The battle against the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, appears to be taking different twists and turns by the day.
This is even as he denied sitting on letters of defection by senators.
The skirmish against Lawan had on Thursday took a different twist when opposition lawmakers accused him of preventing them from taking a drastic action against President Muhammadu Buhari over the deplorable security situation in the country.
The lawmakers gave President Buhari six weeks to do something about the security situation in the country, failing which they would have no other option than to impeach him.
There is also insinuation in some quarters that Lawan may be impeached when the Senate reconvenes in September, if care is not taken.
Denying the allegation of sitting on letters of defection, Lawan, in a statement at the weekend by his Special Adviser (Media), Ola Awoniyi, said there was no letter of defection before him.
The statement read: “We have seen a story on social media and some online newspapers purporting that the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, is sitting on letters from some Senators allegedly intimating him of their defections from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The story insinuated that Lawan is sitting on the purported letters to protect his position as the President of the Senate.
“We hereby state categorically that the story is utter falsehood as there is no such letter before the Senate President.
“The report mentioned only Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa as one of the affected Senators.
“Obviously, the purveyors of the syndicated lies had not even bothered to confirm from the Distinguished Senator if and when he submitted any such letter to the Senate President.
“It is public knowledge that the Senate President has always promptly read out at plenaries letters by Senators defecting from one party to another.
“The Senate President is sufficiently knowledgeable about the rules and workings of the Senate and has been discharging his responsibilities within the ambit of those rules.
“That is why he has continued to enjoy the confidence and full cooperation of his fellow Distinguished Senators irrespective of party affiliations.
Apparently, some vested interests want to magnify challenges to sow seeds of discord in Parliament in promotion of their selfish agenda.
“We wish to reiterate that the Senate President is not withholding or sitting on any letter of whatever content from any of his Distinguished Senator colleagues.
“Therefore, any story purporting such exists only in the imagination of the mischief makers circulating it.”
Senator Sankara Dissociates Self From Plot
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation, Senator Danladi Sankara, has dissociated himself from the alleged plot by some senators to impeach the Senate President in order to pave way for the eventual impeachment of President Buhari.
Senator Sankara, who is representing Jigawa North West in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, refuted trending claims by certain online publications linking him to the plot by some senators to impeach Lawan.
In his reaction to the reports, the lawmaker said at no time was he consulted or coopted into such plan by the eleven other senators alleged to masterminding the plot.
He said: “At no time was I consulted or coopted into such plan. It is just the figment of imagination of the online publications and the others who are linking me to such a move.
“I was present throughout plennary sessions of last Tuesday and Wednesday, nobody approached me or sought my consent to join any move to impeach the Senate President or the president Muhammadu Buhari.”
He pointed out that what is required at this time is maturity and understanding of leaders and people to ensure that Nigeria overcome the challenges of insecurity and economic downturn.
He said: “it is very important for leaders to explore workable methods to address the issues of insecurity. It is not proper for us to further heat up the polity when we should put heads together to explore workable solutions to the issues of the economy and insecurity. It is a collective responsibility on the part of the leaders and the people.”