Who would have thought that the day would come when Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, would reject the opportunity to head Committees of the upper chamber of the National Assembly?

According to a report by Vanguard, some All Progressives Congress Senators who are loyal to Bukola Saraki, are not so keen on vying for Committee Chairmanship.

A Senator who was quoted in the report says that many of his colleagues sense a fear of being set-up after accepting the jobs.

The Senator, who spoke anonymously said:

“Some of us (Senators) especially the APC Senators have decided not to accept Committee Chairmanship. Those who felt aggrieved over the election of Senate President have decided to embark on a witch haunt and they want to use the Committee to achieve their devilish plans.

“They have planned to use the oversight functions to blackmail us and you know when you are blackmailed whether rightly or wrongly, the public will have a negative impression about you and we don’t want to create that room at all.

“You can see what is happening between the Senators and the governors especially in the North. Some of the governors who have their eyes in 2019 have started fighting their senators.

“One particular governor alongside a former governor that lost the bid to become the APC presidential candidate and one person that arrogates to himself the position of the party leader have decided that the present senate leadership did not have peace and have blackmailed the leadership before the presidency.

“You know that Saraki made sure that the APC did not have a Muslim/Muslim ticket and the party leaders that did not benefit from that have been angry with him (Saraki). The other one felt disappointed that he was not supported during the APC presidential primaries after their alleged initial agreement before they dumped the Peoples Democratic Party.

“You also know that we have only one canonised person in this country who believes that every other person is corrupt. When you are even talking to him and explain your position, he will not talk but only to be watching you because he has already made up his conclusion.”

“Saraki for now has the support of majority of those who decide elections in the North. Both in Sokoto, Gombe, Zamfara and some other states in the North. If he maintains the structure till 2019, there is the fear that he would definitely emerge as the party’s presidential flag bearer.

“Those who are interested in the position are aware of this and especially three of them, one from the South west, a former governor and a serving governor who are all interested are making sure that they blackmail him before President Buhari. You know the President believes that he is the only corrupt-free person in this country”.

Kolapo Olapoju