Date: 2016-03-25

Pushed between the devil and the deep blue sea, the All Progressives Congress, APC caucus in the Senate has moved for peace between the two major blocs in the party.

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

The news of the rapprochement between the two power blocs in the Senate came out of the blues. It was, however, not shocking as it was generally believed to be a matter of political survival.

The news of the make up was confirmed by the leading protagonists of the two groups, the Senate Unity Forum and the Likeminds yesterday in seperate chats with this newspaper.

The 10 men that met to resolve the dispute in Senator Aliyu Wamakko's Asokoro, Abuja residence last Tuesday, were equally divided between the two groups with each side providing a five man delegation.

Ambiguous definition of leadership

The division in the APC caucus first emerged late in May 2015 along the lines of support for the aspiration of Senators Bukola Saraki and Ahmad Lawan for the office of the Senate President.

The SUF had rallied round the aspiration of Lawan, supposedly at the behest of the leadership of the party while the Likeminds grouped around the aspiration of Senator Saraki who was seen as rebelling against the decision of the party leadership. However, given the ambiguous definition of leadership, it was not a difficult thing for Saraki and senators behind him to insist on making a run for the office of Senate President as no one was able to define who the party leadership was.

In the end, the Saraki led Likeminds teamed up with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP at a time when the SUF were in a controversial meeting supposedly called by President Muhammadu Buhari to elect Saraki as Senate President and Senator Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy.

The election of the presiding officers in the Senate had an effect in the House where Yakubu Dogara who was also not the candidate of the "leadership" also emerged as speaker against the "leadership" preference for Femi Gbajabiamila.

The ensuing development led to a major rancour especially after a move by some party leaders to mediate through the appointment of Lawan as Senate Majority Leader was spurned by the Saraki group.

Saraki was, however, to offer a sop through the offer of juicy committee positions to some leading members of the SUF including Lawan who was appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence and George Akume who was offered the position of Chairman of the Committee on Army.

However, the enemies of Saraki had even before then stimulated the process to pay him back supposedly through the Code of Conduct Tribunal which launched a prosecution of the Senate President over alleged failures to declare his true assets while he was governor more than ten years ago and also, for allegedly maintaining a foreign bank account.

After several efforts by Saraki to squash the CCT trial, the substantive case eventually got underway last week. The tribunal is expected to rule today on whether to proceed with the trial upon a motion filed by the Senate President to discontinue the trial.

Potential consequences

Though the senators, who converged in Senator Wamakko's residence for the peace parley did not overtly disclose it, their peace move as almost everyone knows was forced upon them by the potential consequences of the trial of the Senate President.

The senators from both factions it has now emerged are afraid of the prospect of the PDP taking over the Senate in the event of a leadership contest should Senator Saraki be convicted rightly or wrongly.

With the APC's lead in the Senate increasingly shrinking it is left to the imagination what a united PDP caucus could do the divided APC caucus in the event of a leadership election.

It is that fear that has not surprisingly turned the senators on both sides of the divide in the APC to close ranks and unify around the leadership of Senator Saraki.

So, whatever is the judgment of the CCT on the trial of the Senate President, the decision of the senators to unify around their party is bound to resonate.