Leadership change looms in Senate

NEW TELEGRAPH

There are strong indications of an imminent leadership change in the Senate, as some highly placed Senators plot the impeachment of the President of the Senate, Chief Godswill Akpabio.

Highly placed National Assembly sources, who spoke in confidence with Saturday Telegraph, said two former Governors, who are also influential members of the 10th Senate, are involved in the alleged plot to remove Senator Akpabio.

Our correspondent gathered that one of the ex-Governors is the head of the scheme, which is expected to be executed upon resumption of parliamentarians from their recess later this month. Among the ‘sins’ of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, according to our dependable sources, is his alleged ‘highly-subordinated relationship with President Bola Tinubu.’

They alleged that the said close- ness with the President has made Akpabio not pay full attention to his colleagues and their expectations. Also, the ‘token’ slip by Senate President on the day of adjournment for the subsisting recess is said to form the basis of the move to serve him the “banana peel” treatment.

This newspaper recalls that the development, which the Senate President clarified was a “prayer”, did not go down well with many of his colleagues, who had expressed their concerns publicly.

According to our sources, all of these are geared towards causing chaos in the Senate, possibly ‘subvert the government’, preparatory to 2027 general elections, where a new ‘hybrid party’ would be floated. “Plans are in top gear by some Senators to cause chaos upon resumption from recess, with the possibility of removing the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

“There are five Senators spear-heading the plot, and two of the lawmakers are former Governors from the North West geopolitical zone of the country. “As a matter of fact, they had consulted one of their colleagues chairing a sensitive/Grade A committee of the upper chamber.

To firm up their plans, they met in Saudi Arabia recently, and also in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, with the same agenda to remove the Senate President”, the source hinted. Another source, who spoke in a similar vein, noted that: “There are plans to establish a hybrid party, ahead of the 2027 elections.

The plan is to draw membership of the yet-to-be named political platform from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and opposition parties, especially the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). “They intend to replicate the ‘tsunami’ that hit the then ruling PDP in 2014, where many heavy- weights of the party moved to form what is today the SPC.

But, the most disturbing of this, is the dangerous plan to use the crisis in the Republic of Niger to whip up anti-Tinubu sentiments, which has the capacity to create tension in the polity”.

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN NEW TELEGRAPH