Rumours of impeachment plot against the President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan thicken on Friday with some prominent senators of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, vowing to scuttle any such plans.
In an interview with reporters, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, could neither confirm the rumour nor dispel it.
He said, “In every household there must be a Judas”, making allusions to one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ that betrayed him.
Kalu was, however, emphatic that the plot will strongly resisted if it ever comes up in the red chamber.
Another APC senator, Abdullahi Adamu, representing Nasarawa West said there is no known impeachment plot to him.
He said if there was any, the promoters were merely trying to get at Lawan because of his statement on restructuring which did not quite sit well with colleagues from the South.
Even though it has been difficult to identify the plotters, there are strong indications that the “romance” between Lawan and senators mostly from the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is gradually turning sour by the day.
The PDP lawmakers are believed to have found few recruits among APC senators who have also been resentful of Lawan’s leadership style of late especially what they perceived as his “blind loyalty ” to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Even when many of the senators would like to paint a rosy picture that all is well, recent events seem to suggest otherwise and the seed of discord may not be unconnected to the actions and inactions of President Buhari on major national issues especially insecurity which have sharply divided the Senate.
It will be recalled that the PDP Caucus recently lashed out strongly at Buhari and his ruling APC, accusing the President of “being absent from duty” when Nigeria needed him most.
Rising in defense of the President, APC senators converged the next day on the same spot PDP lawmakers had met to dispel the claims but inadvertently exposing the cracks on the walls of the Senate with Lawan in charge.
Even though Lawan has consistently mentioned that he will not engage unnecessarily in any confrontation with the executive to satisfy the yearnings of some trouble mongers, it hasn’t been enough to convince those who want him impeached from thinking he has become a stooge in the hands of the executive.
Impeaching Lawan could, however, be an uphill task as the few faceless members who want him out will need to garner the required 74 majority votes to edge him out.
The possibility seems less likely at the moment and if the position of most APC lawmakers especially those from the North is anything to go by, it is closer to being impossible.