The fact that "distinguished and honourable members" of the 8th National Assembly of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), shunned party's supremacy through arbitrary and selfish selection/ appointment of principal officers at inauguration in 2015, will forever remain in the annals of Nigerian history as a "coup de tat" and a show of ingratitude to the platform through which they climbed the rostrum! Nineteen months down the line of APC's Change Administration, the Senate in particular, had stuck to its gun that all illegal appointments influenced by the opposition PDP remained sacrosanct and that not even the President could make them change their decision; especially when the bubble burst on Senate President 'Bukola Saraki's hidden sins in respect of false declaration of assets while he was Governor of Kwara State and the Federal Government insisted on his prosecution and also when he, his deputy and two clerks of the Senate were also arraigned for forgery of House Rules!
A cursory scrutiny of the 109 Senators antecedents has revealed that, beginning with Senator Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and through the rank and file, very few senators of the 8th NASS are grassroot APC faithfuls. Majority of them are the desperate and die-hard Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members who were determined to remain in power at all cost and only jumped ship when it dawned on them that PDP would woefully lose the 2015 General Elections, and having read the hand writing on the wall, took advantage of President Buhari's high-rising political profile/pedigree and rode on his impeccable integrity to attain their present positions! But it did not take long for them to show their true colours and identities by identifying with 'Bukola Saraki whom over 80 of them flocked in solidarity with, to answer to charges against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), during the early stages of his trial and have since then declared a COLD WAR between the Upper Chamber and the Executive!

Recent subtle attacks through rejections of the followings are the very glaring fallouts of their strategy:
1. Rejection of the list of about 48 non-career foreign ambassadorial nominees by the President;
2. Rejection of the Executive's Mid Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), document which Senator Ali Ndume contemptuously described as EMPTY;
3. Rejection of the $29.9 USD foreign loan request by the President aimed at cushioning the biting effects of the economic recession;
4. Refusal to confirm Mr. Ibrahim Magu as substantive Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chairman; and,
5. Recent accusations of corruption at plenary against Babachir Lawal, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), who was alleged to have employed the services of his private company to siphon millions of naira from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Rehabilitation Funds and the chorused call for him to resign immediately; support the deliberate attitude of the Senate to match the Executive, action for action!
Senate's refusals, rejections and accusations in all of the above have been adduced to an orchestrated plan by PDP to paint the ruling party as incompetent in view of their desperation TO REGAIN POWER AT ALL COST IN 2019!

First, Senate's claim that several Nigerians petitioned against the ambassadorial nominees was unfounded and in bad taste! Second, the MTEF Document was not empty as claimed by Ali Ndume because the Minister of Budget and National Planning addressed the Press and elucidated the well-articulated document to debunk the upper chamber's untruthful claim. Third, the rejection for sourcing foreign loan to beef up the economy had been faulted by the House of Representatives which has vowed to commence discussions at plenary after the Christmas/New Year recess and ensure an accelerated approval for the loan without further delay. Fourth, the rejection of Magu as EFCC Chairman was based on TWO indicting, contradictory and damning security reports by State Security Service (SSS) which claimed that Magu had some "integrity issues", but differed on suggested steps for action!
According to Premium Times, one of the reports stated that to clear Magu for the substantive position would spell danger for the administration's anti-graft war, while the second described him as having performed excellently so far and should therefore be favourably considered for the post. The two conflicting reports dated 3rd October, 2016 and addressed to NASS acting Clerk, Mohammed Sani Omolori and to Senior Special Assistant to the President on NASS matters, Ita Enang, respectively by one Folashade Bello, were read to the lawmakers during the Executive Session held to decide the fate of Magu on Thursday, 15th December, 2016. Some political analysts have adduced that the negative reports which the Senate acted upon confirmed an ongoing rivalry among security agencies which would negate the anti-corruption crusade of President Buhari, but we totally disagree with that notion. For the SSS to shun affinity with a sister agency in an area of oversight request from the Upper Chamber is a clear indication that the anti-graft war was on track, because traces of corruption in any form should not be entertained in all persons to be appointed into positions of authority. Detailed negative report on Magu included the following: (1) That during the tenure of Mrs. Farida Waziri as EFCC Chairman, he kept official documents at his residence Karu Site, a satellite suburb of Abuja; (2) That he was redeployed to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), on suspicion of corruption but; wriggled his way back to be appointed Chairman in acting capacity; (3) That with his new appointment, he moved out of Karu Site into a N20 million per annum apartment in the Central District Area of Abuja metropolis; and, (4) That he was not cleared of accusations of corruption before his appointment.

Was the President properly briefed before he sent Magu's name for confirmation? To whom was the damning report from SSS first forwarded, the President or the Senate? Our strong belief is that the politics of the COLD WAR that has played out can strengthen the democracy positively because from the President's stand, whoever was found culpable would receive the full weight of the law - whether he/she is a KITCHEN or BANQUET HALL Cabinet staff! What about SGF Babachir Lawal, the "numero uno" of the Change Agenda Civil Service, whom the Senate also fingered for some unorthodox/fraudulent business transaction and diversion of an estimated 2.5 billion naira in IDP's Camps in the North East through a company in which he allegedly has financial interest? The Senate also indicted him for intensifying instead of alleviating the sufferings of the displaced in that region through the fraud which he committed at the Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE). But information provided by some of his legal aides revealed that the SGF severed relationship with the said business concern since 29th August, 2015, - the day after his appointment by President Buhari and that the papers being bandied around were forged by Senators who were prone to forgery!
Outside of this very grave allegation was another accusation that Babachir had once juxtaposed a foreign private trip for an official one by collecting ESTACODES from government to cover all of his expenses abroad! The Grape Vine says he had some other dirty deals which had been swept under the carpet! However, the good news is that the President has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation to instigate a probe into all allegations against Magu and Babachir and other allegations making the rounds against any of his appointees. In a statement issued on Sunday 18th December, 2016, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, confirmed the planned presidential probe into allegations of corruption levelled against some top officials of the Change Administration, with categorical emphasis that anyone found culpable would not escape prosecution! We are very much aware that President Buhari is being stampeded by detractors of his Change Administration to tinker with his ministerial cabinet members early in the year 2017, but we trust in the godly wisdom which guided him in their appointments to still support him in his assessment of their performances and selfless contributions during their first year in office TO AVOID ROCKING THE BOAT OF A WINNING TEAM but, notwithstanding, any BLACK SHEEP should be shown the way out! We welcome the presidential probe which we suggest should be an all-encompassing exercise within the hierarchy of government's top appointees.
FOR THE SENATORS, THEY SHOULD NOT FORGET THE ADAGE THAT SAYS, "WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND" AND THAT HE THAT LIVES IN A GLASS HOUSE MUST NOT THROW STONES!
The current administration in Nigeria is divinely ordained and only God's counsel for the nation would stand the test of time and not man's idiosyncrasies, as it is written: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. There are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand" Amen. (Isaiah.46:10; and Proverbs. 19:21). God's counsel will stand to protect the Nigerian poor masses and downtrodden (Talakawas), who would always bear the brunt (pain and agony of abject poverty and sufferings), whenever the TWO ELEPHANTS (Senate and Executive), fought!
By Dr David Tunde Olufon. (08130669886. dvdolufon@gmail.com)

This tunde olufon must be tinubu boy