Plot to impeach Saraki will backfire, says Baraje

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, yesterday described a purported plan to impeach the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, as a negative development that could boomerang against the planners.
Baraje, a one-time acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), warned those hatching the plot to tread with caution in the overall interest of Nigeria.

The APC chieftain, who spoke to journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State, on the sidelines of a prayer session to commemorate his 67th birthday, said he was aware of ongoing gimmicks by certain forces but warned the perpetrators to tarry because of the dire consequences.
Baraje, a staunch ally of the Senate President, said Saraki’s camp would be watching to know how far the plotters would go to achieve their objective.

He, however, noted that the Senate President has been able to hold the grip of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly like never before, insisting that he cannot be intimidated, owing to the fact that he enjoys the confidence of his colleagues such that today many senators who vehemently resisted Saraki’s leadership at inception, have now aligned and stand solidly behind him.
He maintained that the President of the Senate was brilliant and full of hope and dream for Nigeria, warning that such lofty hopes should not be destroyed on the altar of politics.
His words: “Many of us helped to build APC. I’m one of them, he (Saraki) was and is still one of them. We are still building the party. I think the party has not made a statement about the so called threat to impeach him. We only learnt from the news that we read and from hearsays. And I think very sincerely, there must be grounds before you impeach somebody like him, and they (Senators) have their own rules and regulations as guided by procedure for impeachment.

“If the Senate President is seen to have violated such rules, the process should be followed, but sincerely, as of today and to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think any Senate President in the past has held the Senate like Bukola Saraki has been holding it. He has been seen to be a team player; he has been seen to be leader that carries the Senate along and he has been seeing to be somebody, who can endure, give and sacrifice for this nation.

“Remember that he got to that position as if he was fighting a war. Today, even those people, who opposed him, are the most fanatical people, who are his supporters today. So, what reason do you want to say you have to want to impeach such a person?
“I’m aware there are lots of gimmicks, but the worst one that would boomerang against anybody who is planning anything, is to say they want to impeach Bukola Saraki. That Senate today is solid as I have never seen. I believe it would keep bouncing. There are other ways that the gimmicks are going, let us all keep watching. “ We can only wish Nigeria well.

Asked for his view on the 2019 general election, the APC stalwart urged those with governorship ambition within the ruling party in Kwara State to take cognisance of the tradition of the state’s political structure through which elective office holders are recruited.

Baraje advised them to be wary of inordinate ambition and eschew any act that could heat up the polity.

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