Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has cautioned against attempt being made to illegally reconvene the Senate by some APC Senators in collusion with the Presidency.
Frank in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday said no other person is permitted to reconvene any arm of the National Assembly when it is on break except only the presiding officers.
He said that reopening the Senate under the guise of considering the request of President Muhammadu Buhari for funds for the Independent National Electoral Commission towards the conduct of the 2019 general elections flies in the face.
Frank said: “Only today (Wednesday), the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang was caught on video leading about 10 APC Senators, led by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan to meet with the President and to urge on the President to provide them security to enable forcefully open the doors of the Senate Chambers and conduct an illegal sitting.
“This, if allowed to happen, will not only represent a clear breach of the Constitution but the height of illegality and impunity in this country. They APC Senators are only interested in gaining access to the chambers to carry out a sinister motive against the presiding officers of the Senate and not anywhere near considering Mr. President’s fund request for INEC.
“Besides, available records show that INEC has enough funds to commence preparing for the upcoming elections in the 2018 budget even as additional budgetary allocation would be made for the Agency in the 2019 budget.
“Let me add that the Senate alone cannot approve funds for INEC without the concurrence of the House of Representatives. So the attempt to illegally reopen the Senate by a handful of APC Senators therefore becomes suspect and must not be allowed to happen.
“I want to call on President Buhari not to accede to the illegal request of these Senators who are only out to gain underserved relevance and political patronage in the buildup to the primaries of the party soon.
“I also want Nigerians to be aware of this illegal plot and I call on them to rise to save the institution of the National Assembly which is the only defining characteristics of the nation’s democracy,” he said.
