A Senator-elect, who is part of the campaign train of Zamfara West Senator-elect and Senate President hopeful, Abdulaziz Yari, has cried out that there were plans to stop their candidate from accessing the Senate chamber on Tuesday when the 10th National Assembly will be inaugurated.
According to the lawmaker-elect, who said even though about 65 Senators-elect were backing the Senate Presidency bid of Yari, there is a new upswing in the rank of Senators-elect backing the former Zamfara State Governor.
He noted that the development was causing a lot of panic and tension in the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) preferred candidate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
He alleged that Akpabio and his backers were said to have hatched a new plot to stop Yari by all means, adding that one of the plans was to ensure that he is prevented from gaining access into the Red Chamber.
On the plan, tagged ‘Stop Yari’, the source said the plot was to ensure that Yari do not participate in the election on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
Sources alleged that Akpabio and his backers were now convinced that if Yari is nominated on the floor of the Senate to contest for the office of Senate President, he would win the election because of the number of Senators-elect that are currently backing him.
“So the Akpabio group want to stop him from contesting. They don’t want Yari to be a candidate for Senate President on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
“Presently, they are trying extremely hard to cajole, intimidate, blackmail and threaten Yari to withdraw from the Senate Presidency race. Akpabio and his backers are using every arsenal at their disposal to blackmail Yari.
“Mainly, the Presidency is leading this aspect of the plot. Anti-corruption agencies of government and the security agencies could be deployed at any moment to stop Senator-elect Yari.
“The Akpabio backers are also frantically reaching out to individual Senators-elect who are supporting Yari to pull out. The carrot and stick approach is being used to get the Senators-elect to pull out from Yari’s camp and back Akpabio. The Presidency is also deeply involved in this effort,” another source added.
He alleged that if every effort to stop Yari fails, the Akpabio camp and his Presidency backers were determined to make sure Yari is not available to be nominated for the Senate President election on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
“Detention and arrest of Yari in whatever guise is what they (Akpabio and his backers) intend to use to stop Yari. They intend to use the institution of the Presidency to carry out the plot. This is despite the fact that Yari has two Court orders preventing and stopping his invitation or detention until after the election of Presiding Officers of the Senate.
“Yari has two Federal High Court orders preventing and stopping security and anti-corruption agencies from inviting or detaining him until after the 10th National Assembly leadership elections on Tuesday.
“One specifically stops the Nigeria Police, while the other one stops the anti-corruption agencies – EFCC, ICPC and the DSS from inviting, detaining or arresting Senator-elect Yari,” he stated.
He said the desperation of the Akpabio camp is now on overdrive.
“They believe the only way Akpabio can win is by being nominated unopposed where he will be the only one that will be nominated for the office of Senate President. They want to make sure that they stop Senator-elect Yari from contesting the Senate President election by all means, using the the Presidency and instrumentality of institutions of government.
“One of the Senators-elect supporting Yari who spoke to us anonymously, stated that no amount of intimidation or threat can stop them from going to the floor of the Senate on Tuesday to vote Yari,” he stated.
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