Why Presidency Will Not Forgive Saraki
The raging brouhaha about the eligibility of the Senate president,Bukola Saraki to continue to hold sway at the nation’s upper house is still generating a lot of controversy and this may not be the best of times for the embattled Senate President as this and other issues have put him at loggerheads with his boss at the top – President Muhammad Buhari, who has vowed not to forgive him.
According to sources, the maverick politician and son of late strong man of Ilorin politics, Bukola Saraki have crossed the red line of President Muhammad Buhari on so many fronts and the latter is hell-bent on dealing brutally with him in a way he would not like. President Muhammad Buhari we gathered is so bitter that he has confided in his close associates that Saraki will pay for his dirty and unwholesome politiking which has put the APC on a very tight rope.
The Senate President who is being tried by the Code of Conduct Bureau on a 13 count charge including failure to declare his assets, operating a foreign bank account among other charges bordering on the violation of the code of conduct for public officers first entered the black book of the President with the way he collaborated with political strange bed-fellows in his bid to become the Speaker by any means necessary; this we gathered angered PMB who sees Dr. Ike Ekweremadu’s emerging as the deputy speaker as a booby trap for the All Progressive Congress in the Senate.
Also, the scheming and dirty politicking of Saraki who aligned with the PDP members and curried their favour before emerging as the Speaker has put the APC-led government in a very difficult position in the upper house. The President is also very displeased with Senator Saraki’s anti-party activities which has changed the political permutations of the party in the senate as this will not augur well for the party in future elections to elect a new Speaker should Saraki lose his case against the Code of conduct Tribunal.
The President’s grouse with Saraki is further compounded by the slim majority of the APC in the senate which has put the party in a precarious position. As the party’s majority in the Senate outside senators aligned to Saraki may not be defensible. With the balance of the parties being APC 59, PDP 44, and Labour 1 with four seats outstanding, the ability of the mainstream members of APC to push through legislative proposals could be hindered should the about 30 APC senators aligned with Saraki team up with the opposition PDP. It must be said that it is a win-win situation for the opposing party when the chips are down.
The President also believes that Saraki has dented the image of the party and what he did is casting aspersions on the change mantra of his party, his administration and his (Buhari’s) own credibility.