Senator Bukola Saraki, to formally meet with him, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
An official in the Presidency who confided in one of our correspondents on Saturday
said the President and the Senate President had only met once since the latter’s
emergence as the leader of the senate.
The official said all efforts by Saraki to have another meeting with the president, after
the party’s National Executive Council meeting penultimate Friday, were rebuffed by
Buhari.
The reliable source said the president of the Senate had at different times reached out
to people to help him persuade Buhari to grant him audience.
Saraki had defied the All Progressives Congress to contest for the position of the
senate president on June and emerged victorious after a controversial election that
excluded a sizeable number of senators. The APC had endorsed
Senator Ahmed Lawan as its candidate for the senate presidency.
The government official who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH said, “The truth is that the
President is still displeased with what transpired in the National Assembly, especially the
Senate.
“Their encounter during the APC National Executive Council meeting, when they shook
hands, was the first meeting between President Buhari and Saraki since he emerged as
the President of the Senate.
“We are aware that Saraki has been going about begging people to assist him to plead
with the President to meet with him. That was one of the reasons why he visited
former President Obasanjo.
“I can tell you that the President is very pained by what happened. He felt that since he
had been transparent with the party, everybody should play that way. But since Saraki
took that path, the President was and he is still pained.
Let us just hope that at the end of it all, they will be able to put the matter behind
them.”
Also speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, a highly placed party official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, told one of our correspondents
that the handshake between the President and Saraki during the recent NEC meeting of
the APC “was for journalists.”
He stated, “President Buhari is still upset because of what happened. If you read in-
between the line his speech during our last NEC meeting, he reminded people who
joined the party after it was formed not to rubbish the sacrifices made by party leaders.
“It was not for the fun of it that the President took time to go down the memory lane
to trace the genesis of the APC.
“Although the President said he was prepared to work with anybody who emerged as
leader in the National Assembly, he did not envisage a scenario where Saraki would
emerge as the Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu, a member of the PDP, would
emerge as the deputy president of the Senate.”
Asked whether or not the President might change his mind anytime soon, the source
said, “Not until the governors, who were mandated by the NEC to resolve the matter in
the National Assembly, bring the matter under control.”
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said there was no cause for alarm. During a telephone interview
on Saturday, Olaniyonu said Buhari had repeatedly told
Nigerians that he believed in the independence of the parliament.
He explained that Buhari had had cause to formally communicate with on “state issues”
and that they exchanged warm pleasantries at the APC NEC meeting held in Abuja.
He said, “The president of a nation can have private discussions with the Senate
President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives anytime he likes.
“At the moment, President Buhari, probably wants the issue around the National
Assembly leadership positions formally resolved before calling for such meetings. He
has said that he would not involve himself in the affairs of the legislature and we should
respect his views.”
Olaniyonu explained that Saraki and Buhari had been having regular official
communication and that such would continue because the Senate would have to
approve all appointments made by the President.
Asked why the President had met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Yakubu Dogara, without meeting with Saraki up till now, Olaniyonu answered that he
was not aware of the Buhari-Dogara meeting.
He said, “I am not aware of that meeting you talked about. If the meeting had held, the
picture taken afterwards would have been published in the dailies. To the best of my
knowledge, I don’t think there was anything like that. “
Also, the spokesperson for the pro-Saraki Senators of Like Minds, Dino Melaye, told one
of our correspondents on Saturday that Saraki and Buhari met and had fruitful
deliberation at the NEC meeting of the APC.
“The President and the Senate President met at the NEC meeting. We are all awaiting
the outcome of the peace moves initiated at the meeting. For now, there is no cause
for concern,” he said.
When contacted, the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi
Adesina declined comments.
Source : The punch
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