Following the crisis between the Senate and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, lawmakers on Wednesday resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to report the activities of the police boss to him.
Although, the police boss has dismissed allegation, Ekweremadu in his ruling on Wednesday, said, “We have agreed that we are going to set up an ad hoc committee. This committee will engage with the President as soon as possible to be able to deal not only with this, but to also ensure that the President take charge in matters concerning preserving our rights and protecting our democracy.”
Members of the delegation to be led by Saraki are Majority Leader, Ahmad Lawan; Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio; Chief Whip, Sola Adeyeye; Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Senator Samuel Egwu, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, Senator Fatima Raji Rasaki and Senator Oluremi Tinubu. Before the resolution was made, the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, after Saraki’s presentation, raised a point of order to ask why Saraki raised the matter without throwing the matter open to the Senate for a debate and investigation.
“If indeed this allegation is true, we will need to take some resolutions and bring it to the appropriate authorities. It will not be right for us to wait for the dubious act being planned to happen before we react, “he said.
Responding, Saraki said he only wanted to inform the Senate but the lawmakers could take up the matter. Akpabio prayed the Senate to mandate a committee to probe into the allegation against the police. Seconding Akpabio’s prayer, Senator Ahmed Sani said the matter should be referred to a committee for investigation.
The Deputy Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na ’ Allah, said Ahmed must have informed Saraki about the alleged plot from an informed position as the chief security officer of Kwara. “We cannot just sweep that matter under the carpet,” he stated. Na’Allah asked that a panel of “very experienced members who have been here for some time and who know about this kind of issue” be mandated to probe into the matter.
He prayed that Saraki be absolved of constituting the committee, asking him to step down from presiding over the session and allow the Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu, to take over and name members of the panel. The prayer was unanimously granted. Ekweremadu asked the lawmakers to make suggestions on the action to be taken.
Both the Chief Whip, Sola Adeyeye; Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda; and Senator Gbenga Ashafa, called for a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. Also, Senator Samuel Anyanwu said, “I don’t want us to trivialise this issue, it is a very serious matter. If this matter has to do with the Senate President of Nigeria, then all of us are in trouble. I remember that I said from February, all of us will be in the cell one after the other. We have come to that point.
“We should look for crack people who can do a forensic investigation of this issue and bring it to the public domain, so that Nigerians will understand the persecution we are going through now. “As it stands, I can assure you that already, some of us have been earmarked for destruction just because we speak out. But as far as I am concerned, it is only one bullet and one life. This democracy cannot be ridiculed.”
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