NASS crisis: Why less than 73 APC Senators can remove Saraki as Senate President – Senator Omo-Agege

he Senator representing Delta Central at the National Assembly, Ovie Omo-Agege, has revealed why the Senate President, Bukala Saraki could be removed by less than 73 members of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the Senate.

The lawmaker also said it was the position of the ruling party that Saraki should be impeached.

He said the only reason Saraki became the Senate President was because he was a member of the APC, adding that now that he has left, the ruling party has the right to remove him.

He recalled that the day Saraki was elected Senate President, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had more members on the floor.

Speaking in an interview with Sun, the Senator said the PDP lawmakers decided to elect Saraki as Senate President simply because he belonged to the ruling party which also has majority of members.

According to him, “It is the position of the ruling party, the APC. And this was not a decision we reached lightly, we felt that the only reason Saraki became Senate President was because he was a member of APC.

“Some people have argued that under section 60(1a) of the Constitution that any senator could be Senate President, that he does not have to be a member of a political party.

“That is not correct because that is the language of that section of the law but the spirit and intent of that provision is that, that senator has to be a member of the majority party at the Senate.

“If that was not the case, the day Saraki was elected, I believe June 9, 2015 when he was elected Senate President, the PDP, the opposition party had more members on the floor.

“Therefore, if it was open to any senator, then PDP could have presented a candidate for Senate President and produce the Senate President.

“You only had about 12 APC senators on the floor that day because majority of the APC senators were at the convention centre supposedly waiting for a meeting with Mr. President.

“So if it is true as it is now being canvassed by the opposition that any senator could be Senate President and that Saraki did not get the position because of APC, then the question to ask is why did PDP not present a candidate for Senate President on that day?

“The reason they did not do that is because they knew it was not proper for the minority party to present a candidate for the office of Senate President.”