OPPONENTS of Senate President Bukola Saraki are said to be leaving no stone unturned in their bid to get him out of office.

Sources in Abuja, on Saturday, stated that Saraki’s traducers are intensifying the threats on relatives of those supporting Saraki especially among Northern senators, while a search for a likely successor has commenced.
It was gathered that the search this time, is not narrowed to the North-East, where the leader of Senate Unity Forum (SUF) Senator Ahmad Lawan hails from.

The reason for the expansion of the search beyond the North-East is the emergence of Speaker Yakubu Dogara from the same zone.

Though some of the leaders of the battle against Saraki are insisting that Senator Lawan could still emerge the Senate President since Dogara is leading a separate chamber, others are, however, wary of the implication for the Federal Character principle, especially as a number of appointments have already been concentrated in the North-East.

A source said that some of those in the plot have suggested that the next senate president should come from the North-Central if they are able to get at Saraki.

Those in that class also said that the successor to Saraki should be a Muslim from the North-Central since Dogara, who leads the House of Representatives is a Christian.

But another school of thought among those behind Saraki’s travails say that there is nothing that should stop Senator Lawan’s emergence since he had previously been nominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the job.

Meanwhile, Saraki has commenced a fresh peace move, which is aimed at creating a soft landing for nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari who are awaiting confirmation by the senators.

The peace moves, which started on Wednesday, were aimed at dousing tension and saving the nominees from the anger of senators who are angry that the nominees had assumed office before appearing at the Senate for screening and confirmation.

Saraki had refrained from listing the names of the nominees on the Order Paper for Wednesday after presenting letters of their nomination on Tuesday.

By tradition and the Rules of the Senate, Saraki was expected to publish names of the nominees on the Order Paper a day after presenting their nominations to the Senate plenary.

That would have allowed the Senate President assign the nominees to the relevant committees to handle their screening.

But Saraki, according to sources close to him, refrained from putting the names of the nominees on the Order paper to ensure that a peace move he had started was allowed to jell.

Sources close to Saraki said that the proceeding to screen the nominees last week would have led to outright rejection of the nominees.

The nominees included Mr. illiams Babatunde Fowler as Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); Mr Umaru Garba Dambatta, who was nominated as vice chairman of the National Communication Commission (NCC); Ahmed Lawan Kuru, nominated as Managing Director of Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) as well as Messrs Kola Ayeye, Eberechukwu Fortunate Uneze and Alh. Aminu Ismail, who were nominated as Executive Directors of AMCON.

Though Saraki read the official communication from President Buhari on Tuesday, the names were not in the Order paper for Wednesday, prompting Senator Barnabas Gemade to raise Order 40(1) of the Senate Standing orders 2015 to question the perceived lapse.

The Order states that “The President of the Senate shall immediately after prayers ….read to the Senate any message addressed to the Senate by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

But Saraki had to rely on the provision of Order 40 (2) which reads: “A message from the President, if presented to the Senate by the Leader of the Senate may be brought up at any time before the commencement or at the close of public business, and shall be considered forthwith or ordered to be considered upon a future day.”

Saraki ruled Gemade out of Order, insisting that the operating word in the Rule is ‘considered upon a future day.’

But sources stated that Saraki took the step to ensure that the tension already building up against the nominees got doused before their appearance for screening and confirmation.