Disquiet Among Lawmakers over Alleged Move to Sack Four Senators

The claim by the sacked former Adamawa North Senator, Elisha Abbo, that four more senators would soon join him in the trenches, is creating tension in the Senate. Sunday Aborisade reports.

Moments after the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja sacked him from the Senate last week Monday, the erstwhile Senator representing Adamawa North, Elisha Abbo, invited journalists covering the National Assembly to his Katampe Hill extension residence in Abuja to brief them about what he thought, could have allegedly influenced the Court’s decision.

Abbo wondered how he could be sacked by the appellate court when the Independent National Electoral Commission declared him winner of the February 25 National Assembly elections in Adamawa North Senatorial District despite being a member of the All Progressives Congress, with a heavily populated politicians who are members of the Peoples Democratic Party, including the Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

He specifically faulted the appellate court for voiding  his election in favor of the PDP candidate, Amos Yohanna, who lost to him both at the poll and at the election petition tribunal.

The former lawmaker said despite the opposition he faced before and during the poll, he was able to poll over  72,000 votes against his opponent’s 61,000 votes, making him the clear winner with over 11,000 votes.

A visibly angry Abbo said, “I defeated my opponent both at his polling unit and his ward. He dragged me to the tribunal alleging corrupt practices during the election and non compliance with the electoral laws.

“I won the case at the Tribunal even when every structure in Adamawa State is PDP including the Presidential Candidate.

“The Appeal Court fixed hearing for Thursday penultimate week and surprisingly fixed judgment for the following Monday.”

The sacked Senator who declared himself as both the hero and martyr of democracy, however caused a stir when he declared that four other senators had been pencilled down for sack at the red chamber.

He went ahead to accuse the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of being the mastermind of his predicament allegedly because he did not vote for him and chose to support the aspiration of Senator Abdulaziz Yari, during the Senate Presidency tussle.

According to him: “Five Senators who did not support Senator Godswill Akpabio for the Senate President seat have been pencilled down for sacking. Senator Orji Uzor Kalu would go and three others who I would not mention their names”.

He said the offence of the other four  Senators was that they opposed the emergence of Akpabio leadership of the 10th Senate in June.

He said, “I have it from a reliable source and very highly placed one for that matter, that myself and four other Senators within the fold of the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC ) would be removed from the Senate through rulings from the courts because they worked  against emergence of Akpabio as President of the 10th Senate

He wondered how with over 11, 000 votes margin of victory he had above his closest rival, Yohanna Amos Yohanna of the PDP in the election, the Appeal Court upturned his victory .

Abbo said, “ The court judgement is strange and the judiciary needs to please remain the last hope of the common man. For President Bola Tinubu, I must declare that this is not the democracy he fought for and should please lead in protecting it”.

He, however, appealed to his supporters to remain calm even as he boasted that he, cannot be taken out of the political space.

He vowed to re-constest in 2027 and win.

Abbo, who expressed disappointment that the judiciary was allegedly being used by some people he referred to as “cabal members”, noted that democracy was on trial.

He called on President Tinubu to note that the democracy he fought for during the military rule is not the one being practised at the moment.

He also alleged that his stand against the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC was another issue that pitched him against some forces in the party.

On whether there was actually a plan to impeach Akpabio, Abbo said it was not true.

He, however, disclosed that there were serious uproar over the  lopsided manner committee chairmen and deputies were appointed without regards for those who supported and voted for the former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari.

Abba also admitted that because of the uproar, all vice- chairmanship appointments had been dissolved to pave the way for a reconstitution.

In a swift reaction to Abbo’s allegations, Akpabio in a statement by his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, said he had no hand in the sacking of his former colleague, by the Appeal Court.

The Senate President dismissed  his alleged involvement in the political travail of Abbo

He said, “It is unfortunate if he actually said that Akpabio was responsible for his removal. That’s the swan song of a man looking for scapegoats.

“The Court of Appeal across the country decides cases based on provisions of the Electoral Act and evidence advanced by petitioners. The Senate President has no reason to witch-hunt any of his colleagues.”

The Senate resumed plenary the following day amid the tension created by the sacking of Abbo particularly his disclosure that four others would soon join him in the trenches.

One of the major supporters of Yari’s Senate Presidency bid, Senator Sumaila Kawu, who is representing Kano South on the ticket of the New Nigeria People’s Party raised a point of order during the tension soaked session.

His point of order was to enable him move a motion on the need for the National Assembly to intervene in the current closure of the Nigerian border with Niger Republic based on the ECOWAS resolution following the coup d’etat in the country.

