Saraki and Dogara
Obviously bowing to public pressure and national interest, Nigeria’s Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has summoned an emergency meeting of all principal officers of the National Assembly scheduled to hold by noon on Tuesday.
The leadership of the two chambers has been under pressure to reconvene from their annual recess to deal with pending matters of public importance including consideration of a supplementary budget for the electoral body INEC for next year’s elections.
Bamikole Omisore, an aide of the senate president on international relations, in a tweet said the lawmakers would also meet with Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday.
“NASS leadership will tomorrow meet at noon to consider some national issues. The National Assembly leadership comprises both @NGRSenate and @HouseNGR,” he tweeted.
“It will be followed by another meeting with the leadership of @inecnigeria led by its chairman, Prof Mahmud Yakubu.”
The Senate and the House of Representatives proceeded on annual recess on July 24 to reconvene on September 25. Their recess has been beclouded by spates of defections the latest being that of Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio who defects from the PDP to APC.
Sen. Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), has further confirmed the defection of Sen. Godswill Akpabio to the All Progressives Congress(APC).
Enang and Sen. Ahmed Lawan, Senate Majority Leader, spoke with State House correspondents shortly after a closed door meeting with Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday in Abuja.
Enang said that Akpabio would be formally received in the party on August 8 in Akwa Ibom. Prior to his defection, Akpabio was the Senate Minority Leader and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Lawan has said that there are 53 Senators in APC but I want to assure him that APC has harvested people from PDP and other political parties.
“Akpabio is formally joining the APC and that will be a big ceremony on Aug. 8 in Akwa Ibom.’’
Meanwhile, defection of Akpabio has been described “as the beginning of the end of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’’.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, made the prediction in a statement on Monday in Port Harcourt.
Eze, in the statement commended Akpabio “for acting wisely and jumping out of the crashing PDP train before it finally crashes’’.
Eze is a former member of PDP and one of those who dumped the party in 2014 to become a foundation member of APC.
“Knowing Akpabio very well, he is a one-man Tsunami and with him in the progressives train, PDP’s end is only a matter of time.
“What is more, with Akpabio now in APC, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who recently made the mistake of defecting to PDP, can be sure that his Presidency of the Senate is only a matter of weeks.’’
