The
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday ordered the immediate disbandment
of a group, Parliamentary Support Group, in the Senate.
His directive was met with no resistance from
members of the pro-Buhari group.
The
group was formed in March by pro-Buhari Senators, after a face-off with their
colleagues on the amendment to the electoral act.
Early this month, members of the group including
Abdullahi Adamu, Ovie Omo-Agege, Abu Ibrahim, Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, Babajide
Omoworare, Ali Ndume, openly identified with President Muhammadu Buhari in
Daura as his parliamentary support group.
While debating on the report that led to the suspension of the secretary of the group,
Ovie Omo-Agege, the existence of the
group was once again mentioned by Kabir Marafa (Zamfara, APC).
“Mr President, in as much as I am against the
suspension of any senator, but I am equally against the formation of any other
group in this chamber. The formation of the parliamentary support group is evil
and it should not stand, it is counter-productive and against the president
himself,” Marafa said.
Ruling
over the issue, Saraki ordered the group to be disbanded.
“Distinguished Colleagues, a number of points have
been raised. One borders on the issue of preserving the integrity of this
institution. To me, that is what i think is the most important thing for us.
“Second, is where we take actions that are not
sincere. I think in this chamber, if we want to talk about who has the right to
say he is chairman of a Parliamentary Support Group for Mr President both by
action and by what we have done, I think that I have the right to lead that
more than anyone else here.
“Those of us that understand politics,
understand that because of our own peculiar interest, sometimes some people
decide to act like they are holier than thou or more committed — at the expense
of others. This is not something that we should tolerate, and I believe that in
an institution like this we must show discipline, but at the same time we must
also show compassion.
“Distinguished
Colleagues, there must be discipline. We must show that such groups must be
suspended and the case in court must be withdrawn. I think by that we would
have captured, no more of these kind of groups in the Senate,” he said.
The disbandment of the group was also part of
the recommendations adopted by the Senate.
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