Some members of the 8th Senate of the National Assembly yesterday met in an emergency meeting to discuss the current travails of Senate president Bukola Saraki who is currently facing trial for alleged false declaration of assets.
It was gathered that about 50 senators cutting across members from the All progressives Congress (APC) and the peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attended the emergency meeting whixh was held in a private office near the popular Next Supermarket in Abuja.
The meeting, which started at 11.00am ended at 3.00pm with some senators who are on holidays in the US, UK and those who are performing the on-going Hajj exercise in Saudi Arabia participated in the meeting through telephone.
A source said while the meeting chaired by the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah, pledged to support the anti-graft war of President Buhari, it accused ‘a cabal’ in The Presidency of instigating the government institutions against Senate President Saraki.
Speaking on the development, one of the senators who attended the meeting said they initially suspected President Buhari to be the brain behind the trials, but after exhaustive deliberations they had a second thought on the issue.
“Our colleagues were angry at the beginning of the meeting because they were initially suspecting that the President has hand in the trial of Saraki. But after heated debate, they understood that Buhari was not responsible for it.
“One of our colleagues present at the meeting suggested that the Senate should reconvene on Monday [tomorrow] in order to address the challenge. His suggestion, however, did not see the light of day as we resolved to use other channels to address the challenge.”
In a telephone interview, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah said they had unanimously resolved to work with Buhari to achieve his programmes and policies.
“We have resolved to use all available powers under the constitution to ensure that no cabal exists and run the government on behalf of Buhari and we have also resolved to deal decisively with the cabal,” he said.
Some of the senators who attended the meeting included Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East), Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), Senator Binta Garba Masi (APC, Adamawa North), and Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano South).
Others were Senator Rafiu Ibrahim (APC, Kwara South), Senator Hamma Misau (APC, Bauchi Central), and Senator Hope Uzodinma (PDP, Imo-West).