There is no doubt that the ongoing tussle over Senate Presidency between the ruling All Progressives Congress and major opposition Peoples Democratic Party has given birth to various enmity between political stalwarts that started on the same page some four years ago.
The most recent on this case is the war of words between senator representing West district, Senator Dino Melaye and the APC national chairman , Adams Ohiomhole.
Oshiomhole, following the recent defection of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had insisted on his impeachment, saying majority member cannot preside over the minority. According to him, Saraki will not be allowed to take away the ‘crown’ that belongs to APC to PDP.
But in what looks like a ‘fire for fire’ attack, the lawmaker representing Kogi West district, Senator Melaye, lashed out at the national chairman of APC who was his boss in the party before his defection, saying he (Oshiomhole) lacks the power to oust Saraki as Senate President.
He insisted that nobody can impeach Saraki as the Senate President.
“Senate President Bukola Saraki will be there for four years,” Melaye insisted, adding, “I want to assure you that they can’t and will never have the number to remove the Senate President.”
Senator Melaye made the assertion days after the APC National Chairman called for Saraki’s impeachment.
He fired back at Oshiomhole, saying, “Unfortunately, Adams Oshiomhole as an individual has no vote either to keep Saraki in office or get him impeached.
“When he said that it’s a crown, that the crown belongs to APC; I want to educate and inform him that the Senate Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not a title.
“It is not hereditary, you don’t beget it. it is for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It does not belong to a political party, it does not belong to a family, it is not a kingship or an emperor type of thing.”
Meanwhile, Oshiomhole, in a fiery response to Melaye and others in the PDP, said that Saraki must be removed as senate president, adding that his time is up .
According to Oshiomhole, the only condition in which Saraki can retain the Senate presidency is to return to the APC.
He added that the Senate President will be removed legally, adding that the party was not ready to welcome the Saraki back to its fold.
The former Edo State governor asked those who have become judges to be prepared to challenge the impeachment of the Senate president in any court of their choice. He was apparently referring to the recent judgement of the Court of Appeal which says that the Assembly has a right to its independence.
Some governors were not at the meeting. Oshiomhole also said they could not attend as a result of “communication breakdown.”
According to Oshiomhole, “Democracy teaches us that minority has the right to have their say but majority must have their way. So, if we have 56 senators and they have 49 senators, I insist that 49 senators cannot preside over the affairs of a house in which APC has 56 senators. And I ask them to tell us anywhere in the world where minority rules over majority.
“Often times, we take flights to Washington and other places to understudy the American presidential system of government. Once you lose majority, without further ado, you step down.
“So, I want to repeat, Sen. Saraki as president of the Senate will be lawfully and democratically impeached. It will not be illegally done. It will be done according to law and tradition.
“Those lawyers who have chosen to sit as judges need to be reminded that lawyers are, at best, officers of the court and do not constitute the court. So, when Sen. Saraki is lawfully and democratically impeached, they will be free to go to anywhere they want to go and canvass the legality or the illegality of the action. It is not in their place to pronounce with finality as if they constitute the judicial arm of government.”
He added that “I want to reassure the Nigerian people that we are committed to leading by example and that means absolute submission and obedience to the letters and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution and everything we will do, we will ensure that it is done according to law, including the impeachment of Sen. Bukola Saraki. There is no hiding place for him. I insist, his time is up.
“The only way that, probably, he could have retained that seat is to decide to return but we will not be ready to welcome him. He must remain where he is and we will continue to ensure that he surrenders the presidency of the Senate to the majority party in the Senate – in line with the provisions of our constitution.
“We have very many important issues, which require the National Assembly to deliberate on. Those issues that were pending when the two presiding officers hurriedly adjourned the deliberations of the House without exhausting the calendar.
“The result is that we have serious pending issues that require deliberaions by the National Assembly, including the issue of the approval of foreign loans without which this year’s budget cannot perform; the issue of the INEC budget and virement of the budget.
“Ours is to appeal to all of you that your commitment to the sustenance of democracy is enough to get you to do all that you can to get the National Assembly to reconvene so that these and other weighty national issues will be deliberated upon, appropriate decisions reached so that the Nigerian government is not shut down.
“If we do not take those steps and government cannot spend money that should be appropriated, we run the risk of government shutdown. As members of the governing party, I believe you will do whatever is needed to be done to prevent a government shutdown.
“I want to reassure you that we value you; all the stories about people being denied or that you would be frustrated out, I want to assure you that our party values experience; our party values knowledge; our party values loyalty and our party will do everything possible to reward loyalty and demonstrate that loyalty pays and we will not be ashamed to do
so.
“We are already doing so many things on our part, but, like they say, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. With time, all these shall come to pass and we would have kept our word as you have kept yours.”
