PDP alleges presidency plans to get Saraki and Ekweremadu arrested before senate reconvenes

NIGERIA'S main opposition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the government of planning to surreptitiously arrest senate president senator Bukola Saraki and his deputy Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Over the last week, Nigeria has been engulfed by political drama as the executive and legislature have been at war following the defection of 15 senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP. Senator Saraki has been at the centre of the storm as he is accused of being the main force behind the plot and last week, he left the APC and joined the PDFP himself.

Following the defection, the government has been mounting pressure on Senator Saraki to resign as senate president and Senator Ekweremadu has been invited for questioning by the Economic and financial crimes Commission (EFCC) to explain how he came about owning 60 properties. This week, the battle is set to rage on as both sides fight over a call to reconvene the senate to debate a supplementary budget proposal submitted by President Buhari, seeking extra funds for the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).

According to the PDP, the presidency is planning to use the reconvening of the senate to arrest Senators Saraki and Ekweremadu. PDP spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, alleged that there is a fresh plot to detain the two presiding officers as part of a renewed design to keep them out of circulation, ahead of senate’s resumption.

He added that the detention of the duo would enable APC senators, who he said were  in the minority, to produce two of their members as senate president and deputy senate president, using the excuse that Senators Saraki and Ekweremadu failed to show up for proceedings. Mr Ologbondiyan also alleged that the government was planning to use the EFCC to harass members of the families of the two presiding officers.

Mr Ologbondiyan said: “The PDP notes that the new plot to cage Saraki and Ekweremadu in a devilish rehash of the Tuesday July 24, 2018 hostage-taking and invasion of their official residences by security agencies is coming after the August 7, 2018 failed attempt to use security forces to take control of the leadership of the senate. Apart from the plot to arrest and detain Saraki and Ekweremadu, the PDP has also been made aware of plans to use the EFCC and security forces to clamp  down on their family members, including their wives and siblings as well as close associates, all in the effort to weaken their resolve.

“Moreover, investigations by the PDP further confirm that the insistence of the APC-led federal government on the emergency reconvening of the National Assembly, ostensibly to consider Inec’s budget for the 2019 elections, is part of APC’s thicker plot to execute their premeditated coup against the leadership of the senate.”

He called on acting president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to stop acting as a saint, saying that Nigerians were aware that he was part and parcel of the actors behind the sordid developments playing out in the National Assembly. Mr Ologbondiyan called on Nigerians and the international community to note the alleged activities of the APC and the Buhari presidency, which he said had continued to put the unity and stability of the nation and democracy under serious stress.