N/Assembly crisis remains as factions meet tomorrow

It was not clear last night whether the APC  leaders would be involved in the efforts to resolve the lingering crisis. The assembly was inaugurated on June 9 and Senator Bukola Saraki was elected unopposed as Senate President by largely members of the opposition PDP while majority members of his party were at a meeting […]

It was not clear last night whether the APC  leaders would be involved in the efforts to resolve the lingering crisis.
The assembly was inaugurated on June 9 and Senator Bukola Saraki was elected unopposed as Senate President by largely members of the opposition PDP while majority members of his party were at a meeting elsewhere.
In the House, Yakubu Dogara was elected Speaker with an overwhelming backing of PDP members.

But when the assembly resumed the next day crisis erupted on the floors of both chambers and the legislators went on a two-week break.
The APC at first rejected the new leaders, but later conceded that they had won constitutionally. But the party forwaded a list of members to be appointed as principal officers in the two chambers.
Both Saraki and Dogara rejected the list. As a result when the assembly reconvened fresh crisis erupted forcing the assembly to adjourn for four weeks.
The legislators were due to reconvene last Tuesday but the resumption date was again shifted to next Tuesday with no explanation offered.
Senators yesterday said there is no going back on their resumption date slated for next Tuesday. Speaking in a telephone interview, Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi said the resumption date stands.
“There is no reason why the Senate will not reopen or resume next week. Yes, there are issues on the ground but they are resolvable in my own opinion.
“The issues that are not resolvable may not deter the Senate from resuming next week, particularly, the issue of the four principal officers from the APC side which the Senate President has gone beyond his bidding to put and announced names that are fraudulently not supposed to be there.
“If he withdraws those names and allows the party to do the bidding I believe things may pipe down and the chamber may carry on. That does not mean to say that there are no other issues, may be stronger than this but the stronger ones may be handled by the party,” Hunkuyi who represents Kaduna North senatorial district said.
For his part, the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah also said they are going to resume on Tuesday.
“We are going to resume on Tuesday but on the issue of the disagreement, a committee has been constituted and they are working on it. But since I’m not a participant in the reconciliatory process, I don’t know how far they have gone.
“As loyal party members, we will abide by the outcome of the committee because I know at the end of the day, the truth will prevail. The issue you are talking of is not a crisis; it is just a disagreement over how things are going to be done. If we all submit ourselves to democratic processes, there is no issue that is not capable of being solved,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki yesterday said the crisis rocking the Senate would soon be over.
Speaking when he hosted the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) who paid him a courtesy visit, Saraki said the coast is almost clear.
According to him, the internal challenges confronting the 8th Senate are being addressed and would be resolved soon.
He also said that the Senate under his leadership would not abandon its constitutional mandate on the altar of personal ambitions.
“You talked about the internal challenges that the NLC leadership is facing. I think I want to say the challenges are similar to ours. People contested elections, some will win and of course, some will lose but at the end of the day we all win when we all leave our personal interest and look at the interest of Nigeria.
“I want to assure you and Nigerians, we in the Senate are ready to work for you. We are committed to the work we are elected to do. I think there are more of the noises outside the Senate than in the Senate. We are committed, we want our actions and our words to speak for us.”, he said.
He said the Senate leadership will continue to toe the path of dialogue to resolve all challenges.
The NLC president Comrade Ayuba Wabba had told the Senate President that the crisis rocking the National Assembly was similar to that of the NLC.
It would be recalled that the NLC was factionalised as a result of the crisis that engulfed the labour body at the end of its last elections.