In June, former Kwara State governor Senator Saraki was elected and sworn-in as senate president in defiance of the party. His election was highly controversial, however, as he was elected unopposed by 57 of 108 senators present, with 51 senators, including his main rival Senator Ahmed Lawan, who the APC endorsed, absent.
Irate at the defiance of the party as none of the elected senate leaders were its choice candidates, the APC had vowed to challenge their election in court. President Buhari has since adopted a lukewarm attitude to Senator Saraki, which has created some tension within the APC.
Seeking to end the impasse, some of Senator Saraki's loyalists have already reached out to President Buhari for the purpose of reconciling with him and by extension, the party leadership. Members of the peace team are also likely to meet with APC national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
However, the Saraki loyalists were said to have left the first meeting with President Buhari uncomfortable on account of his body language.
Saraki and his loyalists had defied the party by rejecting its candidates for principal positions in the Senate. President Buhari is said to be particularly unhappy about the fact that they shunned the June 9 meeting convened by the APC to resolve the matter and teamed up with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to elect its own candidates including Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the deputy senate president.
It was gathered that House of Representatives speaker Yakubu Dogara’s compliance with the APC’s directive on the choice of principal officers in the House was largely responsible for the change of heart by Senator Saraki and his supporters. Senator Saraki's peace team was led by senate leader Ali Ndume and was said to comprise of the likes of Senators Adamu Aliero, Danjuma Goje, Kabiru Gaya and Abdullahi Adamu.
One source said: “These senators, comprising mainly of some former governors came to explore peace between the presidency and the senate. Obviously, the senators were subtly running an errand for Saraki and I think their trip was a consequence of the Abdulsalami Peace Committee’s meeting with Saraki.”
“There is no point pretending as the president and some APC leaders have been unhappy with the senate president. We cannot allow the crisis of confidence to fester, which is why we decided to intervene.”
After Senator Saraki was elected, the APC publicity secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed decried a situation in which some people, based on nothing but inordinate ambition and lack of discipline and loyalty, entered into an unholy alliance with the very same people whom the party and indeed the entire country worked hard to replace and sell out the hard won victory of the party. He added that there can be no higher level of treachery, disloyalty and insincerity within any party.
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