Saraki’s travail: Dogara’s intervention flops

Feelers emanating from the presidency suggest that the intent of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara to secure political respite from President Muhammadu Buhari for the Senate President, Bukola Saraki over the latter’s trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) may have failed.
It was also gathered, that the closed door meeting between President Buhari and leaders of the National Assembly on Wednesday night was not able to persuade Buhari to intervene in Saraki’s travails.
Sources said that Buhari was persuaded by two of his aides in the National Assembly to ‘formally’ interact with the Senate President, who has not enjoyed a warm handshake with the President since he assumed office as a result of political disagreement with the APC leadership.
However, competent sources revealed that the NASS leadership led by Saraki himself, left the Presidential Villa disappointed, following what they see as Buhari’s refusal to shift grounds and wade into the trial of the Senate President, which is interpreted by his horde of loyalists in both the APC and PDP, as ‘political’.
One of the sources said that despite what appeared as a softening of stances by Buhari to call a meeting with Saraki, he did not even raise the issue of the CCT throughout the meeting, which lasted about two hours.
It was learnt that the meeting was called at the instance of the two special assistants to the President in the Senate and the House of Representatives, who reasoned that such a parley would help facilitate a smooth relationship between the Presidency and the NASS.
It was also reasoned that the parley would help prepare the grounds for the lawmakers to approve the nominees whose names were submitted last week to the Senate for confirmation.
It was gathered that at the meeting between Buhari and Dogara on Monday in Abuja, the Presidency insisted that Saraki must sever his relationship with the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, which means removal of the PDP senator as Saraki’s deputy.

Read also: Buhari meets Saraki, Dogara (Photos)

According to a source, “The view of the Presidency is that the arrangement in the Senate whereby a PDP senator is the deputy president in an All Progressives Congress Party-led government is a misnomer, which should not be allowed”.
It was gathered that removing Ekweremadu was reportedly viewed by The Presidency as one of the possible political solutions to the heat generated by the trial of Saraki by Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets.
However, Saraki is said not to be disposed to the idea, arguing that he would not betray his deputy.
Apparently angered and disappointed by the attitude of the President, the Senators might have decided to vent their anger on the nominees sent in by Buhari for confirmation by the lawmakers so as to form his cabinet and get the government running.
Rising from the meeting with the President, the Senate rolled out a new set of stringent rules that might make it more difficult for most of the nominees to scale through the screening.

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