The All Progressives Congress caucus at the Senate on Tuesday expressed its grievances against the executive at a meeting with the party’s National Working Committee.
It was gathered that at the closed-door meeting, which started at 2.45pm and ended at 5.25pm, the APC senators absolved themselves of blame over the non-confirmation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
It was learnt that the senators told the party leaders that Magu’s confirmation “died” before getting to the Senate and that the senators only did its funeral.
Investigations also showed that senators, who were loyal to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, demanded the withdrawal of the suit against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, describing the trial as political.
The meeting, which was held in Room 022 in the New Building section of the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, began shortly after Saraki and the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, led others to the venue at 2.30pm before journalists were sent out at 2.45pm.
In his opening remarks, the Majority Leader of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said the event was historic as it was the first time the leadership of the party would be meeting with the senators.
“This will be the first meeting of the APC Senate caucus with our National Working Committee. On behalf of my colleagues here, Mr. Chairman, I welcome you to this historic, memorable and very important interaction with the Senate APC Caucus of the National Assembly,” he said.
Odigie-Oyegun, who made reference to the point made by Lawan in his remarks, also described the meeting as historic.
It was also gathered that some APC senators, particularly those loyal to Saraki, urged the party to ensure that the ongoing trial of the Senate President at the Code of Conduct Tribunal was stopped, describing it as political.
Another source at the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The APC leaders said we were too confrontational against the President.
“They said the Presidency was not supposed to be finding things difficult with us since we belonged to the same party.
“However, several senators explained that they were not happy with the President’s style. They complained that the President was not giving them due consideration especially. They said most of the people the President was appointing were unknown to them.
“Some of the senators also asked the party leadership to ensure that Saraki’s trial at the CCT was stopped as this would be the perfect way to reconcile the two arms of government.”
It was learnt that the party leaders promised to convey the issues to Buhari while the senators said they would ensure that the 2017 budget was swiftly looked into as well as the screening of the Resident Electoral Commissioners and ministers.
