liaison Office (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, had denied knowledge of such move to replace Saraki forcefully.
He told State House Correspondents after the meeting: “I am hearing it for the first time.
“There is a process going into that chamber.
“I didn’t hear it before that some senators attempted to break into that chamber.
“Possibly, you must have the names of senators, but I want to tell you that we are law-abiding and that we will do everything possible in the national interest but we will try to keep within our processes and our procedures.”
Asked what the next step would be if the presiding officers fail to reconvene the Senate, Lawan said: “The presiding officers are people like you and I, they are Nigerians, they listen or they should listen.
“So I don’t even want to contemplate that the presiding officers will say they will not reconvene the chambers of the National Assembly based on the fundamental and primary request of Mr. President of passing the budget.”
