Senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have threatened to shut down the government of President Goodluck Jonathan for allowing the state governors to take over the structures of the party.
The Senate abruptly adjourned sitting on Tuesday, barely 25 minutes after resuming plenary with indications that the senators had adjourned in protest.
The senators, who were reacting to the outcome of last Saturday’s congresses at the states, where most of them lost to the candidates of the governors, vowed to support their colleagues in the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, to impeach President Jonathan if it became necessary.
The PDP senators were said to be angry that Jonathan had mortgaged their political future to the governors and the lawmakers had vowed to show the President their relevance and strength.
Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who moved the motion for the adjournment, had shortly before then announced that all the PDP members in the senate would hold an emergency meeting immediately after plenary.
Ndoma-Egba pleaded with all members of the caucus to attend the meeting as crucial decisions would be taken.
The caucus meeting was still being held as of the time of this report but feelers from the meeting indicated that the senators had mandated their leadership to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on their grievance.
There were indications that the sudden adjournment was due to threats by some senators of the Peoples Democratic Party to commence impeachment proceeding against Jonathan over the President’s alleged unfair treatment.
Some senators who spoke with our correspondent on Tuesday said no activity would take place in the upper chamber again until Jonathan accorded them their due recognition.
A senator from the South-South vowed that the only legislative business that would attract their participation for now would be strictly on issues against President Jonathan’s interest.
The senator said, “Every PDP senator is dissatisfied with the attitude of Mr. President who now believes that the state governors are more superior to the senators. We will continue to shun plenary until he (Jonathan) do the right thing.
“We will be in sympathy with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and if the special grace which the president extended to the governors to choose their successors was not extended to the senators, we will commence an impeachment proceedings against him.
“I can assure you that we will not sit in the chamber again. We won’t touch the 2015 budget whenever it is sent. We will, however, be willing to participate in reviving anything that we had already suppressed in the past to favour Jonathan.
“As I am talking to you all the PDP senators are on their own. None of us is sure of returning to the senate because the President has given the governors the go-ahead to anoint those who would get the tickets for the National and states Houses of Assembly seats.
“We are down already and we won’t mind to go down together with the President. By the time we start impeachment proceedings against him, he will sit up and do the right thing.”
A female senator gave reasons why some governors allegedly wanted to stop senators from their states from returning to the senate.
She said, “There are a couple of governors who want to come to the senate. They don’t want to come here and discover that the current senators from their states are their bosses.
“In senate, ranking senators (those who have been returned twice or more times), are usually considered in the allocation of juicy committee and foreign trips. The governors don’t want to come and queue, that is why they want to frustrate the chances of the current senators”
When contacted, the senate spokesperson, Eyinnaya Abaribe, said, “We merely adjourned to allow our members participate in some of their party activities but we would reconvene tomorrow (today).” – Additional reports from Punch, National Mirror.
Petty Senators! Shameful display of selfishness and egocentricity.
Everything in this whole saga smacks of I and me alone for these bloated
Senators. So trivial of them to be crying like a baby whose father
(Jonathan) is holding out his toy (political structure) and demanding
compliance from him.
Regratebly, quite a lot of more serious
matters of statecraft are begging for legislative intervention but these
lawmakers choose to sweep them under the carpet. Death-tyrap roads all
over the federation, epileptic power supply, comatose public sector
education, total insecurity and capture of 20, 000 kilometers of
Nigerian territory in the north-east, abandonement of people living with
HIV/AIDS in the face of a huge N43billion spent….
The Senators have simply shot themselves on the foot…admitting that they have been dancing to the tune of the executive all this while, contrary to their mandate of providing the badly needed checks and balances. What a disservice to this country!
I call on the youth and able-bodied Nigerians to start the Burkina Faso treatment
immediately. (who didn’t see the mamoth crowd that chased away Blaise
Campore from Governmnet House recently?) We need no more sign to tell us
that these people (executive and legislature), are there for themselves
alone. Otherwise, we are all finished!!!
Very disappointing excuses for threatening to impeach the president. So you guys knew very well that the president has been on the wrong track and you were all supporting and ill advising him just to your conduits at the detriment of the Nation? It is now becoming clear that the problems we are facing is the Senators and not the president.
This is so shameful, lawmakers of a great country such as ours are acting like spoiled, greedy kids. A solution will come soon!