by Musa Abdullahi
Facts emerged at the weekend that the immediate past governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, has entered a deal with Senator Danjuma Goje from Gombe State, to stop Senator Ahmad Lawan from becoming the next Senate President.
Points Blank News reports that on Thursday, 20 senators from the northwest geo-political zone unanimously endorsed Lawan, a senator from Yobe State, North east get-political zone, as their preferred candidate to lead the Eight Senate.
However, barely 24 hours after the endorsement by the northwest senate caucus, Goje, who served as governor of Gombe State from 2003 to 2011, told Senate correspondents that Lawan wasn’t the consensus candidate of his northeast zone.
However, further checks in Abuja revealed that Goje’s press conference was sponsored by Sarakim Both men served as governors at the same time and are known friends and political and business associates in and S outside the Senate They jointly left the PDP for the new-PDP and later, the APC.
A ranking senator from the northwest, where President-elect. Muhammadu Buhari hails from, who later got wind of the arrangement, expressed disappointment in Goje.
“This is typical of Goje, always willing to do the dirty job. We heard that Saraki has promised to make him deputy Senate President. Even at that, it remains to be seen how such treachery will pay off,” said the senator.
It was further gathered that Lawan’s endorsement by the north west caucus had greatly unsettled Saraki who saw it knocking him off the race for the Senate Presidency.
Another senator from the North west said they were worried that Saraki might play the spoiler and ruin Lawan’s chances of becoming the next Senate President.
He, however, cautioned that, “This is not APC and definitely not PDP where anybody will play spoiler and get away with it. The Sarakis are best known for criss-crossing parties whenever they don’t get what they decree. We are closely monitoring him.”
He continued, “Saraki’s, sorry, Goje’s press conference was to create the false impression that the northeast is not united and create an excuse to zone the Senate Presidency out of the zone to the northcentral.
“Claims that Lawan was imposed on the zone are lies. Who imposed who? If there is any imposition, it is Goje who wants to impose his godfather so that the northeast can continue to be political vasals,” he declared.
Goje is clearly working against the North east because of his deputy senate president ambition.
