The Nigerian Senate has declared its intention in very clear terms to the Presidency.
83 out of the 109 Senators in the upper chamber of the National Assembly have passed a vote of confidence on Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
The vote of confidence passed on Bukola Saraki is indication that the level of influence the Presidency will have on the Senate is going to be limited.
Hence, the agitation and calls for the resignation of Bukola Saraki, more or less, may turn out to be the cry of a lone wolf in a desert- essentially a futile venture.
The words of Ahmed Sani Yerima, who seconded the motion aptly captures the disposition of the 8th assembly.
“If anybody thinks that he can influence the senate from the outside, he should go and sleep.”
The Senators recognise this fact, and as such have now effectively told the Presidency and Saraki’s persecutors, that impeaching him is a herculean endeavour.
83 Senators constitutes what can be described as super-majority and the remaining 26 Senators cannot have a voice, while in the minority.
Consequently, the only way Saraki can be ousted as Senate President is if he is found guilty at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, where he is facing a 13-count charge of false assets declaration and corruption.
If he is however found not guilty, his persecutors may have inadvertently strengthened him and his rumoured bid to run for president in 2019.
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