•Saraki
The new Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara), said yesterday that Senate President Bukola Saraki owes it a duty to respect his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), on issues affecting the legislature.
“We are in power.It is our own time and we should be accorded all the necessary cooperation. We should be seen to respect the party,” Marafa, spokesman for the anti-Saraki Unity Forum in the Senate told State House correspondents yesterday after a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was responding to a question on whether Thursday’s reshuffle of some Senate Committees would now bring an end to the bad blood generated by Saraki’s emergence as president contrary to the APC’s preferred candidate.
He said though the exercise was normal in the legislative arm, it was largely part of reconciliation between the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Saraki.
His words: “I think reshuffling of committees is not new in any parliament. What made that of yesterday (Thursday) a little new is the circumstances of the emergence of this leadership and what followed.
“What happened yesterday (Thursday) is a result of the efforts the party has been putting in for reconciliation in the last few days.”
He said peace has returned to the Senate.
“Yes, as long as the party comes in and the will of the party is respected. We are not at loggerhead with anybody. It is not like we hate somebody.
He described Saraki as “one of my very close friends and seniors in the 7th assembly.”
“What you saw happenis what I will describe as loyalty to the party. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria recognizes only the party, it doesn’t recognize any individual.”
Asked whether the Unity Forum would now withdraw the suits its members filed against Saraki in the light of the committee reshuffle,Marafa said: “We didn’t go to court because we didn’t like the faces of those that emerged, but this is the will of our party.
“During the 7th assembly, we accorded the ruling party at that time the utmost cooperation and we knew the committees that we were given that time.
He likened the relationship between the executive and legislative arms to that between a husband and his wife, and expressed optimism that the crisis between his state governor, Abdulaziz Yari and the State House of Assembly will soon be resolved.
“So there is nothing new as far as I’m concerned. We belong to the same political party and we are one. We are on top of the situation and we are trying to calm the nerves and look at the problem from its root,” he said.
“ We will resolve the issues amicably. By our tradition and culture, Zamfara has never had that kind of problem.”
He ruled out any possibility of the Senate impeaching President Muhammadu Buhari,saying no serving senator is even contemplating any such move.
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