•Akpabio and Senator Abbo
There appears to be a new twist in the allegation of the plot to impeach the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, when the lawmakers return from their holiday at the end of the month.
While Senator Akpabio yesterday dismissed the media reports of alleged plans by aggrieved senators to impeach him, the Senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Ishaku Elisha Abbo, pointedly accused the Senate President of instigating and planting the impeachment plot reports in the media in order to cause rift between President Bola Tinubu and the North, reports Sunday Sun.
The media reports yesterday quoted some unnamed sources of plans by some senators to impeach Akpabio. The media reports claimed that some senators had already met in Saudi Arabia to perfect the plot.
Reacting to the reports, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President of the Senate, Eseme Eyiboh, said that the reports were complete imaginations laced with malice to achieve what the senators are yet to comprehend.
He noted that, “the Senate has since moved on after the leadership contest. The plot to drag in Senators who initially did not support the emergence of the present leadership into a conspiracy that does not exist was uncharitable to the Senators.
“Senators are presently concluding their holidays in their constituencies and other places they have chosen to spend their time after the rigours of the inauguration and ministerial screening.
“All senators are also refreshing themselves ahead of resumption and suggestions that they are presently engaged in other subversive plots against the institution is rather uncharitable. It is especially uncharitable for those Senators who initially did not support the emergence of the leadership, but who have all unanimously endorsed the Senator Akpabio-led leadership.
“Continuing to link these Senators with one conspiracy or the other with barely disguised innuendo is rather unkind. We call on the media not to give in to the conspiratorial tales and to please not give damage to the reputations that they have built over time.”
But Senator Abbo in a chat with our correspondent yesterday, claimed that Senator Akpabio was responsible for the impeachment plot reports in the media, listing also what he claimed were the Senate President’s ‘sins’.
Abbo said: “I woke up today (Saturday) to see over 10 mainstream Nigerian newspapers, all carrying news of a plan to impeach Senator Godswill Akpabio by senators from Northern Nigeria. The Whistler Newspaper went ahead to mention Senator Yari, Senator Tambuwal, and Senator Onawo, among others, as the senators behind the move.
“As a Northern Senator and an official of the Northern Senators Forum, I make it bold to say that this news is deliberately planted and syndicated by the ‘camp’ of Senator Akpabio just to set President Bola Tinubu against the North.
“I call on Senator Akpabio to call his camp to order as the seed of discord and deep ethno-religious division they are sowing will not augur well for the country. Why the North? Why in Saudi Arabia?
“If Akpabio and his camp wanted a united Senate just like Ahmed Lawal, they could have known exactly what to do during Senate Standing Committees allocation and supplementary budget resources allocation.
“But the camp of the Senate President continued to treat the Senate as a conquered territory where the winner goes home with the spoils of war. A classical example of a winner takes all.
“How do you explain a situation where out of Category A Committees only two went to his perceived rivals? How will you explain a Senate where 83.1 per cent of those made Chairmen of Category A Committees are also Vice Chairmen of Category A? How do you explain a third time Senator denied the chairmanship of a Committee? How do you explain leaderships of the Senate are all Vice Chairmen of Category A Committees?
“You cannot treat us like conquered people and come back to blackmail us with planted and paid newspaper reports setting us against the president.
“Let me ask this question? During the ministerial screening where three ministers-designate were refused clearance by the Senate, which committee looked into the petitions against them? Ethics and Privileges or Adhoc Committee or Committee of the Whole? Was the report deliberated and debated during plenary? Was there any voting either, AYES or NOES?
“The SP just absconded during Plenary and kept the Senate waiting in the Chamber for over 3 hours while he was in the Villa, something that never happened in the history of the Senate, then came and read out names of those cleared and ‘waved’ papers in his hand, claiming security report from NSA or DSS as reason for not clearing some ministers.
“In my opinion, this is the lowest the Senate ever descended. Who gave NSA or DSS DG or IGP the power to write to the Senate? What do you call that communication? Executive communication or reckless communication?
“Are we telling Nigerians that the presidency and the security agencies did not do diligent work before sending the list to the Senate or the Senate is used as a cannon fodder for presidential aides power play?
“The SP knows what to do to have a peaceful Senate like Ahmed Lawal and not blackmailing Senate from Northern region and using newspaper report to hoodwink the president.
“President Bola Tinubu worked hard to make Senator Akpabio SP, but it’s only Senator Akpabio that can manage his colleagues well and not Tinubu managing them for him.
