Ten senators who are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have concluded a deal with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to support its candidate for the Senate Presidency if Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki is forced to resign at the end of his on-going Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) trial.


Senate President Saraki’s trial at CCT was accelerated by the tribunal’s chairman Justice Danladi Umar last week and he could lose his exalted position if he is convicted of the charges brought against him by the Federal Government.


The 10 die-hard pro-Saraki APC senators held a meeting with their PDP counterparts and discussed their next line of action if the Senate President is forced to step down. At the end of the meeting, they agreed that Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu would be put forward to replace Saraki.


The 10 APC senators pledged to join hands with the 50 PDP senators to elect Ekweremadu as Saraki’s replacement if it comes to that.

According to our sources, the APC senators who signed the deal include two senators from Kwara, one from Kogi, three from Niger, one from Adamawa, one from Sokoto and two senators from Bauchi State. The 10 assured PDP senators that if Saraki is forced out, they will stand by them to elect Ekweremadu “no matter what their party does to persuade them.”


They also promised that they will shun overtures even from President Muhammadu Buhari and team up with their PDP colleagues. At present, the Senate has 58 APC and 44 PDP senators with six vacancies. A switch of sides by eight APC senators is enough to turn PDP into a majority in the chamber.



http://www.thebreakingtimes.com/flash-10-apc-senators-pledge-votes-for-ekweremadu/