Senators uncover destabilisation plot •ACN leaders fingered •The 2015 connection

THE newly-inaugurated Senate has uncovered a destabilisation plot which, sources said, is being coordinated by the leadership of one of the opposition parties.

A returning senator, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune on the matter, said that the senators were told of the plot which emanated at a meeting of the opposition party with one of their leaders.

The senator said that the plot involved a serious and consistent antagonism against the leadership of the new Senate.

The source said that a leader of one of  the parties, who is seeking to rally the  opposition parties along the line of his agenda, however, met a brick wall in the senators of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), who refused to join in the destabilisation plot.

Sources said that the plot was to ensure that members of the opposition parties opposed every pro-PDP move in the Senate and possibly grind its activities to a halt.

“The plan is to ensure that the Senate does not move as smoothly as it did between 2007 and 2011.
The fact is that one of the opposition parties told its members that if the president of the Senate, Senator David Mark, is allowed to have a smooth sail, he could start eyeing top national positions in 2015 and  bringing him down to earth would force the man to negotiate with them,” a source said.

While members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) were said to have attended the meeting, senators from the ANPP reportedly refused to attend.

One of the lawmakers told the emissaries that he was not ready to attend a meeting where he would be dictated to from Lagos. He said he was out to represent his party in the Senate and would only do things that would enhance the standard of life of his constituents.

“We can’t just start opposing in the Senate just for the sake of opposition. We can support issues that are in tandem with the thinking of our people and reject those that are against the wishes of our people. But, as for me, I don’t represent Lagos; I represent my people,” the senator said.

A source said that the plot by the leader of ACN, Senator Bola Tinubu, to back Senator George Akume as Senate Minority Leader, was one of the methods he intended using to orchestrate division in the Senate.

“Tinubu wants Akume to become minority leader, when he knows that Akume and the Senate president are practically political enemies. The scenario he wants painted is such that Akume will continue to block bills and moves to enhance the workings of the Senate. It is a sure way of preparing the Senate for a disastrous session,” the source said.