Some Peoples Democratic Party senators who
are behind the reported plot to impeach the
Senate President, David Mark, met for several
hours in Abuja on Monday to fine-tune their
strategy.
A Senator from the South- South confirmed the
development in a telephone conversation with
our correspondent.
He said, “We held a meeting today (Monday) and
it is one of the series of meetings we have been
holding on a regular basis before and after the
primary election.”
The lawmaker, who lost his bid to return to the
Senate during the December 8 PDP primary, said
the meeting took place in a five-star hotel close
to the Apo Legislative Quarters.
He added, “Our discussion centred on all issues
bordering on the last primary election of the PDP
and the role played by the governors.
“We are worried that the primary election in most
cases were manipulated by the governors and
the leadership of the party are helpless. We
would have prevented the ugly development if
the Senate President had not assured us before
the election that everything was under his
control.
“Right now, it becomes necessary for us to
articulate and formulate some critical
issues.The fact that the primary election in
most instances were hugely flawed is not in
doubt.
“The fact that our interest was not protected
even after we were made to believe that there
was automatic ticket for most of us, is also not
in doubt.
“It is also true that the Senate leadership failed
to do the needful in the Presidency and the PDP
headquarters to create a level playing field for
us. We cannot pretend that all is well.
“We cannot also pretend that we are happy the
way and manner most of us have been left in
the cold . We will not just leave things the way
they are going. We needed to meet to talk to
ourselves ahead of our resumption on Tuesday
(today).”
When asked how and when the plot to remove
Mark would be actualised, he replied, “Nothing
is ruled out;everything is on the table but you
need to wait and see as things unfold.
“Let me also tell you that most of us have been
too pro-establishment; we are always avoiding
issues that may rock the boat and hence we
have been taken for granted.”
The senator pledged to speak out officially after
their plan had been fully articulated.
But The PUNCH learnt that the aggrieved PDP
senators had yet to discuss their plot with the
All Progressives Congress lawmakers.
An APC senator from the North-West said, “I
am aware of the impeachment moves against
President Jonathan but the new one against the
Senate leadership is new to me. I have not been
informed. I just arrived Abuja anyway. I have
been away for quite some time now.”
Another from the South-West also said, “I read
the story in the newspapers like every other
person. I will find out and get back to you by
tomorrow (Tuesday ) when we resume plenary.’’
However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on
Information, Media and Public Affairs,
Enyinnaya Abaribe, dismissed the alleged
plot to remove Mark as “unfounded and
misleading.”
Abaribe, in his statement on Monday titled,
“Senators Are United Behind Mark,” described
as false, media reports on the plot to remove
Mark.
He maintained that “such unfounded story only
exists in the imagination of its authors.”
The Senate spokesman said, “Senators operating
as a body of one united family, have never at
any time found any grounds to move against its
leadership or even thwart the long-standing
camaraderie the upper chamber is known for,
irrespective of political party affiliation.”
Abaribe said that the Senate had a tested
internal mechanism, which had been deployed in
tackling difficult issues that arose within and
outside the chamber.
He added, “Such mechanisms and channels are
inexhaustible and shall always be deployed by
the leadership of the Senate, as it always does
when the need arises.”
Abaribe claimed that since the senators had
implicit confidence in the leadership of Mark,
there was “nothing now to suggest or confer any
iota of truth on the insinuation of any form of
schism that could warrant the removal of the
President of the Senate.”
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