POLITICS TODAY

A coalition of Northern political pressure groups, Northern Solidarity Forum (NSF) has called for the immediate removal of Senate President Bukola Saraki on the grounds of incompetence, and three years of “stagnation and tiresome controversies over clear constitutional issues”.

The coalition and their supporters defied the heavy morning rainfall in Kaduna and Kano States to storm the State Headquarters of the APC to press their demands for onward transmission to National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

The fire-spitting leader of the group, Comrade Haruna Abdullahi Maikano, told the leadership of the APC at the State Headquarters of the party in Kaduna that the time has come to replace Saraki with a “nationalist who is more articulate” with political goodwill across Northern and Southern parts of the country”, with vast knowledge of “Constitutional law”. He described Senator Godswill Akpabio as one of such experienced politicians with wonderful democratic credentials.

He also told the thousands of women and youth in the peaceful protest that the coalition’s efforts to ” secure a minimum of 2 million authentic signatures in favor of the vote-of-no-confidence on Saraki by Nigerian voters has reached advanced stage,” after which they would parley with Senators from the North, to drum up support for the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the next Senate President.

The coalition also expressed disappointment in what they consider  “the poor leadership of the Senate under Saraki”, who allegedly emerged Senate President through forged Senate standing rules. They also described as unacceptable, the efforts by the incumbent Senate President to ridicule the President and “the country’s international image with avoidable controversies over budgets and clearance of Federal Government’s political appointees”.

The coalition then called on the National Chairman of the ruling APC to “prevail on the Senators to take appropriate steps” by pushing for the emergence of a new Senate President.

Meanwhile, a similar peaceful protest match was held in Kano State capital by the same coalition of civil society organizations, under the auspices of the Northern Solidarity Forum(NSF).

The coalition’s spokesman for the Kano protest, Hon Bello Mu’azu who stormed Kano State Government House, delivered their letter of protest for onward transmission to the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

A source in Kaduna told Politics Today

Copy of the letters sent to the APC National Chairman

The National Chairman,
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,
APC National Secretariat, Abuja

Your Excellency,

ENOUGH OF SARAKI ANTI-DEMOCRATIC CONDUCT 
As a group of Northerners concerned the protection and promotion of democratic institutions, we cannot fold our arms and watch a selfish few, trying to truncate democracy and harm our national interest.

We resolved to formally write to you and intimate you on the position of the mass majority of northerners regarding the conduct and performance of the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

We have been following with keen interest happenings in the National Assembly in the last three(3) years and wish to register our disappointment with the poor leadership of the Senate under Senator Bukola Saraki.

Consequently, we declare the following as our stand on the matter of the performance of the Senate President:-

1.We call on the national leadership of the APC to pursue the immediate removal of the incompetent Senator Bukola Saraki, who emerged Senate President through a fraudulent exercise.

2. We urge the National Chairman to prevail on our Distinguished Senators to save the image and restore the glory of the Senate by replacing Saraki, who has so far built the image of a leader with too many pending court cases.

3. We make bold to say that it is unacceptable to allow the incumbent Senate President to continue to ridicule the President and the country’s international image with avoidable controversies over budgets and clearance of Federal Government’s political appointees.

4. We urge the National Headquarters of the party to prevail on the Senate to take appropriate democratic steps by pushing for the emergence of a more competent, articulate Senate President who is familiar with the constitutional laws of our land and willing to join hands with Mr. president in moving this country forward, for the overall interest of the nation.

5. In the same degree that we guarantee our unflinching loyalty to the flourishing of democratic institutions, we are also solidly in support of the defection to APC, of Senate Minority Leader Mr. Godswill Akpabio, who is a nationalist with strong democratic goodwill across both the North and Southern parts of Nigeria, in addition to enormous leadership qualities and experience. We therefore wish to recommend him as a replacement for Senate President Bukola Saraki, to end three years of stagnation and tiresome controversies over clear constitutional issues, which Senator Saraki has all along been playing politics with.

6. Our efforts have reached advanced stage, to secure a minimum of 2 million authentic signatures in favor of the vote-of-no confidence on Saraki by Nigerian voters. At the end of this exercise, we intend to meet with all the Senators from our immediate constituency of Northern Nigeria to further drum up support for the replacement of Senator Saraki with Senator Godswill Akpabio.

We hope you will use your good office to convey our message to the Nigerian President, the same way we relayed the same message to the national leadership of the party.

Yours most sincerely

COMRADE HARUNA ABDULLAHI MAIKANO, (CHAIRMAN)

BITRUS MAGAJI, (SECRETARY)

*Cc* : All Senators from the North

All House of Representatives members from the North