.Says: I Didn't Need A Deal With Ekweremadu To Win Senate Presidency

.We'll Cut Our Allowances, Overhead - Senate Leader Ndume

The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday gave an insight into the lingering crisis in the National Assembly, saying that although President Muhammadu Buhari was willing to unite the aggrieved groups, the APC's national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has not shown enough disposition to reconciliation with his group.

Senator Saraki, who emerged as Senate President three weeks ago amid controversy, told a group of select journalists in Abuja yesterday that the President would want to see a Senate that is fully united so that Buhari could deliver good governance to Nigerians, as promised during the electioneering campaigns.

Senator Saraki and Yakubu Dogara emerged Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively on June 9 against the wish of their party, the APC, which had fielded Senator Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila for the two positions, after conducting a mock primary.

Since their emergence, there have been crises of who occupies the principal officers' positions in both chambers of the National Assembly. Despite a letter by APC National Chairman John Oyegun nominating Lawan and others for the remaining four majority principal offices, Saraki went on to announce different senators after various caucuses submitted the names of their preferred candidates to him. But the APC rejected his action.

However, Saraki told journalists at his Maitama residence in Abuja that he was in touch with both leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the president in order to have genuine reconciliation among APC senators adding that efforts were on to have reconciliation, which Buhari himself would be in support of.

"It is the view of some of us as senators that yes with regards to Mr President, as a father, I'm sure what he wants to see is the reconciliation of the groups, and I think his position is that he will like us to unite as a group so that he will not be seen to be either on one side or the other. I think that those steps are going on.

"With regards to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as you know, he is one of the leaders of the party. We have great respect for him; we have worked very closely on major issues in this party that were very important at different stages in the development of our party. Unfortunately in this matter, as much as I and my group tried to win his support, we didn't. It happens like that, and I think at the end of the day, we will look at the things we have done together that have gone well" he said.

Asked why he allowed Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to emerge deputy Senate president, Saraki said he was pained by the fact that after suffering to become the ruling party, APC now has to grapple with a PDP man as one of the presiding officers in the Senate.

He said those accusing him of going into an alliance with PDP were wrong as he did not need any deal with PDP to become Senate President because he had worked hard towards that and that his team had picked Sen Ali Ndume for deputy Senate president, but because majority of APC senators were not on the floor, PDP senators had their way.

"I did not need any deal with Ekweremadu to win. There was no deal. I was canvassing and campaigning for the vote of every senator. We had several meetings, and those of them who come from PDP said 'this is the Senate president that we want.' We worked hard for it to win the confidence of our colleagues.

"For any APC member, it is unfortunate that we have a PDP man as deputy senate president. You can even say painful. As an APC member, when we went through the struggle, that was not what we signed for. It is unfortunate that it has happened. I think it will be unfair to put the blame on one side, because it is a combination of errors and miscalculations that led us to have on that morning some senators at another place instead of being there," he added. On how he emerged as Senate president, Saraki said he had prior information that he was going to be prevented from gaining access into the National Assembly complex on that day, but that he devised a means.

"As early as 4 - 5am, I had contingent plans that I must find a way, because the plan before was that they should go to Transcorp around 8 -9 to proceed to the National Assembly, but I was advised that it would not be safe for me to do that, because if I didn't get into the chamber, then it was not possible for anybody to nominate or second me, so I had to find my own way.

"I can tell you today that I was in the National Assembly complex as early as 6.am. I stayed in a car in the car park from 6.am till quarter to 10.am. This is the gospel truth, and I stayed there with no communications. So, anybody that said he spoke to me or they contacted me; I did not even know all this was going on. All I was monitoring was how people were arriving. It was at quarter to 10 that I got information that the clerk had entered the chamber. I got out of my small car from the car park into the chambers.

Saraki also described those eyeing 2019 from now as "irresponsible," saying; "We have a lot of work, and I cannot understand how responsible politician, knowing the kind of challenges we have in meeting the expectations of the people. "Unfortunately, we're now in a situation where there is economic recession and drop in oil price; we have challenges ahead, and we'll be talking about 2019, I find that very irresponsible. I don't want to be part of that; it is not on my radar. Anybody that talks about 2019 now must be very irresponsible. What we should be worried about now is how we deliver on our promises, which should be our focus."

On the issue of ministerial appointment, Saraki said Buhari would find the right people ne needs to work with across the 36 states of the federation. "I am sure he will find the candidates that he believes are fit or good for the office, and I am sure in this case too it will be in consultation with party leaders. I am sure there will be the candidates that he wants. It's not possible for one man to be able to know the entire 36 states. He may have the knowledge of certain people in certain states by experience, but in some states too I am sure he will ask people 'what do you think? I'm thinking of so and so as a minister, what do you think?' What is important is for us to have the right team that will support him," he said.