A leader of the APC, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH on the condition of anonymity, said Saraki was only trying to be clever by half.

The leader of the party, who spoke in a telephone interview with one of Punch correspondents on Saturday, said Saraki had boxed himself into a corner.

"Saraki is simply trying to be clever by half. He is in a fix and he is trying to justify his illegal actions," the source said.

He added, "Saraki is bound by the nation's constitution to read the party's list without any amendment. If the PDP had sent him their own list of principal officers, will he tamper with it or won't the PDP send their own list?"

Insisting that the Senate President lied about not being invited to the ICC meeting, the reliable party source said Saraki was invited.

The source said, "He is lying if he said he was not invited to the ICC meeting. All National Assembly members-elect were invited via an SMS.

"He deliberately snubbed the President because he had already struck a deal with the PDP to actualise his inordinate ambition in defiance of his party's position.