Stop deceiving yourselves, you can’t remove Saraki, Ekweremadu – PDP tells Presidency, APC

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Friday challenged the “Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop deluding themselves and come to terms with the reality that they lack the legislative number and constitutional facilities to impeach Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, or to even call for their resignation.”

PDP said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the APC, “having realized that there is no way they can muster the constitutionally required two-third votes of the 109 senators (representing 73 senators), engaged in underhand tactics, including the invasion of the National Assembly, which turned out a disgraceful adventure.”

This was contained in a statement by the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, which read in part, “Even before then, Nigerians were already aware of moves to use humongous funds to induce lawmakers to trigger crisis in the National Assembly and pave the way for the removal of presiding officers.

“Now that they have discovered that there is no way they can achieve their devious intentions, they have commenced a war of blackmail, distortions of fact and media trial against the Senate leadership, which, of course, will end up as another wasteful venture as Nigerians are aware of the long-drawn desperation of the Buhari Presidency to annex the legislature.

“Even among the ranks of the depleted APC senators and members of the House of Representatives, there is a huge aversion to the underhand tactics being deployed by the Buhari Presidency and the APC to force out duly elected presiding officers of the National Assembly.

“As such, such lawmakers are fully aligned with Nigerians, the PDP and the National Assembly leadership in the protection of the independence, sanctity and integrity of our parliament and all democratic institutions in our land.

“It is therefore instructive for both the Buhari Presidency and the APC to know that there is no way they can remove the leadership of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate.”

The main opposition party went on to caution the Presidency and the APC “to stop overheating the polity with their outbursts and shed future perverse attempts to circumvent our rules and constitution, as such will not help them or change the resolve of Nigerians to vote them out in 2019.”