Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) have barricaded the entrance to the national assembly complex in the nation’s capital city of Abuja; as the plot to impeach Saraki as Senate President gathers momentum.
Our correspondents on the ground at the national assembly report that lawmakers and staff are being turned back from the premises and gates of Nigeria’s parliament, with all entry and exit points locked to visitors.
Serving Senator Rafiu Ibrahim was heard asking the DSS officials: “has the military taken over?” after he was prevented from gaining access to the national assembly complex.
Top ranking sources who spoke to Pulse on the basis of anonymity say Tuesday morning’s barricade is part of the grand plot to impeach Saraki who defected to the opposition PDP on July 31.
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DSS barricades entrance to national assembly
(Pulse)
An additional battalion of police officers have also just arrived the national assembly complex.
Midnight meeting
“30 APC senators met with the Director General (DG) of DSS at midnight of Monday, August 6 at the DSS headquarters. The plot is to impeach the senate president and deputy senate president today (August 7)”, a top ranking source in the national assembly disclosed.
Pulse was also told that the APC has all but concluded plans to install Senators Ahmad Lawan as senate president and Hope Uzodinma as deputy senate president once the duo of Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu have been kicked out of the way.
Senate spokesperson Sabi Abdullahi wasn’t immediately available for comments. Pulse also tried to reach APC Chairman Adams Oshiomhole for comments but calls placed to his mobile returned unanswered.
Impeaching Saraki
The APC needs two thirds majority in the senate to impeach Saraki who called for an emergency meeting of principal and presiding officers of parliament on the night of Monday, August 6.
Pulse has been told that Saraki called for the meeting because he is well aware of the plot by the APC to impeach him.
The APC currently has 53 lawmakers on its books with the PDP boasting 51—at least by some accounts. The senate plans to hold a headcount when parliament reconvenes in September, to ascertain just how many lawmakers belong to either party. At the moment, both parties are claiming the majority in a 109 member senate.
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DSS blocks entrance to NASS
(Pulse)
The APC has since poached Senator Godswill Akpabio who until his defection, was minority leader in the upper legislative chamber.
Akpabio’s first task as an APC senator, Pulse has been told, will be to poach as many PDP senators as possible who will make up the two-thirds figure required to impeach Saraki.
On July 24, 2018, Senate President Saraki reeled out the names of 15 APC senators who were making the switch to the PDP, leaving Nigeria’s governing party badly depleted in parliament and leaving in peril President Buhari’s hopes of passing key legislation and the nation’s budget.
