JUST IN: Buhari’s Impeachment: 12 Senators To Dump APC, Plot Lawan’s Removal

DAILY GIST has obtained a list of 10 names out of the 12 senators who have indicated interest to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, after which they will team up with the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to impeach the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

It was gathered on Friday that after the successful removal of Lawan, the senators will move swiftly to serve impeachment notice to the president.

The same move is being made in the House of Representatives, although a reliable source said plot to remove the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, is not part of the overall plan to impeach Buhari. Gbajabiamila’s ordeal started before the move to impeach the president began on Wednesday.

The APC currently enjoys the majority in the senate with 61 senators while the PDP has 40 senators. The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA has 1, New Nigeria Peoples Party 2, Young Progressives Party, YPP, 1 and Labour Party with one senator.

The minority parties in the Senate are presently five in number as at the last defection in the Upper Chamber on June 22nd, 2022. The list is composed of PDP, YPP, APGA, NNPP and LP.

There are three vacant seats which were vacated by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu (APC – Nasarawa West), Abubakar Kyari (APC – Borno North), who was elected Deputy National Chairman of the APC (North) in the national convention held in March, and Mohammed Hassan, who was appointed Zamfara State Deputy Governor.

What Happened At Wednesday’s Executive Session

A reliable source, who is a senior legislative aide to one of the senators in the ruling party who joined the opposition lawmakers to stage a walk out on Wednesday told THE WHISTLER that Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, (All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Abia-South) had moved a motion for issues on Buhari’s impeachment to be discussed.

That motion was seconded by Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, (APC -Bauchi North).

The lawmakers were miffed at the poor state of security with increasing wave of terrorists’ attacks across the country and recent spate of attacks in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The aide said, “There was no opposition during the executive session, according to what the senator told me. It was agreed the issue will be tabled for discussion during plenary under Point of Order (PoO).

“They were all surprised when the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Phillip Aduda, (PDP-Abuja), raised the issue and it was shut down by the Lawan.

They are feeling someone in that closed-door session tipped off the president and his team, who immediately got in touch with Lawan to shoot it down,” he said.

Aduda had sought to raise the issue during plenary after the executive session but was shut down by Lawan on technical ground.

But Ariyo-Dare Atoye, the executive director, Adopt A Goal for Development, who has over 20 years’ experience on how the parliament works, explained in an interview with our correspondent that Lawan’s action was to protect the president.

He said, “Unfortunately, what transpired was not well captured because there was an internal meeting of the whole where the majority agreed to give the president six weeks and if nothing happens, they can serve an impeachment notice.

“What the Senate President did was to undermine the collective interest of the senate by ambushing them during plenary.

“This will certainly not augur well by the time they resume if nothing significantly has changed. Unlike before when Buhari enjoyed huge support in the core north, people would have come out resisting, responding and threatening fire and brimstone with the mentioning of impeachment.”

Full List Of The 12 APC Senators Planning To Defect

The source revealed names of 10 out of the 12 senators of the APC who staged a walk-out on Wednesday from plenary. Although, few of the 12 senators were seen walking out, the rest who sat back during the short plenary later joined the opposition lawmakers to put their names on defection list.

However, it was not cleared if they have written to the Senate President to notify him of their plan. But they have joined the opposition parties in their bid to force out Lawan before commencing the impeachment of the president.