The Senate on January 30, 2014, Thursday deferred the request by Sen. Bukola Saraki that the notice of defection of 11 PDP senators to the APC is read on the floor of the Senate.
Sen. Saraki said that it was important for the letter to be read on the floor to formally inform the Senate of their defection to the opposition.
“A notice by a letter was communicated yesterday (Wednesday) to your Chair on notification of the change of political party by myself and 10 other senators from the platform of the PDP to the APC.
“So, I felt that it was necessary for me to bring to your attention that the letter has not yet been read,” Sen. Saraki said.
However, the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, said the matter could not be discussed because the Senate President, Sen. David Mark, was absent.
Sen. Ekweremadu informed that he has been already instructed by Mark that a meeting with the defecting senators had been scheduled for next Monday.
He also added that the matter should be left until the Senate President returned from his trip out of Abuja.
Unfortunately, this explanation was not sufficient for Sen. Saraki. It led to an exchange of words, as Saraki was insisting that the issue of the letter had nothing to do with Mark’s intention to meet with the Senators.
Sen. Danjuma Goje also rose up to insist that the notification letter should be read because he and 10 other Senators had defected from the PDP to APC.
The Deputy Senate President further addressed Sen. Goje, explained him that the decision to defer the matter had already been taken because he (Ekweremadu) was not in possession of the letter.
Also speaking, the Senate Minority Leader Sen. George Akume (APC-Benue) argued that there was no reason to delay their request since a similar matter had taken place in the House of Representatives.
Sen. Ekweremadu was adamant, advised other senators to shelve the matter and continue debate on the 2014 Appropriation Bill.
(NAN)
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