Facts emerged at the weekend that the immediate past Governor of Kwara State and representative of Kwara Central Senatorial District, Senator Bukola Saraki, has entered into a deal with Senator Danjuma Goje from Gombe State to stop Senator Ahmad Lawan from becoming the next President of the Senate.
Twenty Senators from the North West geopolitical zone had on Thursday unanimously endorsed Lawan, a senator from Yobe State, which is in the North East getpolitical zone, as its preferred candidate for the Senate presidency.
But barely 24 hours after Lawan’s endorsement by the North West Senate caucus, Goje, who served as governor of Gombe State from 2003 to 2011, addressed Senate correspondents on Friday where he told the media that Lawan was not the consensus candidate of his North East zone.
However, further checks in Abuja revealed that Goje’s press conference was at Saraki’s instance.
Both men served as governors at the same time and are known friends and political associates, both in the Senate chamber and out of it.
They both left the Peoples Democratic Party for the New PDP and later formed the All Progressives Congress together.
A ranking senator from the North West, where President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, hails from, who later got wind of the arrangement, expressed disappointment in Goje.
The senator said: “This is typical of Goje.
“Always willing to do the dirty job.
“We heard that Saraki has promised to make him Deputy Senate President.
“Even at that, it remains to be seen how such treachery will pay off.”
It was further gathered that Lawan’s endorsement by the North West caucus had greatly unsettled Saraki, who saw it knocking him off the race for the Senate presidency.
Another senator from the North West said they were worried that Saraki might play the spoiler and ruin Lawan’s chances of becoming the next Senate president.
He, however, cautioned: “This is APC and definitely not PDP where anybody will play spoiler and get away with it.
“The Sarakis are best known for criss-crossing parties whenever they don’t get what they decree.
“We are closely monitoring him.
“Saraki’s, sorry Goje’s press conference was to create the false impression that the North East is not united and create an excuse to zone the Senate presidency out of the zone to the North Central.
“Claims that Lawan was imposed on the zone are lies.
“Who imposed who?
“If there is any imposition, it is Goje who wants to impose his godfather so that the North East can continue to be politically in front.”
The ranking senator added: “Goje is clearly working against the North East because of his Deputy Senate President ambition.”