A fresh attempt by President Muhammdu Buhari to remove Senate President Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, on Tuesday suffered woeful failure.
The failed impeachment plot started with an invitation by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, for Senator Saraki to report to the Guzape’s Police Station at 8.am.
The Senate president was invited for his alleged ties with the Offa robbery suspects, according to the Force Public Relations Officer, Moshood Ibrahim.
While the police extended an invitation to Mr. Saraki, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was directed by the Presidency to also invite Senator Ekweremadu.
Following the directive, The NEXT EDITION learnt the EFCC hurriedly summoned Mr. Ekweremadu to report to its office on Tuesday.
The invitation was conveyed in a letter dated July 24, titled, “Investigation Activities: Case of Conspiracy, Abuse of Office and Money Laundering.”
The letter was signed by the commission’s Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar Abba with Reference No: CR.300/EFCC/DOPS/VOL/49/40.
The plot, The NEXT EDITION learnt was to keep the two principal officers of the Senate out of circulation to pave way for their ultimate impeachment.
While the impeachment plot thickened, Mr. Saraki was said to have gotten wind of it and escaped from his official quarters without the knowledge of his security details.
Underground, the Senate president Monday night mobilised most of the aggrieved All Progressives Congress (APC) senators and got them prepared to defect to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, as early as 8.am, heavily armed security operatives cordoned off his official quarters and blocked his convoy from leaving the premises.
At the same time, EFCC operatives locked down the home of Senator Ekweremadu and prevented him from going to the National Assembly.
A source who pleaded not to be named for security reasons said, “Saraki already knew yesterday that they wanted to impeach him and Ekweremadu. So he also plotted his own game. I learnt that Saraki didn’t sleep in his official quarters.
“While they were laying siege to his home and his aides pretended as if he was in the house, Mr. Saraki went to the National Assembly from another location.
“He drove in an unmarked car and entered the National Assembly from the back gates and conducted plenary thus beating the Presidency to their game.
“At the time that was going on in the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan and his people were still at Transpcorps perfecting their strategy.
“Their plan was to go the National Assembly in a bus and impeach Saraki and Ekweremadu but unknown to them, Mr. Saraki was already in the National Assembly.
Once inside the National Assembly and covered by immunity under the law, Senator Saraki moved into the Senate chamber and began the day’s sitting.
He was said to have announced to the Senate that his deputy was being held up at home by security agents.
“I came to the National Assembly so that the Senate will hold. The road leading to my house was cordoned off and all cars coming and out as early as 6.30am were being stopped and you have to come down,” Senator Saraki told his colleagues.
“My convoy was stopped from moving. Given something that one was prepared for, I had my own car too. So, the deputy senate president called and said he could not come here.
“And as you are all aware, very late yesterday, at about 8p.m, I received a letter asking me to report to the police on a case of the Offa robbery which had been concluded before now.
“But as you rightly said, if one of our colleagues cannot come out for no fault of his, I don’t see how we can continue to sit and ignore the fact that the presiding officer cannot be here. It was just by the intervention of the Almighty God that I was able to get myself here,” he said.
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Shortly after his address, 16 APC senators announced their defection to the PDP, thus tipping the balance of power to the opposition party.
Mr. Lawan and his supporters only learnt of the changes in the Senate from the social media which had gone agog with news of the crisis.
The first attempt to remove the leadership of the Senate was said to have been hatched two months back when Mr. Saraki was billed to attend the Parliamentary Union Conference outside the country.
His advance team had left the country when the Presidency perfected plans to ensure that while he was airborne, his deputy would be arrested while loyal senators led by Mr. Lawan would impeach the duo.
Unfortunately, Mr. Saraki got wind of the plot and failed to travel for the conference, in a move that scuttled the impeachment plan.
Messrs Saraki and Ekweremadu had been having running battles with the Presidency and the leadership of the APC following their emergence in 2015 against the permutation of the ruling party.
