Lawan, Akume Others Head To Court To Challenge Saraki’s Election

Senate Unity Forum led by Senators Ahmad Lawan and Georger Akume have vowed to head to court to challenge the emergence of Senators Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekwerenmadu as Senate President and Deputy Senate President respectively.

Speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing at the national assembly complex, Barnabas Gemade, spokesman of Lawan’s Senate Unity Forum, described the process through which Saraki emerged as “unacceptable”.

“The attention of the Unity Forum has been drawn to conflicting reports about the activities that took place on the floor of the senate yesterday. For the record, we wish to present the following for clarification,” he said.

?”We received an invitation through the office of the national chairman of our party, the APC, which indicated the request of Mr. President to have a brief meeting with all the APC elected senators and the house of representatives members at the International Conference Centre (ICC) before the inauguration of the national assembly at 10 am.

“The insinuation in some quarters that we boycotted? election is totally unfounded. As loyal party members, we would take all necessary political and legal means to strengthen our democracy and democratic process in line with the change that we promised our teaming supporters during our campaign.

“In our effort to meet up with the time for the inauguration, we rushed to honour the invitation of Mr. President and while at the conference centre, news filtered to us that the clerk of the national assembly had started the process of election of the senate president in our absence.

Saraki and Ekwerenmadu were both voted to lead the Senate by 57 Senators while members of the Senate Unity forum loyal to Lawan and Akume made up of about 50 Senators were at the international conference center waiting to have a reconciliatory meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari.

The group rejected the election that took place while they were holding a meeting with the APC national leadership and the president at the International Conference Centre Abuja.

At a Press Conference Wednesday, they said they are left with no option that to head to Court to challenge the election of Saraki.

Meanwhile, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has sworn in 27 other senators