The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday related how he escaped a siege on his home by security operatives in the early hours of the day.
Security agencies early Tuesday morning laid siege on the homes of Saraki and Deputy his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu. The siege is believed to be a ploy to prevent them from making it to the National Assembly today because of a plan by many lawmakers to decamp from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Saraki, however, made his way to the Senate chamber at about 10:40 a.m. and presided over the plenary. Mr Ekweremadu did not make it to plenary.
Reacting to a motion on the siege on his home and that of his deputy, Mr Saraki said the plenary would not have held if not for his preparation.
“The road leading to my place was cordoned off and all cars coming in and out as early as 6:30 were being stopped and you have to come down.
“My convoy was stopped from moving. Given something that one was prepared for, I had my own car too. So the deputy senate president called me and said he could not come here.
“And as you are all aware, very late yesterday, at about 8 p.m., I received a letter asking me to report to the police on a case of this Offa robbery which had been concluded before now.
“That’s the situation why the DSP could not come here and I was already going somewhere else. If not, this plenary would not have been able to hold today. So I had to come here.”
“But as you all rightly said, if one of our colleagues cannot come out for no fault of his, I don’t see how we can continue to sit and ignore the fact that a presiding officer cannot be here.
“And if it was by the plan, I too, would not be here.
“It was just by the intervention of the almighty God that I was able to get myself here.”
Mr Saraki eventually presided over the Senate and announced the defection of 15 senators away from the APC.
