State governors on the platform of the All
Progressives Congress have resolved to do all
within their powers to ensure that Senator Ike
Ekweremadu is removed as the Deputy President of
the Senate, The PUNCH has learnt.
Progressives Congress have resolved to do all
within their powers to ensure that Senator Ike
Ekweremadu is removed as the Deputy President of
the Senate, The PUNCH has learnt.
Our correspondent learnt that this was the fallout of
the two-hour meeting the governors had with
President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
The Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum
and Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, had
initially told State House correspondents at the end
of the meeting that the governors had decided to
intervene in the crisis in the National Assembly,
without giving details of their intervention.
But a source at the meeting told one of our
correspondents that the consensus at the meeting
was that it was an aberration for Ekweremadu, who
is a Senator from the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party, to continue in office as Deputy
President of the Senate.
The source stated, “The governors sympathised
with the President (Buhari) for working with a
National Assembly that is largely seen as unfriendly.
“Particularly, they observed that in the absence of
the President of the Senate, the next person is his
deputy. They therefore agreed that it was an
anomalous situation for a PDP person to continue
as the Deputy President of the Senate.
“They sought and got the President’s permission to
intervene in the matter in their own way.
“They argued that the truth of the matter is that
rarely is there any Senator that emerged without the
backing of their governors, hence the governors
have some levels of influence on the federal
lawmakers.”
Okorocha had, on Monday, said Ekweremadu
should get ready to vacate his seat as the Deputy
Senate President.
Okorocha had added that a candidate of the APC,
Benjamin Uwajumogu, who contested in the last
Saturday’s rerun senatorial election in Imo State,
would displace Ekweremadu as soon as he joined
the Senate.
The governor had said, “The position of Senator Ike
Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President is at
the moment under heavy threat because in no
distant time, the APC senator-in-waiting from Imo
State, Benjamin Uwajumogu, will take over the seat
on the grounds that it is an aberration that a PDP
senator from the South-East is deputy to an APC
Senate President because, before now, APC could
not produce a Senator from the South-East zone.”
Our correspondent further learnt that Buhari at the
meeting approved the release of N2bn each to all
APC states.
Another source, who attended the meeting, said the
decision was based on what happened during the
administration of former President Goodluck
Jonathan.
The source claimed that Jonathan had, before
leaving office, released N2bn each to the PDP
states at the time from the Ecological Fund.
He was alleged to have exempted APC states and
PDP states, whose governors were at loggerheads
with him, from the gesture.
“That issue was brought to the President’s attention
and he has ordered the release of N2bn each to the
APC states that did not benefit during Jonathan’s
administration,” the source said.
To further cushion the effects of the downturn in
economy on the states, Buhari was also said to
have, during the meeting, approved that 50 per cent
of money spent by states on federal roads be
released to them.
Okorocha had, while briefing State House
correspondents after the governors’ meeting with
Buhari, said the state governors from the ruling
party were concerned about the incessant
happenings in the National Assembly and had
resolved to look into the matter.
The two chambers of the National Assembly have
continued to witness crisis since inception following
the emergence of leaders, who were not the
preferred candidates of the ruling party, the APC.
Crisis is currently brewing in the House of
Representatives following an allegation by a former
Chairman of the House of Representatives
Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin,
who accused the leadership of the House of
padding the 2016 budget to the tune of N40bn.
Okorocha added, “We have come to reassure Mr.
President that the APC governors are solidly behind
him in his fight against corruption; his fight against
insurgents and all his laudable projects.
“We are concerned about the incessant happenings
in the National Assembly and we have taken it upon
ourselves to look into the matter; that is the crisis
in the National Assembly.
“We are going to look into the matter because we
need a strong and vibrant National Assembly to
make things move fast in the country.”
Okorocha defended the recent decision of the
Nigeria Governors Forum for six state governors to
travel to Germany for what they called “vocational
training.”
“There is nothing like jamboree trip. We are going
to Germany because we cannot do everything here
without exchanging ideas. Everything you do in your
home and your business, you share ideas.
“So, we want to see how they have done what they
have done to succeed. It is the aspiration of Nigeria
to be like other countries of the world,” he said.
When asked if the trip would be funded by states,
some of who owed workers’ salaries, Okorocha
responded, “So, who will fund it, you!?”
Despite the continued hardship in the states, the
governor stated that a lot of improvement had been
recorded in some states.
He noted that what the states were getting from the
Federation Account was close to what they were
collecting when crude oil was selling above $100
per barrel.
Other governors, who attended the meeting,
included those of Kaduna, Kwara, Zamfara, Benue,
Kano, Sokoto, Plateau, Niger, Ogun, Borno, Osun,
Edo, Kogi, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Kebbi.
The meeting was also attended by Vice-President
Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Babachir Lawal; and the Chief of Staff to
the President, Abba Kyari, among others.
Ekeweremadu, however, declined to speak on the
plans being hatched by the APC governors to
remove him as the Deputy Senate President.
One of his aides, who was contacted by one of our
correspondents on Tuesday night, said he had no
comments until he was well informed on the
matter.
http://punchng.com/apc-govs-meet-buhari-resolve-
seek-ekweremadus-removal/