The Senator did not read the title of his motion which necessitated protests from some senators who insisted that due process must be followed but he was asked to proceed by the presiding officer.

Sumaila said the closure of the border had increased crime rate in the  states that border Niger Republic and that the development had led to massive job loss.

He claimed that the closure of the border by the member states of the Economic Community of West African States ran contrary to the provisions of the constitution of Nigeria that guarantees the security and welfare of the people which he said should be the paramount and primary purpose of Government.

He urged the Federal Government to reconsider reopening of the border between Nigeria and Niger to allow for free movement of trade and business of the two countries, as commercial activities had drastically gone down in these areas.

He stressed that both Nigeria and Niger had signed bilateral trade agreement to allow free movement while also saying the borders closure ran contrary and violated the agreement.

He maintained that Nigerians should not be allowed to suffer such untold hardship for whatever reasons.

In his response, the Senate President noted that the red chamber would not be able to take any legislative action on the development because it was a purely security affair.

The reaction of the lawmakers from the northern part of the country after Akpabio’s ruling that further deliberation on the matter be stepped down, indicated that Sumaila Kawu’s motion was indeed, a joint effort.

Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume who is representing Borno South Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress  raised a point of order on alleged errors committed and not corrected by the President of the Senate.

The error referred to by Ndume was that Kawu did not read the title of his motion but was allowed to move it by the Senate President.

Ndume who came through order 51 of the Senate standing rules requested the Senate President to allow for correction of any error made or observed in plenary .

He said, “This is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guided by laws, rules and procedures. If in the course of proceedings at any session, errors are observed, they must be corrected before forging ahead with such proceeding. Nobody is above learning. The Senate President should note that.”

Akpabio asked the Chief Whip to read out the order he cited and just as he was about to do so, Senator Sunday Karimi (APC Kogi West ) raised a point of order and was instantly recognized.

He made attempts to sustain Ndume’s line of argument through another point of order but was also ruled out of order by the Senate President.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau quickly rose to read Order 16, which required a substantive motion to be moved by any Senator for correction or review of earlier decision taken.

The decision by Akpabio to sustain Barau’s point of order, made Ndume to  raised Order 54 to correct the perceived error.

Akpabio demanded the standing order book from the Clerk to the Senate and read it out.

He then told Ndume that the order did not support his line of argument.

The Senate President subsequently ruled him out of order without being allowed to defend his argument.

Not satisfied with Akpabio’s ruling  Ndume packed his documents and stormed out of the chamber.

Akpabio immediately called for a closed session to enable the lawmakers discussed without the journalists, observers and accredited members of the parliamentary staff.

The visibly enraged Ndume went straight to his office. The Chief Whip was just settling down in his office when he received a call from a colleague to return to the chamber for an executive session.

The executive session lasted about one and half hours. The development that led to the executive session was not revisited when plenary resumed and the angry Ndume was seen very calm on his seat carrying out his legislative duties.

Meanwhile, an obviously confused Senator Elisha Abbo appeared on Arise Television that same night to recant saying contrary to his initial claims, the Senate President, knew nothing about his ordeal.

He therefore apologised to the President of the Senate, claiming that the the man even swore by his mother’s grave to proof his innocence. He  also denied any plot by him or any other senator to impeach the President of the Senate.

He said, “I have to say this with all sense of humility and responsibility that the press release that we rendered yesterday (Monday) was premature as the available information at our disposal then portended.

“We discovered a lot of things yesterday night, I also had a discussion with my leader, senior brother, colleague and the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Akpabio and I am convinced that he was not involved in my exit from the Senate.

“I spoke with the Senate President and he swore by the grave of his late mother who he loved so much, insisting that he knew nothing about my case. He even said he wasn’t aware that I was in Court.”

Abbo added that he also got a more credible and authenticated intelligence on Tuesday morning to the effect that Akpabio was not involved in kicking him out of the Senate through the Court of Appeal.

He said, “Based on every additional intelligence that trickled in, Senator Godswill Akpabio’s innocence was unarguably  without any doubt.

“I want to say that there was no plan to impeach the Senate President at any time, who himself was a product of the popular votes of confidence by us(his colleagues).

“I support and respect Senator Godswill Akpabio to deliver on the core mandate of the Nigerian people.

“I am praying for God to give him wisdom because the senate is a chamber of equals and I am praying for wisdom for him to know how to manage his colleagues because I don’t want him to fail,” Abbo said as he prayed for Akpabio to succeed.

Although Abbo recanted on his allegations against Akpabio, he nevertheless maintained that four of his colleagues with pending cases at the Appeal Court should be prepared to leave the Senate very soon.

He did not however, disclose the real people behind his ordeal and four others.