Impeachment plot: Stormy session likely in Senate today ABUJA — AS the Senate resumes plenary today, some of the aggrieved Senators, who lost out at the just concluded primaries and threatened to impeach the Senate President, David Mark, met yesterday at an undisclosed venue to strategise on how best to carry out the threat. The Senate The Senate may witness a turbulent session as the aggrieved Senators, after what they described as “strategic meeting,” vowed that there was no going back with the plot. But Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, dismissed the alleged plot to impeach the Senate President, saying that Senators were united behind Mark. An aggrieved Senator, who was privy to the meeting, yesterday, said it was “a continuation of a series of strategic meetings we have been holding before and after our primary elections.” He disclosed that the meeting was held in a highbrow hotel in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja and that the meeting became necessary “for us to articulate and formulate some critical issues bothering on the primary elections.” According to him, “the fact that the primaries in most instances were hugely flawed is not in doubt. The fact that our interest was not protected even after we were made to believe that there was automatic ticket for most of us, is also not in doubt.” According to the aggrieved Senators, “it is also true that the Senate leadership failed to do the needful at the Presidency and the PDP headquarters to create a level playing field for us. “We cannot pretend that all is well. We cannot also pretend that we are happy the way and manner most of us have been left in the cold to fend for ourselves. We will not just leave things the way they are going. We needed to meet to talk to ourselves ahead of our resumption.” When asked whether the alleged plot to unseat the Senate leadership was also discussed at the meeting, he said “nothing is ruled out, everything is on the table but we will wait and see as things unfold. “May be because most of us have been too pro-leadership, always avoiding issues that may rock the boat, we have been taken for granted.” Senators are united behind Mark —Abaribe Meantime, the Senate through its spokesman, Senator Abaribe, in a statement entitled, “Senators Are United Behind Mark”described the report as “false, media reports purporting a plot by some aggrieved senators to remove the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark.” Abaribe said the report was unfounded and only existed in the imagination of its authors, adding: “Senators operating as a body of one united family, have never at any time found any ground to move against its leadership or even thwart the long-standing camaraderie the upper chamber is known for, irrespective of political party affiliation. “The Senate has a tested internal mechanism, which has severally been ably deployed by the President of the Senate and members of his leadership to tackle any difficult issues that arise within and outside the chamber. “Senators have implicit confidence in the leadership of the Senate ably led by Senator Mark and there is nothing now to suggest or confer any iota of truth on the media insinuation of any form of schism that could warrant the removal of the President of the Senate.” He advised journalists to exercise restraint on the reportage of issues that are not factual. Stormy session Meanwhile, Senate may witness stormy session on their resumption today as the arrowhead of the impeachment of President Jonathan, Senator Jajere, had about three weeks ago declared that about 70 Senators had put down their signatures for the commencement of the impeachment of President Jonathan that would be presented on resumption. The Senate is also expected to look into the pending Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, although, it was gathered that the PIB may not see the light of the day in this present leadership until next year, as nothing has shown that the Senate would pass the PIB soon. Besides, it is expected that the Senate would consider the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and the Fiscal Strategic Paper, FSP, for the 2015 budget, but it was not certain whether the Presidency had sent another oil price benchmark after pegging it at $65 per barrel before the oil price came down to $63 per barrel.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:49:51 +0000
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