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Senate Douses Tension over Defection by Saraki, Goje, Others

Senators Bukola Saraki, 

Chuks Okocha and Omololu Ogunmade  
The Senate has calmed frayed nerves over the defection letter of 11 senators who want to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senators Bukola Saraki, Danjuma Goje, Shaba Lafiagi, Magnus Abe and seven others had in the last one week engaged the Senate leadership in a battle of wits over its delay in reading during plenary, their letter that was addressed to Senate President David Mark announcing their defection to APC.

Apart from the quartet of Saraki, Goje, Lafiagi and Abe, other senators who signed the defection letter were Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), Umaru Dahiru (Sokoto South), Shaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba North), Ali Ndume (Borno South), Bindowo Jubrilla (Adamawa North), Wilson Ake (Rivers West) and Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East).

The delay in reading the letter had led to a rowdy session during plenary at the Senate last Thursday.

But THISDAY gathered yesterday that the matter was resolved at a closed-door executive session held before plenary.

The secret session came after an earlier meeting between Mark and the defecting senators scheduled for Monday, failed to hold and had to be rescheduled.

A source said at the executive session presided over by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu yesterday, the 11 senators were told to drop their agitation against the Senate leadership over their letter and meet with Mark later in the day.

It was learnt that whereas Saraki who had submitted the defection letter on behalf of the 11 PDP senators last week, was initially agitated, but he calmed down after he was briefed about how the defection letter of Senator Ajayi Boroffice (Ondo North) was handled without any threat to his seat.

They were therefore told that the meeting called by Mark, which did not hold on Monday, was in their own interest and they should endeavour to honour the rescheduled meeting.

Mark was absent during plenary yesterday because he was said to have gone for a meeting of the Council of State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

THISDAY was also told that the aggrieved senators were informed that Mark's main concern was to avert a possible division in the Senate along party lines.

The source also said Mark's insistence on the continuity of a united Senate working in the nation’s interest and whose activities are not tailored towards the fault line of political affiliations was discussed.

The agitating senators were said to have consented and this resulted in a tension-free plenary yesterday.

Another source told THISDAY that the letter might never be read on the floor of the Senate.
According to him, once it is read, the Senate leadership would be left with no option than to declare their seats vacant since there is no justification for the claim of division in PDP, which they cited as one of the reasons of wanting to defect from the party.

He explained that it was the possibility of declaring their seats vacant that Mark was attempting to avoid.

Also, another senator among the 11 informed THISDAY that during the meeting it was generally agreed that the issue of declaring the seats of the defecting senators vacant was ruled out.

He said though the matter was thoroughly discussed, it was agreed that Mark would not declare the seats of defecting senators vacant, though the senator acknowledged that the Senate leadership was under pressure to declare the seats of the 11 senators vacant. The reason for this is to ensure the smooth operations of the upper house.

The senator said that the executive session essentially amounted to buying time, while the Senate awaits any development like a court injunction to halt discussions on the defection.
“But this would not in any way halt or stall the defection,” he said, adding, “We have defected and this is final, whether the letter is read on the floor of the senate or not. The votes and proceedings of the senate is recorded that we have defected.”

In a related development, the former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki has debunked reports that the 11 senators who defected to the APC shunned meeting with Mark.

He said though there was an understanding that the Senate president would meet with the defecting PDP senators, but there was no concrete time agreed for the meeting.
Saraki told THISDAY that when the Senate president sent a message through his chief of staff to inquire of his location and that of the 10 other defecting senators, he replied that he was in Ilorin attending the inauguration of the APC executive committee and therefore not in Abuja.

He said: “It was therefore agreed that we will meet with him after the Tuesday's Council of State meeting,” Saraki said.

Continuing, he added, “It is not true that we kept the Senate president waiting or that we shunned the meeting he summoned.”

The aggrieved senators during last Wednesday's plenary had submitted their defection letter to Mark to inform him of their preparedness to join APC.

When the letter was not read last Wednesday as expected by the senators, they assumed it was due to its late submission since it was submitted after the time that the Senate president usually reads correspondence.

Although the defection letter contained 16 names, only 11 of them signed the letter as the remaining five had a change of mind and decided to remain in PDP.

Following the submission of the letter last Wednesday, Mark had a meeting with Saraki, during which he disclosed his intention to meet with them.